Government Affairs Lead

Location: Washington, DC

Reports to: Director of Science & Policy

About I AM ALS

I AM ALS is a patient-centric movement revolutionizing how to end disease. The nonprofit provides critical support and resources to people with ALS, caregivers and loved ones. We empower advocates to raise awareness and lead the movement against ALS in driving the development of cures. Founded in 2019 by husband and wife team Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, I AM ALS was born out of their desire to rewrite the ALS story for Brian and the tens of thousands of other people with ALS. Learn more at iamals.org.

The Opportunity

This role offers an opportunity to work with a broad team of strategists and advocates to transform the ALS landscape through expansive, ambitious changes in access policy and research funding. I AM ALS has amassed a large team of government relations resources that require extensive coordination to ensure effective strategic collaboration with engagement between House, Senate, CDC, FDA, HHS, and NIH. We are in a position to fundamentally and permanently expand the landscape of research and open access to treatments with major progress on both access policy and funding.

You

You are passionate about the power of community-driven advocacy to drive real change. You recognize that the integration between community advocacy and traditional government relations work is necessary to make progress. You’re meticulous and organized; curious and creative. You see yourself as a point guard capable of making everyone around you more productive. You will be eager to involve colleagues at all stages of work and love getting your hands dirty with all kinds of communications especially planning, workflow and process development. You have strong working knowledge of Capitol Hill as well as the broader health and research policy landscape and bring your own relationships at both the staff and member level. You understand bipartisan politics and can help a deep team navigate DC expertly.

Responsibilities

The Government Affairs Lead will be responsible for managing the workflow, communications and effective execution of I AM ALS’s government relations efforts. You will support the strategy development process, coordinate the engagement work across Congress and agencies, and integrate seamlessly with the ALS Community advocacy efforts. Responsibilities include:

Manage and coordinate the day-to-day execution of government relations efforts by I AM ALS team that includes multiple consulting partners, our founders and grassroots activists.
Ensure overall view of progress and status of multiple policies across multiple regulators.
Manage and track recurring reports and deliverables to ensure deadlines are met.
Develop and maintain general knowledge of legislation, government policy, media environment and current events relevant to the ALS community.
Offer insights and recommendations to shape government relations strategy.
Participate in meetings, conference calls and in-person meetings with a broad spectrum of stakeholders from community members to members of Congress.
Provide support to the Director of Science & Policy.
Other duties as determined by the emerging needs of the organization

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will likely possess some combination of the following qualifications:

8+ years of professional experience, including at least 5 years in public policy, government relations, corporate communications or policy advocacy and at least 2 years of experience working in a Congressional office or standing committee
Experience in and passion for public health and research policy
Experience with House or Senate Health committee
Experience with the FDA, NIH and/or DoD is a plus
Strong understanding of digital advocacy and experience with grassroots advocacy is a plus
Experience in a chronic or rare disease space is a plus
Demonstrated strength in the following areas:
- Exceptional communication skills
- Collaborative teammate, willingness to contribute flexibility and creativity in a startup environment
- Problem solver, able to find creative solutions when challenges arise
- Willingness to give and receive feedback, open to individual growth
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and navigating changes and ambiguity

Travel Requirements

Position is located in Washington, DC
Travel up to 10% for meetings and events

Salary and Benefits

Position is full time/exempt with competitive salary and benefits package including health insurance offering

To Apply

If you believe you can deliver on these responsibilities, we encourage you to apply. Submit a cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs@iamals.org with the subject line “Government Affairs Lead”.

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