Director of Legislative Affairs

About the Organization

Founded in 2009, the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) is a nonprofit whose mission is to advance individual liberty, free-market principles, and limited government through research, education, and advocacy. We believe Idaho can be a national model for conservative governance, and we work to make that vision a reality by holding lawmakers accountable, engaging citizens, and equipping leaders with the tools to defend freedom.

Our team is passionate, principled, and focused on delivering bold, transformational change—not just incremental reform. Whether through exposing government waste, promoting school choice, or advancing tax and regulatory reform, IFF remains a leading voice for liberty in the Gem State.

About the Role

Do you excel at building relationships and persuading decision makers? Are you genuinely curious about other people? Do you thrive in charting and executing a strategy to win? Do you have a passion for free markets, individual liberty, and creating opportunity for every Idahoan (but are still able to maintain genuine relationships with people who disagree)? Willing to grind it out to get the job done?

IFF seeks a Director of Legislative Affairs who will report to the President. The candidate must be able to be fully engaged, working onsite, full-time in Boise, especially during the legislative session. This role will require occasional travel, primarily in-state.

The successful candidate will be passionate about creating a culture of freedom and economic opportunity in Idaho, will appreciate the atmosphere of an ambitious start-up (even in an established organization), and will have demonstrated expertise in building and executing policy advocacy campaigns.

The Director of Legislative Affairs will thrive on the challenge of creating short-term and long-term strategies to advance a set of freedom policy priorities in the Idaho legislature, as well as strategies for fighting against the Marxist and socialist agendas being promoted in the legislature. The candidate will also appreciate a culture valuing entrepreneurism, humor, action, continuous improvement, and strategic thinking.

Responsibilities

• Strategy & Collaboration:
  • Work directly with the organization’s leadership to develop and implement short-term and long-term government affairs and citizen advocacy plans
  • Partner with policy colleagues to understand and drive outcomes to advance policy priorities
  • Partner with communications colleagues to align and connect marketing/persuasion and advocacy objectives with a growing list of IFF members.
• Relationship-Building:
  • Build and cultivate genuine, productive relationships with elected officials, staff, and coalition members
  • Build and maintain coalitions on key issues
  • Identify stakeholders and allies – traditional and nontraditional – around an ambitious policy agenda
• Advocacy
  • Connect citizen advocacy and government affairs campaigns
  • Collaborate with colleagues to build public support in target districts to advance policy priorities
  • Stay up to speed on technology and strategy innovations

Compensation

The projected salary range for this role is $65,000 – $75,000 per year. Compensation is based on the successful candidate’s educational background, experience, and skills.

Requirements

• At least 5+ years of professional experience (though candidates with a wide range of experience levels are welcome to apply)
• Dedicated, professional, and responsible work ethic
• Entrepreneurial spirit and ability to be a self-starter
• Love for both freedom policy ideas and the strategy that brings them to fruition
• A joie de vivre and happy warrior mentality who can engage in and help lead a unique Idaho movement for change
• Notable relationship building skills, and an outgoing, friendly personality, especially under pressure
• Understanding of and commitment to the principles of free enterprise, individual liberty, and personal responsibility, and how those principles lead to human flourishing
• An understanding of the public policy process and how to drive meaningful, long-lasting change in a state; direct experience in public policy, legislative outreach, and/or coalition building a strong plus; roots in and understanding of Idaho are also a strong plus
• Experience or familiarity with the legislative process, bill tracking, texting, and other government affairs and advocacy tools a plus
• Demonstrated competency in building, testing, measuring and learning; ability to take an idea and turn it into reality
• Ability to travel (primarily in-state) approximately 10%, and demonstrated love of western, rugged individualistic, local cultures
• Willingness to engage in constructive give-and-take with a dynamic team to continuously improve one’s own performance, as well as the organization’s
• Demonstrated ability to work well with strong opinions, loosely held
• Excellent communication skills, including above-average proficiency in writing, both short and long forms
• On-camera experience preferred
• Abilities to create effective messaging on policy issues
• A demonstrated appetite for continual learning

How to Apply

Qualified candidates should submit the following application materials (in order) in one PDF document:

• Cover letter including:
  • An introductory paragraph(s) describing three distinct reasons you are drawn to IFF’s mission and how you came to those beliefs. Be sure to include at least one specific issue or policy area that resonates with you.
  • Salary requirements
• Resume

Applications should be submitted to Talent Market via this link: talentmarket.org/apply-for-your-dream-job/.

Questions can be directed to Katy Gambella, Director of Outreach at Talent Market, who is managing the search process: [email protected].

There is no application deadline for this position. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. This job will remain posted on our site until it is filled.

While we thank all applicants in advance for their interest in this position, we are only able to contact those to whom we can offer an interview. Only direct applications will be considered. No phone calls, please.