Government Affairs Associate

Make an impact and join the American Waterways Operators team working to help businesses navigate regulatory challenges to increase safety, support the people working in the maritime industry, and advocate on the environmental policies that protect the air, water, and climate where our members operate throughout the country’s coastal and inland waterways.

Position Summary: As a Government Affairs Associate you will research and analyze regulatory and legislative impacts on national and regional maritime issues, propose strategic actions and communicate issue status to AWO staff and members, and communicate AWO positions to external audiences. In advocating on your portfolio of policy issues, you will effectively interact and liaise with colleagues, AWO members, national, state, and local elected and regulatory staff, and the public.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Quickly and proactively become the issue expert on a portfolio of maritime policy issues related to transportation planning and infrastructure, the environment, and operational concerns to drive advocacy work on those issues forward in coordination with AWO staff and members.
• Track, research and analyze national and state legislative and regulatory activities. 
• Draft advocacy communications including testimony, regulatory comments, letters, and meeting materials in a professional and thorough manner.
• Work with AWO members and manage member working groups to develop and inform advocacy positions.
• Engage with state and federal agency and legislative staff.
• Draft AWO member communications including newsletter stories and issue updates.
• Monitor, attend, and report on relevant developments from a variety of sources, including the Federal Register, agency communications and public meetings, legislative hearings, and maritime trade press.
• Respond in timely fashion to AWO staff and member questions on statutory and regulatory requirements and developments, at both national and state levels.
• Present pertinent information to AWO members at meetings and conferences; provide other meeting support as needed.
• Work with senior staff to coordinate and communicate with other trade associations that share AWO advocacy interests.
• Other duties as required.

Required Qualifications:

• Excellent research and analytical skills.
• Superb communication skills, both written and oral.
• Ability to integrate and persuasively explain complex technical concepts to key audiences.
• Ability to synthesize developments into coherent strategy.

·        Minimum 3 years of progressive writing, research and analytic duties in a government, government affairs, advocacy, or other equivalent work environment.

·        Bachelor’s degree. An advanced degree may be considered in lieu of work experience.

• Effective time management and organizational skills necessary to satisfactorily complete multiple tasks, for multiple stakeholders and multiple deadlines.
• Cooperative and productive in a distributed team environment.
• D.C. based with flexible work from home opportunities; some travel is required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated interest in maritime policy.
• Membership/trade association experience.
• Knowledge of federal regulatory and legislative processes.

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary range: $60,000-$70,000 with competitive benefits, including 200 hours paid time off, vested 401(k) with matching, comprehensive health insurance, 100% employer paid dental, vision, and life insurance, 160 hours paid parental leave.

A cover letter is required with resume submission. Please send a resume and cover letter to resumes@americanwaterways.com; reference “Government Affairs Associate” on the subject line of the email.

See www.americanwaterways.com for information about our organization.