City Policy Coordinator

Institute for Justice • Arlington, VA

4d • $60,000 - $65,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Institute for Justice (IJ) is seeking a City Policy Coordinator to join its Activism team at its headquarters in Arlington, VA. The Activism team focuses on challenging and reforming local and state policies and laws related to economic liberty, property rights, qualified immunity, and access to justice. This full-time role is part of the Cities Work initiative, which aims to advance economic liberty through local regulatory reform by making it cheaper, faster, and simpler for individuals to start a small business. The initiative works directly with entrepreneurs, city officials, regulators, and economic development organizations to identify and address real-world hurdles to starting a business through comprehensive regulatory reform strategies. The ideal candidate will be a versatile individual capable of community outreach, policy analysis and recommendation development, research, event hosting, media relations, writing for diverse audiences, organizing public information campaigns, and lobbying. A successful candidate will be committed to IJ's mission, personable, self-motivated, proactive, eager to learn, passionate about helping people of modest means, enjoy working with diverse decision-makers, detail-oriented, a critical thinker, and enthusiastic about the work. The role offers support from enthusiastic managers, opportunities for travel, professional development, growth, and long-term advancement within a close-knit team environment.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree and two years of professional experience
• Possess exceptional research, writing, and interpersonal skills
• Background and interest in public policy (through curriculum or practice)
• Record of demonstrated initiative and leadership
• Commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and challenging government abuse.

Nice To Haves

• Experience, professional or otherwise, with advocacy work and community outreach is a plus, but not necessary.
• Professional or academic experience in management consulting is also a plus.

Responsibilities

• Researching municipal codes, zoning ordinances, and building code administrative processes to identify barriers facing small businesses and under-resourced entrepreneurs, and developing actionable policy recommendations and draft code amendments.
• Developing one-pagers, policy briefs, draft ordinance language, and policy reports that translate complex zoning and regulatory concepts into accessible materials for policymakers and the public.
• Planning and executing community engagement efforts including small business roundtables, door-to-door canvassing, and town halls to ground policy recommendations in the real experiences of microbusiness entrepreneurs.
• Engaging city council members, planning staff, and development services officials through interviews, meetings, and public testimony to advance economic justice.
• Identifying new project opportunities, developing partnerships with local governments, and managing regulatory consulting projects internally and externally.
• Building and maintaining relationships with small business owners, entrepreneur support organizations, and community organizations to support grassroots advocacy and coalition building.
• Organizing grassroots campaigns in support of regulatory reform, including coordinating letters to representatives, coalition letters, op-eds, press conferences, and media outreach.
• Representing Cities Work at national conferences through networking, tabling, and hosting workshops/panels/sessions.
• Advancing Cities Work's impact by tracking innovative reforms nationally, building relationships across the economic development ecosystem, and producing case studies on adopted reforms for our Case Study Library.
• Leading cohorts of city representatives, students, or economic developers, equipping them with the tools to conduct regulatory research and implement reforms in their own cities.

Benefits

• Hybrid work schedule
• Flexible work hours with our core business hours of 10am and 4pm
• Health, Dental, and Vision insurance (IJ covers 100% of individual premiums)
• Free Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Life insurance plans
• HSA employer contributions
• 401(k) with employer matches
• Smart casual dress code with casual Fridays
• Generous PTO package of accruing sick and vacation hours in addition to a paid personal day and floating and traditional holidays

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level