Managing Director, Government Affairs

National Assoc of Counties • Washington, DC

1d • $185,000

About The Position

Overview: The Managing Director of Government Affairs serves as a senior administrative and operational leader within NACo’s Government Affairs Department. The position supports the Chief Government Affairs Officer by overseeing internal departmental processes, managing staff workflows, reviewing and finalizing materials prior to executive sign-off, and ensuring consistency and accuracy across all government affairs outputs. This role helps coordinate legislative, regulatory, and intergovernmental activities and strengthens internal alignment with NACo’s broader organizational priorities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, government, public administration, or related field.
• Minimum of 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in government affairs, public policy, legislative administration, or departmental operations.
• Demonstrated experience supporting or managing professional staff and coordinating organizational workflows or department-level operations.
• Proven ability to review, edit, synthesize, and finalize complex policy or advocacy documents.
• Strong understanding of federal, state, and local policy processes and intergovernmental systems.
• Excellent administrative, communication, leadership, and organizational management skills.
• Ability to streamline processes, ensure consistency, and maintain high-quality departmental operations.
• Skilled in managing staff coordination, workload distribution, and internal communication.
• Strong ability to edit, refine, and finalize complex documents with accuracy and consistency.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across departments to support ONE NACo integration.
• Ability to prepare, refine, and organize internal and external communications with clarity and precision.
• Skilled in supporting organization-wide processes, systems, and collaborative initiatives.
• Ability to manage sensitive information, prioritize competing demands, and support executive-level decision making.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working within or alongside membership associations, government organizations, or intergovernmental partners preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee internal operations of the Government Affairs Department, ensuring effective workflow management, staff coordination, and operational consistency.
• Review, edit, and finalize departmental materials—including policy drafts, correspondence, and advocacy content—prior to submission to the Chief Government Affairs Officer.
• Support the Chief Government Affairs Officer in managing departmental activity, tracking deadlines, and ensuring timely completion of deliverables.
• Coordinate administrative processes such as internal briefing preparation, advocacy events, document review cycles, and cross-departmental task management.
• Assist in developing internal systems to support efficiency, quality control, and operational excellence.
• Help manage the Government Affairs team by supporting daily operations, workload distribution, and team communication.
• Provide guidance and administrative leadership to Legislative Directors and Associate Legislative Directors to ensure alignment with departmental priorities.
• Support performance management processes, professional development planning, and staff accountability measures.
• Facilitate department-wide coordination to ensure consistent communication and integrated execution of NACo’s policy work.
• Serve as a member of the Managing Directors Council, supporting organization-wide planning, internal operations, and coordination across NACo departments under the ONE NACo approach.
• Work collaboratively with public affairs, research, county solutions, membership, and other internal partners to ensure alignment and coordination across all advocacy-related materials and activities.
• Support development and implementation of internal communication processes that ensure timely information sharing and collaborative execution.
• Oversee internal review processes for policy analysis, regulatory summaries, comment letters, and advocacy materials to ensure clarity, accuracy, and consistency with NACo priorities and style.
• Assist in coordinating NACo’s engagement with congressional offices, federal agencies, and intergovernmental partners by ensuring internal preparation and follow-up processes are effectively managed.
• Support departmental organization for meetings, briefings, hearings, and events, including managing logistics, preparing materials, and coordinating staff roles.
• Support county leaders, state association partners, and affiliates by ensuring timely and accurate distribution of policy updates, briefing materials, and internal communications.
• Strengthen departmental responsiveness by ensuring inquiries, member requests, and partner communications are managed with accuracy and consistency.
• Provide administrative and operational support to the Chief Government Affairs Officer in fulfilling responsibilities with NACo’s Board of Directors, Executive Committee, and membership
• Other duties as assigned

Benefits

• Teammates of NACo enjoy a fun and challenging environment with a wide range of competitive benefits, including comprehensive medical, vision and dental insurance; generous paid leave and federal holidays; transportation subsidy; tuition assistance; 401(k) match, pension plans, group life insurance, voluntary payroll deductions for pet insurance and credit union membership, and short/long term disability coverage including applicable parental leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees