State Director of Public Affairs

Educators for Excellence•, MA

2d•$138,000 - $196,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Educators for Excellence (E4E) is seeking a State Director of Public Affairs to serve as the senior political and strategic lead for our policy campaigns in Massachusetts. As a member of E4E’s national leadership team, this role is responsible for setting the political strategy, policy positioning, and developing and managing the relationships necessary to advance E4E’s national issue agenda at the state and local level. The State Director of Public Affairs in Massachusetts will operate as the public-facing leader of E4E’s operations in the state, engaging policymakers, state officials, coalition partners, local officials, funders, and the media to win educator-driven issue advocacy campaigns. This is a high-impact, externally-focused leadership role that will partner closely with our national team to ensure our campaigns are grounded in the perspective of E4E’s teacher leaders and a strong political strategy to secure policy wins. This role will not have direct reports, instead overseeing—through matrixed leadership—a local fellowship of teacher leaders who inform, drive, and act on campaign priorities. Additionally, the State Director will oversee centralized campaign operations and support from communications, digital, organizing, and policy functions embedded across the national Program team.

Requirements

10+ years of professional experience, including at least 5 years in education policy
Proven track record primarily designing and leading issue advocacy campaigns, ideally at the state level or at a minimum in a large urban local government
Deep experience operating in fast-paced, complex, highly political environments
Additional electoral campaign experience preferred
Must be able to work occasional weekends and evenings for programmatic events and other priorities.
Must be willing to travel to meet with staff across the country.

Nice To Haves

Additional experience working on electoral campaigns (not exclusively)
Comfortable serving as a public leader and face of E4E in Massachusetts, including media engagement and public speaking
Well-established relationships with policymakers, advocates, opinion leaders, and other stakeholders in the state
Experience managing and/or working with lobbyists
Deep network in state and local politics
Familiarity in working with teachers’ unions and education policy dynamics
Deep experience navigating state-level politics, ideally with experience in the legislature, executive branch, or with local elected officials
Strong understanding of how policy wins are achieved from introduction to passage
Dialed into local political conditions and dynamics, and hyper aware of issue framing against the broader landscape

Responsibilities

Analyze the state and/or local political landscape to identify opportunities, assess constraints, and advise on viable pathways for teacher-led policy change aligned with E4E’s national policy agenda
Define the strategy and contextualized theory of change for state-level or local issue advocacy campaigns, in partnership with the National Director of State Campaigns
Right-size campaigns based on political conditions, organizational capacity, and coalition alignment and/or capacity
Lead assessment and recommendations on legislative pathways, timing, and decision-making that lead to success
Partner with the National Director of State Campaigns to develop strong teacher leader fellowships that meaningfully shape and drive issue advocacy campaigns in Massachusetts
Ensure educator voice and priorities shape issue advocacy campaign strategies and vision
Support and develop issue advocacy skills and competencies in teacher leader fellowships, ensuring a strong bench of campaign surrogates who can partner with the State Director of Public Affairs to lead issue advocacy campaigns
Represent E4E publicly with policymakers, state officials, media, local elected officials, and other key stakeholders and decision-makers
Build and maintain deep relationships with legislators, administration officials, coalition partners, and opinion leaders
Serve as a spokesperson, shaping and delivering messages that reflect political realities while advancing E4E goals
Position E4E as a credible, leading voice in shaping education policy across the state
Build, lead, and sustain strategic coalitions aligned to campaign priorities and E4E’s issue agenda, leveraging existing relationships and cultivating new partnerships necessary to advance and win campaigns
Develop and manage strong relationships with elected officials, policymakers, and other state and/or local stakeholders who influence or shape policy decisions
Navigate complex political dynamics and opposition to maintain coalition alignment, build political capital, and advance viable pathways to campaign success
Manage external lobbyists and government affairs partners, ensuring their work is strategically aligned to campaign goals and broader advocacy priorities
Inform messaging strategy, in collaboration with campaign communications staff, that ensures political context, alignment with our teacher leaders, and opposition
Partner with SVP Campaigns and Public Affairs to ensure campaign messaging is strategic, disciplined, and effective
Drive E4E’s public narrative and positioning in Massachusetts, particularly in high-stakes or politically sensitive moments–through earned, owned, and paid media collaboration with campaign communications staff
In partnership with the national team, help represent local work with funders, foundations, and individual donors who are aligned with E4E policy campaign priorities
Provide the national development team with campaign insights and strategy that support donor relationships and new prospects
Advise on alignment between fundraising strategies, donor management, and campaign priorities
Ensure timely execution of grant deliverables and support clear, effective communications for internal and external fundraising efforts