Legislative Aide

Description

Delegate Sally Hudson seeks a Legislative Aide to join her office serving Virginia’s 57th House District. Legislative Aide is a full-time, year-round job based in Charlottesville and Richmond. This position offers an exciting opportunity to serve the Charlottesville Albemarle community and help shape progressive policy in Virginia.

Core Duties

State legislators handle all the same core duties as their federal counterparts in Congress. Each district just serves fewer people and has a smaller staff. This position combines several of the traditional roles in a Congressional office.

● Legislative Correspondent

You’ll help the Delegate draft documents of all kinds: correspondence, press releases, agendas, memos, and newsletters. Clear, engaging writing is essential for this role.

● Caseworker

You’ll help constituents navigate state programs like Medicaid and unemployment and work with federal partners on everything from immigration to the Postal Service. Good caseworkers are diligent, creative, compassionate, and comfortable working with people from all walks of life.

● Communications Assistant

So much of our work happens online: social media, email blasts, webinars, and more. You’ll help create the written and graphic content we need to engage with our community on these digital platforms.

● Scheduler

You’ll manage the Delegate’s schedule, making time for the projects and events that matter most. Effective schedulers have an eagle eye for detail. They can anticipate collisions and juggle logistics.

● Staff Assistant

You’ll assist with the daily operations of our office: answering phones, organizing mail, tracking expenses, etc. Your practical administrative skills will help us run a tight ship.

Required Qualifications

Prior political experience isn’t necessary. Many of the skills that make a great Legislative Aide come from other industries. Here’s what you’ll need:

● You’re a strong writer who adapts quickly to different styles, topics, and formats.

● You’re a thorough and resourceful researcher who can vet and summarize information efficiently.

● You’re ultra-organized and systems-oriented. Legislative sessions are high-stakes and hectic, so this work requires extraordinary attention to detail. If you love proofreading, color-coding, and tidy tables, you’ll thrive in this role.

● You’re industrious and a self-starter. This job presents new puzzles every day. Knowing the answers is less important than knowing how to find your way to someone who does.

● You collaborate well with diverse constituents and project partners. We’re blessed to work with people from all walks of life.

● You’re comfortable with some of our core tech tools and eager to learn more. Our go-to tools include: GSuite, the Microsoft Office suite, Slack, AirTable, Todoist, Canva, WordPress, and NGP (a CRM).

● You have a sincere commitment to service and community engagement. Our team values integrity, humility, hustle, and humor.

Desired Qualifications

● You have an eye for graphic design and aesthetics. Our team is especially eager to hire someone who can help format attractive and engaging content for event invitations, social media, and more.

Opportunities for Advancement

This position involves daily exposure to a wide variety of policy projects through the “Legislative Correspondent” work. More in-depth policy research and development typically accompanies a more senior “Legislative Assistant” role. Our team is eager to support an entry-level hire in developing the skills needed to grow into Legislative Assistant work over time. In the meantime, the core duties described above are enough to fill a full-time job for an entry-level hire.

We also welcome more experienced applicants
who could start at the Legislative Assistant level and will adjust the starting salary accordingly.

Location and Schedule

● Start date is flexible. We aim to have a new hire in place by December 1, 2021 to allow for training time before the 2022 legislative session.

● The session typically runs from early January through early March.

○ During session, staff should plan to reside in Richmond during the work week and be available for potential travel to Charlottesville on weekends.

○ Workdays during session can be long and unpredictable. Staff should plan to be available outside normal business hours.

● Outside the legislative session, both the schedule and location are much more flexible.

○ To compensate for the intense session schedule, our team has a generous paid-time off policy (below).

○ To represent the office at community events, the position requires occasional work hours on evenings and weekends. Due to public health conditions, that dimension of the job has slowed but will likely resume down the road.

○ Delegate Hudson has an office in downtown Charlottesville and aims to work with staff in person at least one day a week. Applicants who desire a hybrid schedule that includes some remote work days are welcome.

○ We would prefer to hire someone based in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community. If you’re interested in a Richmond-based position, Delegate Hudson is open to hiring someone on a short-term basis for the 2022 legislative session and filling the permanent, Charlottesville-based position in the spring of 2022.

Compensation

● The starting salary range is $40,000-55,000 per year depending on qualifications and experience.

● The state provides health insurance to our current full-time staff member. This position will include comparable coverage, if desired.

● Travel and living expenses for a temporary Richmond residence during the legislative session will be reimbursed.

Application

A brief application is available online at the link below. Strong applicants will be invited to complete a practical writing exercise and interview. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. https://airtable.com/shrmZM3y73jcymUnf

Job Duties

Please review the job description.

Skills Required

Writing.
Researching.
Organizational skills.
Attention to detail.
Proofreading.
Communicate with diverse constituencies.
Able to learn new technology tools.

Work Schedule

Varies depending on the time of year and needs of the office.

Please review the job description for more details.