Director of State Policies

The Marijuana Policy Project, a fast-paced, well-respected lobbying organization, is seeking a seasoned professional to fill the position of Director of State Policies in MPP's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Director of State Policies manages MPP's grassroots and direct lobbying efforts in all state legislatures.

QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates should have strong political instincts and solid political or government relations experience and should be results-oriented, an outstanding and hands-on manager, and able to persuasively promote MPP's policy goals. Candidates should also have the vision and the energy to proactively plan and execute aggressive lobbying and grassroots activism campaigns in a number of states simultaneously — often in the face of adversity and ennui on the part of government officials.

Expertise in analyzing and drafting legislation is a bonus but not required.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The overarching goal of the position is to pass state-level medical marijuana legislation and/or legislation to reform marijuana laws with an ultimate goal of taxing and regulating adult marijuana use in a manner similar to alcohol, while preventing bad bills from being enacted. Specifically, the Director of State Policies' responsibilities are as follows:

1. Advise the Executive Director on legislative strategy, including:

• Tactics for moving bills forward and fighting bad bills, such as committee and floor strategy, targeted mailings to voters in key legislative districts, generating phone calls from voters to their elected officials, and commissioning public opinion polls; and
• An analysis of the states MPP should focus its resources on year-to-year.

2. Oversee and effectively manage an Assistant Director of State Policies, two Legislative Analysts, one California Organizer, and one Legislative Assistant. These staffers are responsible for:

• Monitoring marijuana-related bills in all 50 states and the District of Columbia;
• Conducting legislative research and analysis;
• Working with state legislators to maximize the number of good bills introduced;
• Training witnesses for committee hearings;
• Building coalitions of opinion leaders and prestigious organizations in a handful of key states;
• Working with activists in keys states to generate media coverage and grassroots pressure;
• Occasionally submitting written testimony for committee hearings on marijuana-related bills;
• Writing and sending legislative alerts to MPP's e-mail subscribers in a given state; and
• Maintaining MPP's 51 state Web pages with updated legislative information.

The Director of State Policies oversees these staffers' work, provides guidance and training, and manages and evaluates performance.

3. Manage professional lobbyists (on retainer) in a handful of state capitals, including:

• Hiring (and, if necessary, firing) lobbyists;
• Advising MPP's Assistant Director of State Policies and two Legislative Analysts on their communications with MPP's lobbyists; and
• Engaging in direct strategy discussions with the lobbyists.

The Director of State Policies reports to MPP's Executive Director.

COMPENSATION

In addition to a competitive salary, the position includes full health insurance and an optional retirement package.

TO APPLY

To apply, please see MPP's application guidelines and follow the instructions there. Interviews are being conducted on a rolling basis, so interested candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

ABOUT MPP

With 36 employees, 25,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, MPP is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana — both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit its use — and believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment.

Thank you for your interest.