Senior Director, External and Government Affairs

Job Description:

Position Announcement #123011 – Sr. Director, External and Government Affairs

Who We Are:

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is a private, nonprofit corporation created to ensure universal access to non-commercial high-quality content and telecommunications services. We invest in programs and services that are educational, innovative, locally relevant, and reflect America’s common values and cultural diversity. Through grants, we encourage the development of content that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences.

Position Opportunity:

Reporting to the SVP, External Affairs, works as a liaison between CPB and the federal government, including the Administration, Departments, Agencies and Congress. Among the Senior Director’s responsibilities is to help secure full funding of CPB’s appropriations requests to the Administration and Congress each year, funding which represents not only the overwhelming majority of the federal investment in public media but the entirety of CPB’s annual revenue.

CPB does not and is prohibited from lobbying; however, this position works directly with the government affairs offices of NPR, PBS, and APTS, and with members of the National Multicultural Alliance, ITVS, and other national public broadcasting organizations with an eye toward strengthening America’s public broadcasting service. 

Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and work experience.

Required Qualifications:

• Eight years of related governmental experience at the federal, state or local level. Preference for federal experience in legislative activities, public policy development, or public administration (e.g., government affairs, corporate or trade association representation).

• Working knowledge of rules/procedures of U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and their respective committees and of budget/appropriation processes.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, with work experience in preparation of Congressional testimony and management of all facets of preparation for Congressional hearings.

• Ability to identify issues, formulate policy recommendations, and develop and present clearly and concisely corporate legislative strategies.

• Ability to foster and develop variety of working relationships and contacts, and to interact effectively with trade associations and groups having common purposes and goals.

• Experience utilizing MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams).

Position Responsibilities:

• Manages, creates, and disseminates CPB’s annual reports to Congress, congressional correspondence, and all of CPB’s day-to-day interaction with the federal government, including committees of jurisdiction.

• Serves as lead government affairs contact for CPB initiatives, which includes regularly meeting with internal project managers to communicate timely updates to government affairs stakeholders through congressional briefings, meetings, and personalized emails.

• Oversees the compilation of state public broadcasting profiles, “state stories,” and  congressional caucus memos.

• Cultivates and maintains effective working relationships between CPB and House and Senate members and their staffs, particularly those serving on committees of relevance to the public media.

• Monitors legislative (legislation and hearings), public policy and other business developments affecting broadcasting, education, and public safety, and keeps CPB informed in a timely manner.

• Works with Members of Congress on local station grant announcements.

• Works with national public broadcasting organizations and other organizations with an interest in public broadcasting to develop the industry’s legislative agenda.

• Coordinates with the SVP, External Affairs in working with OMB, the FCC, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other executive branch agencies on budget and other matters of significance to CPB and the industry.

• Attends in-person meetings and conferences on Capitol Hill on a near-daily basis (subject to public health and public safety access and protocols) and performs other duties as assigned.

Compensation:

The salary for this position will be no less than $102,200 within a salary hiring range up to $125,600. Exact salary based upon experience, education related to the role, CPB compensation structure and internal equity. Annual salary increases and bonus award based on performance against annual objectives and position responsibilities.

Benefits:

We invest in our staff providing excellent benefits that include paid leave, paid holidays, a variety of insurance programs, commuting assistance, retirement, maternity/paternity leave benefit, and an employee tuition assistance program.

Location:

CPB is conveniently located amidst multiple metro stops at 401 Ninth St. NW, Washington, DC. We are a largely local workforce and value employee flexibility, when possible. Currently, most positions are offsite or hybrid, depending on role, as approved by the position’s Department Head.