Director of Governance Programs

Position: Director of Governance Programs

Location:  National. 100% Remote, with up to 15-20% of expected travel for in-person programs, events, and team meetings and events. 

Deadline to Apply: August 15, 2025.

Who We Are

The States Project (TSP) connects the importance of state legislatures to every aspect of our lives and brings together communities to help build a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous future for all. Our electoral work focuses on winning governing majorities in the states by making state legislative campaigns more effective and better-funded. Our governance work provides nonpartisan tools and resources that connect a diverse community of state lawmakers committed to improving lives for the people they serve. We do it because we believe that state legislatures are the strongest force for change in this country. We encourage you to find out more about our values here.

Position Details:

This is a full-time, exempt at-will position. The team currently operates remotely, with occasional in-person events and team retreats, etc. Some travel will be required. Additional evening and weekend hours are occasionally required to fulfill the duties of this position. 

The Opportunity

The States Project is seeking a Director of Governance Programs who will be responsible for building and overseeing TSP’s governance programming for lawmakers, as well as operational systems, workflows, and processes to ensure efficiency, scalability, and alignment with TSP goals. This role involves content/curriculum development, program design, strategic planning, project management, training and facilitation, and coordination across multiple teams. The Director will lead and manage TSP programming, build and optimize new systems and processes, manage multiple complex workflows across different teams, and help to ensure that Lawmaker Engagement team resources are deployed efficiently to achieve TSP objectives. We value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at The States Project. Women, people of color, trans/genderqueer people, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are especially encouraged to apply. 

What You Will Do Principal activities will include but not be limited to: 

Program Development and Evaluation:

-Develop, manage execution of, and evaluate annual programming strategy and support on all related materials, including project planning and calendar management.

-Manage high visibility/priority lawmaker engagements including but not limited to TSP’s Fellowship and cohort programming.

-Lead development of content and related materials for different types of governance programming.

-Advise on and/or lead the innovation and scaling of new projects or programs that advance TSP’s work with lawmakers and relevant staff. 

-Provide ongoing project management for all programming, including content approvals and overseeing logistics (with a support staff member).

-Build and manage strong internal processes and best practices for program evaluation and assessment (includes developing program evaluations, conducting staff training on evaluation and assessment, and integrating evaluation and assessment frameworks into governance programming).

Process Optimization and Operations:

-Analyze existing workflows to identify inefficiencies or bottlenecks, develop recommendations, and lead the implementation of improvements, including leading cross-team initiatives to improve team efficiency and maximize impact.

-Ensure systems are scalable, secure, and meet the evolving needs of the Lawmaker Engagement team.

-Align systems and processes with team objectives, including oversight and improvement of existing systems and processes and development of new ones as needed.

-Analyze data and progress towards achieving governance goals to recommend and develop new strategies to improve efficiency and impact.

Team Management and Leadership: 

-Manage governance programming and operations functions including collaboration and project management with relevant team members. 

-Collaborate with leaders throughout TSP and other initiatives to understand and work to resolve operational challenges and requirements.

-Hire, orient, and manage a small team of full-time staff, and also consultants, vendors, and interns as needed.

-Build out and deliver staff training on core competencies such as facilitation, program design, project management, goal setting, etc.  

-Collaborate with other internal teams at TSP to keep internal stakeholders informed on key systems and operations changes and fidelity to team processes, as well as rules and standards. 

-Oversee team gatherings/learning and development (planning team meetings, in-person retreats or convenings, etc.)

What You Bring to The Partnership:  

-Experience with program development, evaluation, operations, management, and staff development. 

-At least seven years of relevant experience, including three years of experience managing full-time staff. 

-Passion for and alignment with the organization’s mission, vision, and theory of change.

-Capable of independently managing/prioritizing time and tasks associated with a fast-paced organization.

-Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

-Excellent judgment and creative problem solving skills, including negotiation and conflict resolution skills and a highly collaborative approach.

-Ability to create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence. 

What Makes You a Unique Fit for This Role:  

-Experience with adult education, curriculum development, and/or programming.

-Experience working with lawmakers, executives, government officials, etc. 

Benefits:

The position offers a competitive benefits package. Benefits currently offered include 75% paid coverage of medical, dental, and vision for individuals and dependents, basic life insurance, an employee assistance program, unlimited PTO, 401(k) matching, annual professional development, wellness, and work-from-home stipends and paid family leave.

What You Can Expect During the Recruitment and Hiring Process:

All applicants will submit a resume and cover letter. Selected applicants will be moved forward to a phone screen. The next steps will include interviews with staff and leadership.