Legislative Director, CA

Democracy Fund; Sacramento (CA); Hybrid; USD 101,000 - 117,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Robust healthcare plan

Generous Paid Time Off

12 paid holidays per year

401k with employer match

Professional development funds

Job summary

Common Cause is seeking a Legislative Director to set the vision and manage the legislative portfolio for California. You will lead policy development, build relationships at the State Capitol, and advance our democracy agenda from the Sacramento region.

You will oversee lobbying campaigns, coalition strategy, and external communications, while collaborating with the State Director and partners to ensure impactful advocacy and stakeholder engagement.

Qualifications

• Track record of impactful lobbying and knowledge of the California legislative process.
• Existing relationships with state-level decision-makers preferred.
• Knowledge of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties or Anti-Corruption & Accountability; interest in AI/democracy issues.
• Experience leading advocacy campaigns and coalitions.
• Willingness to travel in-state 3–4 times per year; able to work in Sacramento in person.
• Nonpartisan policy role; not currently holding elected office or party leadership.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction for California policy agenda.
• Manage all aspects of the California legislative process.
• Represent the organization in meetings with elected leaders and stakeholders.
• Lead coalitions of civil rights, tech/AI, and civic orgs across the state.
• Coordinate lobbying campaigns, grassroots outreach, and media engagement.
• Write op-eds, policy memos, and testimony; speak to the press.

Skills

Lobbying

California legislature

Coalition building

Stakeholder engagement

Press engagement

Tools

Microsoft Office

Slack

Zoom

Job description

We are looking for a Legislative Director to set the vision for and manage the legislative portfolio for Common Cause in California. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with strong collaboration and policy skills who can join us to lead our work at the State Capitol.

This role will work closely with the State Director as well as teammates, board members, and partners, and will build relationships to be our ambassador at the State Capitol. This role will work to advance our policy agenda at the state capitol so that we are building a more inclusive, equitable, representative, and trustworthy democracy in our state.

This is a full-time role reporting to the State Director and based in the Greater Sacramento Area, with an expectation to travel to the California State Capitol at least 3 days per week (up to 5 times per week during legislative session). We hope our new Legislative Director will start in October.

Responsibilities

• Set the strategic direction for and advance our California and national policy agenda
  • In partnership with the State Director, set and execute the long‑term strategy for statewide policy development and democracy reform, ensuring alignment with our organizational priorities
• Manage all aspects of the legislative process for Common Cause in California
  • Developing ideas for and drafting legislation, determining strategies to advocate for legislation, finding bill authors, lobbying, testifying at legislative hearings, and negotiating amendments
• Act as the team’s primary representative in meetings with elected leaders, legislative leaders, and other critical stakeholders
• Advance our legislative agenda through coalition building and stakeholder engagement
  • In partnership with the State Director and the Senior Director of Legislative Affairs, build relationships with key legislative staff at the state capitol to advance Common Cause’s federal policy agenda with the California delegation and other critical stakeholders
  • Collaborate with program staff to leverage their subject matter expertise to support our advocacy efforts
  • Build and lead coalitions of civil rights, tech/AI, civic engagement, and community‑based organizations from across the state, and act as a representative at the Capitol for our work with these organizations
  • Lead coalition meetings, manage cross‑sector relationships, and represent Common Cause in external policy discussions, public forums, and legislative hearings
  • Coordinate efforts with coalition partners on joint advocacy strategies, including lobbying campaigns, grassroots mobilization, and media outreach
  • Act as a spokesperson for Common Cause, delivering testimony, making public statements, and representing the organization in high‑level meetings and legislative events
  • Present and speak at legislative hearings and committee meetings
• Manage consultants and contractors as needed to ensure Common Cause’s legislative agenda is successful
• Drive campaigns and our advocacy strategy
  • Lead legislative advocacy campaigns, including creating policy proposals, drafting position papers, providing testimony, and organizing strategic outreach efforts to support legislative action
  • Provide input on election protection activities
  • Support and engage with the One Million Conversations Campaign and additional organization‑wide campaigns and initiatives
• Communicate about our work
  • Write op‑eds, research reports, legislative factsheets, policy briefs, and memos
  • Create social media content to publicize legislative work
  • Draft policy memos for the advisory board and members
  • Contribute to policy‑related social media posts, website content, and other communications
  • Make on‑the‑record statements to the press, and speak at press conferences or rallies
  • Understand best practices for effective engagement with Common Cause members and the public to support our legislative agenda
• Support our Fundraising and State Advisory Board management
  • Collaborate with the State Director and fundraising team to identify and pursue funding opportunities to support policy and legislative advocacy.
  • Act as the primary communicator with our state board on legislative and policy priorities, facilitating discussions on policy with the board as needed
  • Support fundraising efforts by engaging with key donors, grantmakers, and funding organizations to cultivate financial support for state programs and initiatives.
  • Write and develop updates and share successes through written updates and funder briefs
• Administrative and Other Duties
  • Complete administrative tasks as required, including logistics for legislative advocacy activities, stakeholder engagement, and coalition meetings.
  • Manage lobbying filings on behalf of Common Cause in California
  • Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications

You will thrive in this role if you have:

• A strong commitment to Common Cause’s nonpartisan mission and to advancing civil rights through our pro‑democracy agenda
• A commitment to equity in the goals of your work and in how you work with others
• Openness to feedback and awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth
• An ability to build rapport, trust, and credibility with multiple stakeholders with diverse interests, with a track record of working collaboratively with others, navigating organizational and power dynamics to meet common goals, and respectfully navigating conflict while maintaining your values
• Innovative and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to navigate through ambiguity to achieve goals, and a resourceful approach to solving problems
• Ability to manage and meet deadlines for multiple short‑ and long‑term priorities at once, with high attention to detail; strong organizational skills, and the ability to manage your time independently
• Ability to compel action through both written and verbal communication, including distilling complex concepts for a broad audience, and to differentiate communications as needed for various audiences; ideally, you have experience speaking to the press on complex issues
• Highly adaptable to shifting legislative priorities
• Familiarity with office productivity tools, including Microsoft Office, Slack, and Zoom

The following is required:

• A track record of impactful lobbying efforts and deep knowledge of the California legislative process
• A demonstrated knowledge of decision‑makers at the state level, with a preference for candidates who have existing relationships with these people and organizations
• Strong knowledge of current issues, challenges, and opportunities related to at least one of our issue areas: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties or Anti‑Corruption & Accountability; ideally, you also have knowledge of issues related to Media & Technology (in particular, AI and democracy) and/or Voting & Fair Representation
• Have led successful local‑or state‑level public advocacy campaigns related to democracy, elections, voting rights, and civil rights
• Have managed coalitions with diverse interests to achieve a goal
• Willing to have a social media presence on behalf of Common Cause, including being tagged on posts and creating content on behalf of the organization (as needed, Common Cause may provide accounts for staff members to use)
• Ability to travel in‑state 3‑4 times per year, and out‑of‑state 1‑2 times per year for team and/or all staff retreats
• Ability to work in‑person in Sacramento at least 3 days per week, and up to 5 days per week during legislative sessions, conferences, gatherings, and election protection work
• Per our nonpartisan policy, Common Cause staff members may not currently be in elected office (or running for office); on the Steering Committee or Finance Committee for any political candidate, or affiliated with the leadership of a political party

Additional information about this role:

• This position is included in a union‑represented collective bargaining unit, and specific employment terms and conditions are subject to collective bargaining negotiations

Common Cause is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time; please note that if hired, you will be asked to produce documentation for authorization to work in the US.

Common Cause is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of any race, creed, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, income class, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or marital status, as well as applicants who have been previously incarcerated.

Common Cause (501(c)(4)) and Common Cause Education Fund (501(c)(3)) are nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots affiliate organizations dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create an open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Common Cause has members and supporters living in every congressional district in the United States, and offices in 23 states around the country.

100786 - 116699 USD a year

Note that we do have geography‑specific percentage increases, depending on where you are located; details here.

In order to ensure greater equity and transparency as an organization, Common Cause sets salary ranges consistently based on job responsibilities, and we determine salary for each staff member based on relevant years of experience (you can read more about our approach to compensation here, including where we offer geographical adjustments). For these reasons, we do not negotiate on our salary ranges or our specific salary offers.

In addition to salary, we also offer a generous benefits package, including:

• A robust healthcare plan that covers 97% of employees’ medical care, 100% of employees’ vision and dental benefits, and 75% of family medical care and 100% of family vision and dental benefits
• Long‑term disability and life insurance
• Generous Paid Time Off, including 20 Days of Vacation and 10 observed Holidays per year, and additional days off for Thanksgiving and Winter break
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Flexible spending accounts
• A 401k retirement savings plan, with immediate Employer Match
• Dependent Care and Pet Care Support when you travel for work
• Funds for professional development
• And more! See more details here: https://www.commoncause.org/our-benefits/