Public Affairs Program Specialist – (contingent 034)

Mssi Inc; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 65,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Mssi Inc in Huntsville, AL is looking for a Public Affairs Program Specialist. The successful candidate will develop strategic messaging and manage congressional outreach, requiring a Top Secret clearance.

Candidates must have a Bachelor's Degree in Public Policy or related fields, with at least five years of experience in governmental roles. Proficiency in Microsoft Office is essential. This full-time position offers a critical role in maintaining strong relationships with congressional stakeholders, supporting organizational goals.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of work experience in legislative office, government affairs, or corporate affairs.
• Experience acting as a legislative and political subject matter expert.
• Military experience supporting legislative affairs work is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Assist in developing strategic messaging for outreach.
• Manage and track congressional actions and coordinate related tasks.
• Develop annual strategies for congressional relationship management.

Skills

Project management

Relationship building

Organizational skills

Legislative advocacy

Proficiency in Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Public Policy or related field

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

Public Affairs Program Specialist – (contingent 034)

Job Category: Operations

Requisition Number: OPERA001819

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• Full‑Time

Locations

Huntsville, AL 35805, USA

Description

Title: Public Affairs Program Specialist – (contingent 034)

Assist in the development of strategic messaging and narrative that will inform internal and external outreach, including Congressional and industry stakeholders. A Top Secret clearance is required.

Responsibilities

• Experience in project management, relationship building, organizational, and coalition‑building skills, including demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects concurrently.
• Experience managing resources on legislative or public policy‑related initiatives; eagerness to understand and explain complex technical concepts and their policy implications.
• A track record of delivering results in developing and implementing legislative advocacy programs.
• Familiarity with proprietary legislative tracking software is also desired.
• Must be able to manage and track administrative congressional actions within organization by overseeing the submission, review, and approval process of taskers, ensuring they are properly routed, documented, and completed in a timely manner – often utilizing specialized software systems to maintain accurate records and provide timely updates to senior leadership.
• Assist in the development of strategic messaging and narrative that will inform internal and external outreach, including Congressional and industry stakeholders.
• Develop an annual strategy for improving and maintaining strong relationships with Congress, and for resolving issues in a legal and ethical manner; includes objectives, messaging, tools/tactics and proposed visits/Soldier Touch Points of Congressional interest.
• Maintain an active list of all members and staffers who have equities in CPE IEW&S portfolio.
• Assess congressional actions, report conclusions, and make recommendations to the Director of Strategic Communications on issues.
• Support – through the Director of Strategic Communications – the development of responses to Congressional reports and requests for information.
• Track mark and budget trends across multiple years for historical perspective; coordinate through Director of Strategic Communications to support the development of impact statements and issue papers.
• Coordinate event planning and logistics for all high visibility Congressional Member and Professional Staff Member visits by scheduling coordination and prep meetings, creating agendas, arranging transportation, providing meal plans, and administrative and protocol support, providing audio visual support, print briefing packages.
• Monitor and track all relevant Congressional hearings and provide analysis and assessment of impacts to the portfolio, including recommendations for engagements.
• Develop and support Congressional engagement training, in coordination with the Strategic Communications Directorate, for CPE and PM leadership.
• Develop, manage and execute an industry engagement strategy, to include tracking impacts of budget on relevant vendors within the portfolio, one‑on‑one vendor meetings in coordination with the Chief of Engineering, and industry engagements during external events such as conferences.
• Develop and create strategic briefings for members of Congress, Congressional staff, and senior leaders.
• Monitor and track relevant high visibility Army Senior Leader speaking engagements inside the Beltway for strategic messaging and alignment.
• Research, identify, and propose strategic speaking engagements associated with Think Tanks; including supporting the planning and execution.
• Support the planning and execution of all state and local government distinguished visitors engagements in support of the mission.

Education / Experience

• Bachelors Degree — Public Policy, Public Administration, Political Science, Communications, Business or related field with a minimum five (5) years of work experience in State or Federal legislative office, government affairs or corporate affairs offices.
• Substitutions: Military experience supporting legislative affairs work.
• Experience acting as a legislative and political subject matter expert.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Qualifications

Required

• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Bachelors Degree — Public Policy, Public Administration, Political Science, Communications, Business or related field with a minimum five (5) years of work experience in State or Federal legislative office, government affairs or corporate affairs offices.

Preferred

Substitutions: Military experience supporting legislative affairs work.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.