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Legislative Assistant, Scheduler

Public Citizen seeks an organized, motivated person interested in exploring a career in public-interest advocacy to fill an entry-level Legislative Assistant position in our Global Trade Watch (GTW) division.

About Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch:

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent the public interest in Congress, the executive branch and the courts. We fight for openness and democratic accountability in government; for social and economic justice in globalization and trade policies; for clean, safe and sustainable energy; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; for safe, effective and affordable medicines and health care; and for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts. We have offices in Washington, D.C., and Texas.

The mission of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division is to ensure that in this era of globalization, a majority in America and around the world have the opportunity to enjoy economic security; a clean environment; safe food, medicines and products; access to quality affordable services such as health care; and the exercise of democratic decision-making about the matters that affect their lives.

Public Citizen started working on globalization and “trade” issues in 1991 when we recognized that this was necessary simply to remain effective advocates for the public health, consumer safety, environmental and economic justice goals Public Citizen had promoted over decades. Motivating this strategic initiative was our realization that today’s international commercial agreements, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), were no longer mainly about trade per se. Rather, these far-reaching agreements were backdoor delivery mechanisms to implement an expansive, enforceable package of nontrade policies – limits on financial regulation and food safety, new monopoly patent rights over medicines and seeds that limit access, new investor rights that promote job offshoring and subject public interest policies to attack, and more. This corporate-led version of globalization is designed to limit governments’ role in regulating the economy and to eliminate many of the public-interest safeguards Public Citizen and like-minded organizations and activists had won over decades. And it shifts decision-making on matters previously determined in national, state and local venues to international bodies where those affected by the decisions have no meaningful role.

Since its inception in 1995, GTW has been a leader in popularizing the globalization and trade debate by connecting these seemingly arcane policies to people’s everyday experiences – and helping people make a difference in the future of globalization by giving them the tools they need to educate their communities, hold Congress accountable for policy choices and hit the streets to protest. GTW works with diverse national and international coalitions. For more information, please see our website: www.tradewatch.org.

General Description:

The Legislative Assistant assists the GTW Director with her scheduling and practical arrangements, prepares policymaker briefing materials, conducts strategic research around paid speaking opportunities for GTW staff and schedules these, and assists with field and press campaigns and various administrative tasks. The Legislative Assistant is supervised by the GTW Deputy Director.
The job is an excellent learning position. It involves working closely with senior-level GTW staff, including the GTW Director and Deputy Director, and a bird’s eye view of all of the organization’s activities. People of color, women and LGBT candidates are encouraged to apply.

Specific Responsibilities:

Serve as Executive Assistant to GTW Director regarding special research assignments, responding to urgent calls to Director from Members of Congress, press and key international allies, and accompanying Director to some events.
Serve as the scheduler for the GTW Director. Schedule the GTW Director’s congressional lobbying and other U.S. and international meetings and speaking opportunities. Schedule congressional lobbying meetings for Citizens Trade Campaign coalition team and coordinate with attending parties representing U.S. environmental, labor, consumer, family farm and other public-interest organizations. Schedule travel and practical arrangements, and handle the accounting of these. Coordinate materials the GTW Director will need for both D.C. and away schedules. Respond to requests made regarding the GTW Director’s invitations to attend events and meetings. Correspond with national and international coalition partners regarding the GTW Director’s travel and speaking arrangements, and coordinate with the GTW press and organizing team to schedule events and press meetings around the Director’s travel.
Research and develop strategic speaking opportunities for the GTW Director with the goal of raising money for Global Trade Watch through paid events. Develop and maintain a database of colleges, universities, associations and organizations that have paid honorariums for speakers and work with the GTW Director and Deputy Director to systematically promote the GTW Director to those through mailings targeting university speaker booking cycles, follow-up calls and more.
Field phone and electronic general inquiries, as well as press requests in coordination with the press officer, and help the Deputy Director and Director assign response to team members and/or help the Director respond in a timely manner.
Ensure that the general administrative needs of the entire GTW staff, along with the Director, are met. This includes booking travel, accommodation and venues for other GTW staff and Our World Is Not For Sale international coalition partners.
Edit and print materials for meetings and presentations; maintain a system of all current, frequently used GTW printed and digital materials for urgent requests. In coordination with the Research Director and Director, prepare and maintain a biannual 200-page congressional briefing book.
Maintain and regularly update GTW’s Congressional Address book.
Contribute to field organizing during priority campaigns by conducting phone and email outreach to allies in key states/districts, coordinating phone banks, participating in local coalition work and demonstrations, tracking conferences and events, and maintaining database.
Other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

Education: College degree preferred

Work Experience: Two years of office experience through employment and/or internships preferred. Campaign experience, including with student organizations, a plus.

Skills: Good communication and interpersonal skills. Good typing and computer skills. Well-organized and detail-oriented personality a priority. Familiarity with database programs, html editors and Word helpful.

Capabilities: Ability to work well under pressure, handle multiple tasks at once, adapt to rapidly changing situations on a daily basis and work well with a wide range of people.

Public Citizen is an equal opportunity employer. Public Citizen employees are proud members of SEIU Local 500.

To Apply:

Please send a cover letter, resume and writing sample to ktitus@citizen.org. No phone calls.

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