Legislative Affairs Manager

About the role

The Legislative Affairs Manager operates in the fast-paced office of the Commissioner, providing critical support to executive leadership and managing legislative coordination, reporting, and constituent inquiries. Working closely with the Director of Legislative Affairs, this role analyzes policy issues, tracks legislative priorities, and translates complex public health data into actionable strategies and policy recommendations. The Manager drafts briefing documents, presentations, and testimony to promote the Department’s mission and the Administration’s priorities.

Responsibilities

• Draft legislative and budget testimony and supporting documentation to support and implement the Department’s policy priorities.
• Track, analyze, and prepare internal summaries on legislation before the General Court.
• Engage in the development of legislative policy and strategies that proactively advance public health initiatives.
• Coordinate internal feedback on pending legislation in collaboration with the Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategy.
• Manage priority projects within the Chief of Staff office with supervision from the Director of Legislative Affairs.
• Attend legislative hearings and create briefing documents after each hearing.
• Establish and maintain legislative report tracking systems and submission workflows.
• Formulate evidence-based policy and conduct research to support legislative opportunities and strategic initiatives.
• Work with advocacy and community groups to convey the official position of DPH across the full range of public health issues.
• Foster and support favorable public relationships and active partnerships between the Department of Public Health and the legislative branches of state and federal government.
• Manage legislative constituent inquiry intake, tracking, and resolution processes in collaboration with bureau and office staff.
• Coordinate and quality-control briefings, presentations, and testimony for the Commissioner and senior staff.

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills with the ability to collaborate with diverse work teams.
• Ability to use data to inform policy decisions, identify systemic gaps and underserved populations, and develop system-wide quality improvement initiatives.
• Understanding of health equity and social determinants of health.
• Strong planning, research, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience developing, implementing, and using project management tools to oversee and keep initiatives on task.
• Action-oriented and highly organized with the ability to work under deadlines, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, and quickly prioritize competing tasks.
• Proactive and solution-oriented approach to challenges with the ability to think through problems, organize information, identify key factors and underlying causes, and generate solutions.
• Understanding of diversity and the importance of shaping and developing a positive, inclusive, diverse, and supportive work culture.
• Knowledgeable of various methods used in the preparation of charts, graphs, and tables and adept with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Strong judgment, responsiveness, political awareness, project management skills, and the ability to translate complex policy into actionable legislative strategy.

About The Department Of Public Health

The mission of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is to prevent illness, injury, and premature death; assure access to high quality public health and health care services; and promote wellness and health equity for all people in the Commonwealth. DPH coordinates programs and policies to address specific diseases and conditions and offers services to address the needs of vulnerable populations. It develops, implements, promotes, and enforces regulations and policies to ensure conditions conducive to health and to enable people to make healthy choices. DPH licenses health professionals, healthcare facilities, and businesses that impact public health; operates the state laboratory and four public health hospitals; monitors health status and manages vital records; educates people about public health issues; and works closely with local boards of health and community partners to identify and solve public health problems.