Grassroots Advocacy Manager

The National Restaurant Association and National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation are proud to be part of a highly respected industry, providing hospitality, opportunity, and quality of life. Much like the industry we represent, we have a dynamic, diverse, and inclusive culture, grounded in trust, hospitality, collaboration, and innovation.

We have an exciting opportunity within our Public Affairs Department for a Grassroots Advocacy Manager to lead, develop, and elevate the Association's grassroots and grasstops advocacy efforts at the federal, state, and local levels. This high-impact role will help strengthen the Association's position as a leading voice in national public policy and advocacy for the restaurant industry.

The Grassroots Advocacy Manager oversees the Association's flagship Hill Runner program, cultivating and managing relationships between restaurant operators and members of Congress in every congressional district across the country. The role is also responsible for driving the Association's digital grassroots strategy through the Quorum advocacy platform, developing, and executing national advocacy campaigns and action alerts that mobilize members around key federal policy priorities.

In addition, this position serves as the primary strategist and liaison for State Restaurant Association partners on grassroots engagement initiatives, providing oversight and support for individual Quorum accounts and collaborating to enhance the effectiveness and reach of state-level advocacy efforts.

As the Public Affairs team lead for the Association's annual Public Affairs Conference fly-in, the Grassroots Advocacy Manager partners with cross-functional stakeholders to plan and execute a successful event that brings industry leaders and advocates together to engage directly with policymakers.

Ideal candidates bring a minimum of three years of grassroots or political advocacy experience with a strong focus on stakeholder engagement and mobilization. Experience working for a trade association, membership organization, or political campaign is highly desirable. The successful candidate is a confident communicator with exceptional writing, interpersonal, and presentation skills, combined with a data-driven mindset and the ability to translate insights into effective advocacy strategies and outcomes.

This position is based out of our Washington, DC office and requires onsite work Monday through Wednesday, with flexibility to work remotely on Thursday and Friday.

The work you do to develop new ideas, programs, and initiatives will help strengthen the restaurant industry's grassroots advocacy efforts and influence at the federal, state, and local levels. We look forward to hearing from you!

We are proud to offer our team members comprehensive benefits, designed to support their financial, professional, and personal well-being. In addition to outstanding healthcare coverage (medical, dental and vision), competitive salaries, generous vacation and leave time, we offer a matching 401(k) plan, a unique collection of corporate discounts and memberships, as well as programs to support career and skills development, learning and tuition assistance, and so much more.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for enhancing the Association's grassroots advocacy efforts at the federal, state, and local levels of government.
• Lead the Hill Runner program, the Association's marquee grasstops advocacy program:
  
  
  
  • In partnership with our state restaurant association partners, recruit new Hill Runners from across the country with the goal of reaching 535 Hill Runners.
  • Onboard, motivate, and stay in touch with existing Hill Runners.
  • Develop unique content in collaboration with the Public Affairs team to keep Hill Runners motivated and engaged.
  • Oversee Summer of Action program which focuses on in-person Hill Runner meetings with members of Congress over summer recess.
  • Innovate and create new ways to activate Hill Runners for key advocacy engagements.
  
  
  
  
• Oversee the Association's relationship with Quorum, which provides grassroots tools and is the database for advocacy efforts at the federal, state, and local levels:

• Maintain account relationship with Quorum team.
• Manage the Association's grassroots database (over 100,000 advocates).
• In collaboration with communications team, oversee the development and execution of grassroots emails and activations to advocates.
• Strategize on ways to enhance and grow Association's grassroots engagement via Quorum.
• Manage relationship between Quorum, Association, and the State Restaurant Association accounts and work with SRAs to enhance their usage of Quorum.

• Serve as the Public Affairs team's point person for the annual Public Affairs Conference through year-long planning process:

• In close collaboration with events team, organize and hold frequent planning meetings on the conference that brings together a cross-functional Association team.
• Manage deliverables throughout the year for the conference.
• Strategize with Public Affairs, Communications, and Events teams on ways to enhance the conference.
• Organize unique Hill Runner programming during the conference.

• In collaboration with State Affairs team, analyze grassroots efforts of State Restaurant Association partners and look for ways to innovate and enhance those efforts.
• Work with Public Affairs team and State Restaurant Associations to plan and execute in-state Restaurant Roundtables and other advocacy events.
• Oversee, maintain, and enhance RestaurantsAct.com, the Association's external advocacy website which provides grassroots resources for Association members at the federal, state, and local levels of government.
• Speak on behalf of the Association at industry and state events.
• Oversee the team's data collection and management.
• Draft correspondence, reports, and presentations for members of the team.
• Assist in keeping department records up to date, including invoice processing.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in political science, government relations, public policy or equivalent.
• Minimum 3 years of grassroots advocacy work or related political advocacy work focusing on stakeholder mobilization.
• Knowledge of grassroots advocacy software, such as Quorum, preferred.
• Highly collaborative and accountable with proven interpersonal and diplomacy skills.
• Creative thinker who can develop and implement new grassroots and public affairs strategies.
• Confident communicator, including writing, public speaking, and presentations.
• Intellectual horsepower, emotional intelligence, and curiosity.
• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Ability to prioritize work and manage multiple projects, deliverables, and deadlines.
• Highly effective organizational, time-management, priority-setting and problem-solving skills.
• Responsive to change and leads as a change agent; highly adaptable and resilient.
• Ability to work as part of a team and to work independently; a self-initiator, versatile and assumes risk with responsibility.
• Ability to engage confidently at all levels of the organization.
• Proficiency across Microsoft Office products, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, and ability to learn other software programs as needed.
• Ability to travel 1-4 times per year.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The National Restaurant Association, National Restaurant Association Solutions, LLC, and The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (together, "Company") is committed to equal employment opportunity, and it is Company's policy to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

It is our policy to recruit, hire, train, and promote persons in all job titles, and ensure that all other personnel actions are administered, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status and disability, or other legally protected status, and we will ensure that all employment decisions are based only on valid job requirements.