Health Policy & Advocacy Consultant
Department: Policy
Supervisor: CEO
Location: DC METRO Area District Maryland or Virginia (DMV) Remote with regional travel
Hours per week: roughly 24 hours
About this position
HealthyWomen is committed to empowering women aged 35 to 64 with the knowledge they need to make informed health decisions, advocate for themselves, and prioritize their wellness. We achieve this by providing fact-based, expert-driven content and evidence-based programming that equips women with the tools to make confident choices about their health. We strive to keep women’s health at the forefront of national conversations and continue to support women in making lasting, informed changes to their well-being.
HealthyWomen is looking for an experienced public policy professional to join our team. This new role reflects our commitment to expanding efforts in health policy. The Health Policy & Advocacy consultant will play a key role in supporting and advancing the organization’s policy initiatives through collaboration with partner organizations and alliances. As a member of HealthyWomen’s senior team, the role will be responsible for helping to drive and support HealthyWomen’s policy agenda, manage HealthyWomen’s policy initiatives, build relationships with key stakeholders and policymakers, and guide activities that align with HealthyWomen’s core mission, vision and values. This position also works closely with various internal teams and external support teams.
Qualifications and Requirements:
The position requires a bachelor’s degree and experience in public policy, public health, political science, law, and/or a related field. A minimum of 5 years of federal policy experience, in patient advocacy, Capitol Hill, corporate government affairs or relations, lobbying firms, or trade associations is required. Creativity, enthusiasm, and flexibility are important to thrive in this role.
Key qualifications:
- Strong knowledge of federal legislative and regulatory processes.
- Has relationships with elected officials, agency personnel, and third-party stakeholders.
- Strong communication, negotiation, strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and collaborate effectively across internal and external teams to achieve strategic goals.
- U.S. work authorization.
- Located in the DMV area. District, Maryland, Virginia.
- Willingness to travel 15-25% of the time.
This position will require regular attendance at meetings and events in Washington, DC as directed. Further, based on HealthyWomen’s policy work and collaboration with others, in-person attendance at meetings on Capitol Hill and with stakeholders will be required as needed.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Under the direct supervision of the CEO, the Director of Health Policy + Advocacy will be responsible for the following activities:
External Relations and Stakeholder Engagement:
- Identify and pursue opportunities to engage with external stakeholders and policy influencers to expand HealthyWomen’s reach, elevate its visibility, and strengthen its position as a leading voice in women’s health policy.
- Build and maintain strategic relationships with key policymakers, government officials, and other influential leaders.
- Act as a spokesperson for HealthyWomen, represent the organization to key stakeholders including congressional staff, administration officials, national non-profits, and industry partners.
- Attend coalition meetings, congressional hearings, and other events when/as needed.
- Act as the organization’s registered lobbyist for HealthyWomen and maintain such registration as required.
- Monitor and track legislative and administrative developments related to women’s health across key agencies, including, but not limited to, the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Veterans Health Administration.
Policy Development and Advocacy:
- Draft and review written materials such as white papers, public comments, sign-on letters, statements, reports, and advocacy content for use by the communications team in press releases, newsletters, and other outreach.
- Provide strategic policy and legislative counsel to the CEO.
- Monitor legislative and regulatory development relevant to women’s health and HealthyWomen’s mission.
- Provide recommendations (with rationale) on HealthyWomen response and call to actions on relevant legislative and regulatory events
- Provide references, resources and information to HealthyWomen staff on key legislation or regulatory development that relates to HealthyWomen programming and/or impacts women’s health.
- Work with the health education and communications teams to ensure that public policy aspects are appropriately represented in all materials.
- Lead special projects as needed to support the organization’s mission and goals.
Strategic Operations and Partnerships:
- Collaborate with VP Strategic Partnerships to create, identify and strengthen policy programming and secure financial support for policy and advocacy initiatives.
- Build and maintain databases relevant to our work with Congress, federal agencies, coalitions, and key stakeholders
