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Vice President, Legislative Strategy | JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: VP, Legislative Strategy
Team: Office of the CEO
Location: New York City
Employment Type: Full-time
FLSA Classification: Exempt 
Start Date: ASAP
Hiring Manager: CEO

ABOUT REFORM ALLIANCE

REFORM, founded in the wake of the #FreeMeek movement, is committed to transforming supervision throughout the United States by changing laws, systems, and culture. The organization is working to replace America’s criminal justice system with a restorative approach that is fair, accountable, and invested in rehabilitation. Our goal is for people to reenter society with dignity, create meaningful pathways to work, and equip them with the tools to succeed all while making families and communities safer and stronger. REFORM Alliance operates as both a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organization, allowing us to drive meaningful criminal justice reform through a combination of charitable initiatives and advocacy efforts.

ABOUT THE ROLE

REFORM is hiring a Vice President, Legislative Strategy. This role is expected to operate as an organization-wide leader and is part of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The VP will serve as REFORM's chief legislative strategist, owning the organization's legislative roadmap — bill strategy, drafting input, committee and floor tactics, and session management — across federal, state, and local levels.

This role will be the primary legislative director for the organization, building and managing relationships with legislators, committee staff, and legislative counsel to move REFORM's policy priorities through to enactment. The role retains a political dimension — elected officials, party leadership, and political allies remain part of the relationship map — but the core mandate, and the majority of the role's time, is legislative: identifying vehicles, building votes, and shepherding bills through the process.

This role works in close partnership with the Chief Policy Officer and the Community Engagement team to ensure a unified and coordinated external affairs operation. The VP sets legislative strategy and owns the relationships that move bills forward.

• Build and maintain relationships with legislators, committee chairs, and their senior/legislative staff across federal, state, and local levels
• Cultivate ties with legislative counsel, committee staff directors, and chamber leadership offices who shape bill language and scheduling
• Develop and maintain relationships with party leadership and political operatives in key states and nationally, in support of legislative goals
• Serve as REFORM's primary point of contact for legislative relationships, ensuring the organization is well-positioned ahead of each legislative session
• Monitor the legislative and political landscape — committee assignments, staff transitions, election outcomes — to keep REFORM's relationships current and strategically relevant
• Identify and engage rising legislators and legislative staff who could be future champions for criminal justice reform
• Oversee and direct outside lobbying firms, ensuring their efforts are aligned with REFORM's legislative priorities and bill strategy
• Serve as the strategic decision-maker on lobbying targets, approach, and messaging in close coordination with the Chief Policy Officer and Vice President, Marketing & Communications
• Represent REFORM Alliance at legislative hearings, markups, and government forums
• Track compliance with all federal and state lobbying registration and disclosure requirements

• Serve as REFORM Alliance's lead legislative strategist across federal, state, and local levels
• Develop and execute a comprehensive legislative roadmap — bill by bill, session by session — aligned with the organization's annual and long-term policy goals
• Track legislative calendars, committee schedules, and session deadlines across priority states to identify windows for action
• Identify and prioritize legislative vehicles (bills, amendments, budget riders) to advance criminal justice reform
• Advise the CEO and REFORM's Board of Directors on legislative risk, viability, and emerging opportunities

• Lead legislative organizing strategy focused on mobilizing stakeholders, advocates, and issue allies around specific bills and legislative targets
• Partner with the Community Engagement team to coordinate grassroots and grasstops organizing in support of active legislation
• Cultivate a broad network of political and legislative allies across the ideological spectrum, including legislators, party leaders, and advocacy organizations
• Serve as REFORM's primary representative in external coalitions organized around legislative campaigns

• Set vision, priorities, and performance expectations for the legislative vertical
• Manage department budget and external relationships, including consultants, lobbyists, and political firms
• Collaborate cross-functionally with the Policy, Marketing & Communications, and Community Engagement verticals

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of progressively senior experience in legislative strategy, government relations, or public affairs, with demonstrated success moving legislation at the federal and/or state level
• Deep understanding of the legislative process — including bill drafting mechanics, committee procedure, markups, floor strategy, and whip counts — sufficient to set strategy and direct outside counsel and the Policy team, at the federal and/or state level
• Proven track record building and managing relationships with legislators, committee staff, and legislative counsel across party lines
• Experience tracking and managing legislative sessions and calendars across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously
• Experience overseeing or directing outside lobbying firms and political consultants, with the ability to hold vendors accountable to strategic objectives
• Strong organizational leadership experience, including managing teams, budgets, and cross-functional collaboration