Senior Director, Government Relations- Southeast

About the Team  

Global Policy and External Relations (GPER) is a close-knit team of 14 policy and government relations (GR) professionals who drive policy proposals and appropriation priorities from design to implementation. Our core capabilities are policy design and adoption to reach a broader group of students, and to help College Board programs innovate, adapt, and grow.  GR also focuses on advocacy and policy implementation to build and maintain a powerful network of external allies that will help us advance our organizational goals. This position will report to the Executive Director for State Government Relations.    

About the Opportunity   

As a Senior Director, State Government Relations, you are a strong leader who collaborates with colleagues to create strategies to increase awareness in support of College Board programs that help grow them. You are a relationship expert: you build and manage a network of governors, education policy advisors, legislators, AP (Advanced Placement) Advocates, and education associations and organizations. You can operate at the state and national levels, owning a national relationship or an external grouping of relationships important to the College Board and optimize our engagement and investment. You establish formal partnerships between the states and the College Board. You are a strong communicator with expertise in a specific policy area, which allows you to clearly communicate policy statements and proposals.     

In this role, you will:  

Lead State Government Relations (60%)    

• Build and manage relationships across multiple states (Arizona, Wisconsin, Idaho, Louisiana and Nevada), with a focus on Arizona   

• Maintain a deep understanding of the key decision-makers that influence legislation in the state    

• Understand the legislative environment across multiple states and be able to distill key information and strategy recommendations to organization leadership    

• Able to take on new states and prioritize quickly to reach College Board goals    

• Set and achieve measurable maintenance, and growth, in volume and revenue for College Board products (including AP, Pre-AP, CLEP, PSAT, SAT and Search) in all states in their portfolio. Measurable metrics include state and federal appropriations, new AP courses in schools, and student participation    

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Drive Policy & Partnership Development (20%)    

• Own a national relationship or group of relationships i.e., policy makers, contract lobbyists, Higher Education GR officials – ensuring maximum return on investment.    

• When possible, establish formal partnerships between your assigned states and College Board.    

• Develop understanding of AP credit policies and their applications in various states    

• Develop expertise in a specific policy area such as internal data used to support GR work and teacher certification/shortages, and work closely with the Policy Team and Comms to craft policy statements and proposals    

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Implement Cross-Divisional Strategy (20%)    

• Collaborate with colleagues on the Policy team and in the States and District Partnerships Division to develop long-term strategies for your states    

• Move agilely to develop and implement short-term strategies in additional states when needed