Deputy Chief of Staff (Legislative Senior Aide III), Grade N26

Salary: See Position Description
Location : 100 Maryland Ave Rockville MD 20850 USA
Job Type: Non-Merit
Job Number:
Department: County Council
Division: CCL 01 Council Members and Staff
Opening Date: 09/24/2026
Closing Date: Continuous
FLSA: Exempt

About the Position
Please note: The anticipated hiring range for this position LSA III, Grade N26 will be $89,721 to $122,876 based on the candidate's qualifications and experience.

The office of a Montgomery County Councilmember is seeking a Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Management to lead policy development, oversee legislative workflow, mentor staff, and help convert the Councilmember's priorities into sound, implementable public policy. The office serves residents countywide and works across health and human services, public health, public safety, transportation, environmental policy, housing, economic development, education, and other local priorities.

The ideal candidate is an experienced legislative manager with exceptional research, writing, judgment, and organizational skills. They can determine whether legislation is warranted; identify County authority and legal constraints; work effectively with legislative attorneys; evaluate fiscal, equity, and implementation impacts; and present concise, fact-based recommendations. They are proactive, attentive to detail, committed to primary-source research, and skilled at teaching staff without taking over their work. They strengthen morale while maintaining accountability and respect for the Chief of Staff's authority and the Councilmember's final decision-making role.

What You'll Be Doing
Specific job responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead legislative priorities from defining the problem through research, drafting, committee review, Council action, implementation, and oversight.
• Determine whether an issue requires legislation, budget action, administrative intervention, constituent assistance, or another solution.
• Research County authority and legal constraints; work with legislative attorneys to develop bills, resolutions, amendments, memoranda, and related materials.
• Conduct or coordinate fiscal, equity, operational, and implementation analysis and recommend a clear course of action.
• Build stakeholder and Council support, manage committee and Council timelines, and monitor implementation after enactment.
• Lead assigned policy portfolios, including Health and Human Services, Public Health Policy, Public Safety, shared Transportation and Environment responsibilities.
• Supervise and mentor legislative staff; establish research, writing, fact-checking, quality-control, and performance standards.
• Maintain legislative trackers, deadlines, dependencies, approval levels, and escalation practices; identify risks early and drive work to completion.
• Advise the Councilmember and Chief of Staff while balancing policy, personnel, constituent, and community demands.
• Comply with public-sector approval requirements and applicable ethics, confidentiality, public-records, and records-retention obligations.

This position requires in-person work, travel throughout Montgomery County and the Washington metropolitan region, and occasional evening and weekend meetings or events.
The job description above is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the incumbent. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned.

Minimum Qualifications
Experience: Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in legislative/policy research and/or professional level experience in a subject area relevant to local government administration.
Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree.
Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences
Interview preference criteria will be used pertaining to:

• Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in legislative affairs, public policy, government, public administration, or a related field, including demonstrated responsibility for policy development, legislative analysis, staff leadership, or legislative project management.
• Developing, drafting, advancing, implementing, or overseeing legislation or public policy in a legislative body, elected official's office, government agency, or comparable public-sector setting.
• Working with legislative attorneys and conducting legal-authority, fiscal, equity, operational, and implementation analysis.
• Producing concise, decision-ready policy memoranda and recommendations grounded in primary and authoritative sources.
• Managing committee, Council, budget, public-hearing, amendment, and enactment timelines while building support among elected officials and stakeholders.
• Teaching and supervising policy staff, improving research and writing quality, and strengthening morale without lowering performance standards.
• Knowledge of Montgomery County government, legislative and budget processes, constituent services, ethics, and records obligations.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.

This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law: Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code. Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.
Leave Benefits

Our generous leave package starts with non-MLS permanent and term employees earning 15 days of sick leave and 15 days of annual leave in their first year, as well as up to three additional personal days each calendar year. Positions in MLS earn 35 days of paid time off each year. In addition, we offer all employees 10 paid holidays. Our leave policies adhere to the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, and we provide six weeks of paid parental leave for new parents.

Retirement Benefits

All permanent and term positions are eligible for robust retirement plans. Public safety positions are eligible for a defined benefit pension plan in which they are vested after only five years. Employees in non-public safety positions can participate in retirement plans that contribute up to 12 percent of their annual salary. All employees can also participate in a supplemental retirement plan, the 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, to contribute even more to their retirement goals.

Tuition Assistance & Student Loan Forgiveness

Montgomery County employees are eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Participants who meet all requirements may qualify for forgiveness on the remaining balance on their Direct Loans after making 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time in a qualifying public service position. To learn more about PSLF, please visit the Student Loan Repayment Benefits page. Our tuition assistance program allows you to receive up to $2,130 annually in tuition assistance to help you achieve a degree that supports your career path.

Free Mass Transit Benefit

County employees are entitled to use the RideOn Bus service for free with a valid County-employee ID. This benefit can be used any time of the day or evening, including weekends. We also offer a pre-tax flexible spending account to reduce the cost of other mass-transit options such as MARC trains and Metro.

Reduced Child and Health Care Costs

Working for Montgomery County also entitles permanent and term employees to participate in healthcare and childcare Flexible Spending Accounts. These plans allow eligible employees to save on a pretax basis for healthcare and dependent care costs incurred during the plan year.

Employee Wellbeing

We deeply care about your holistic wellness. Our award-winning wellness program, LiveWell, will support you in improving and maintaining your physical, mental, financial, social, and intellectual well-being.

Learn more about our wonderful benefits available to you once you join our team. Montgomery County Benefits
01

MQ Question LEGISLATIVE SENIOR AIDE III(000713)

What is your highest level of completed education?

• N/A
• High School/GED
• Associate's Degree
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree
• Juris Doctor
• Doctorate

02

MQ Question LEGISLATIVE SENIOR AIDE III (000713)

How many years of progressively responsible experience in legislative/policy research and/or professional level experience in a subject area relevant to local government administration?

• No Experience
• 1 Year Experience
• 2 Year's Experience
• 3 Year's Experience
• 4 Year's Experience
• 5 Year's Experience
• 6 Year's Experience
• 7+ Year's Experience

Required Question