Government Relations Manager (WMS BAND 2)

Salary: $110,016.00 - $125,004.00 Annually
Location : Thurston County - Olympia, WA
Job Type: Full Time - Permanent
Job Number: 2026-GOVREL-001
Department: Dept. of Enterprise Services
Division: Director's Office - Government Relations Program
Opening Date: 10/06/2026
Closing Date: 10/20/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

Description
Government Relations Manager
(WMS BAND 2)

The hiring authority reserves the right to offer the position at any time after the required posting period, and during the recruitment process. It is to the applicant's advantage to apply as early as possible.
Please note that during legislative sessions, this position will require working in person at the assigned workstation location in Olympia: 1500 Jefferson St. Olympia, WA.

This position may work irregular hours due to legislative session and may occasionally work weekends and may require working more than 40 hours per week during session. This position requires the incumbent to be available in the evenings and weekends to support the communication and executive operation needs of the agency. This need is typically higher during the month leading up to, and during Legislative session.

About the Program:
The purpose of the program is to coordinate and manage the agency legislative, rulemaking and policy programs; other governmental activities with federal, state, and local government; and develop and manage strategic external relations with key legislators, congressional and as well as partners and stakeholders to support the agency's mission.

About this opportunity:
The Government Relations Manager reports to the Director of Executive Operations and manages the agency's legislative and government relations program. This position is responsible for developing and executing the legislative agenda for the agency in collaboration with Chief of Staff, Director of Executive Operations, the Governor's office, legislators, and federal officials in alignment with the agency's mission. The incumbent coordinates and participates in lobbying efforts with the Chief of Staff and works in coordination with the Director of Executive Operations, to advance agency priorities and provide feedback to legislative, state and local stakeholders. This includes advising legislative strategy for DES initiatives and policy, developing and managing the development of agency request legislation, guiding agency legislation through the legislative process; leading the implementation of newly enacted legislation; and managing agency legislative reporting.

This position is a primary point of contact with legislators, legislative staff and intergovernmental contacts. It requires the capacity to build, maintain and manage strong relationships with local, state and federal delegations at the legislative and executive branches with other stakeholders and lobbyists. The Government Relations Manager acts as the government relations liaison with Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB), State Building Code Council (SBCC), and Project Review Committee (PRC) providing legislative support helping to facilitate legislative interaction and feedback for these groups. This role works closely with the DES Director of Policy, Rules & Compliance to support and help manage enterprise policy implementation that results from issuing of executive orders and bills passed by the legislature with policy changes implications or DES or enterprise policy.

To learn more about this opportunity, email recruiter: Rachel Vaughan via or and request the full job description.
Duties

Duties associated with this position include:

• Manage the agency's legislative program and serve as the agency Legislative Liaison.
• Coordinates and participates in lobbying efforts with the DES Chief of Staff and works in coordination with the Director of Executive Operations, to advance agency priorities and provide feedback to legislative, state and local stakeholders.
• Build relationships with the Governor's Office and other legislative liaisons to grow the agency's reputation and influence.
• Build strategic external relationships with key legislators, legislative staff, congressional leaders, other governmental officials, local and state government partners, lobbyists, and stakeholders.
• Acts as the Government Relations liaison to the Capitol Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB), State Building Code Council (SBCC), and Project Review Committee (PRC) for legislative interaction, et al; attending regularly scheduled meetings and coordinating member meetings with legislators and other elected officials and escalating issues as necessary to communications, the Director of Executive Operations, and the Chief of Staff.

• Design and manage internal agency legislative processes including bill implementation with DES divisions.

• Coordinate legislative staff trainings, bill tracking and analysis, and legislative monitoring and reporting, working closely with the Government Relations Analyst/Specialist.

• Manage and track legislation impacting the agency; communicate legislative impacts to the Director and Leadership Team; develop and implement strategy; testify at legislative hearings; and coordinate subject matter expert testimony.
• Develop and lead the agency-request legislation process for DES, working with divisions to submit vetted ideas that align with enterprise priorities. Influence the progress of bills through the state legislative process meeting with legislators and other external stakeholders communicating DES enterprise positions and needs.

• Act as the agency's contact for legislative correspondence and requests for information or assistance.

• Works with the DES Agency Policy and Rules team providing analysis and support to manage enterprise policy implementation that results from issuing of executive orders and bills passed by the legislature with policy changes implications or DES or enterprise policy.

• Manage and analyze Executive Orders affecting DES divisions ensuring that the enterprise is compliant with directives and coordinate resourcing to accomplish those directives and follow through with implementation plans.

• Provide training and analysis support to the Strategy and Alignment division.

Qualifications

Required Qualification/Experience/Education/ Competencies
Qualifying experience: Progressive experience managing state or federal level policy development, direct experience with the legislative process, or direct experience with inter-governmental relations.

Qualifying education: Bachelor's degree (or higher) in business administration, public administration, public policy, law, or a related field.

Here are ways to meet the qualifications for this position:
(OPTION 1)
Any combination of qualifying experience and qualifying education totaling nine (9) years.

(OPTION 2)
Total of nine (9) years of progressive experience managing state or federal level policy development, direct experience with the legislative process, or direct experience with inter-governmental relations.

(OPTION 3)
Five (5) years of progressive experience managing state or federal level policy development, direct experience with the legislative process, or direct experience with inter-governmental relations.
AND
Bachelor's degree in business administration, public administration, public policy, law, or a related field

In addition to meeting with one of the above options, applicants must possess required experience:

• Knowledge of legal and legislative process and protocols, rule-making or other public policy-making process, as well as other government and political processes.
• Excellent communication skills, and the relationships skills and abilities to work with and influence state leaders and individuals at all levels.
• Ability to clearly articulate policy choices and decisions to a wide variety of audiences.
• Demonstrated high-level research, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.
• Demonstrated experience in relationship-building, facilitation, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to interpret state, federal and local rules, laws, and polices related to the agency's mission and core business functions and be able to clearly articulate them to state leaders, staff and other partners and stakeholders.
• The ability to perform under pressure and within time constraints of a legislative session.
• Ability to handle complex and difficult issues and situations, often under pressure.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with policy-level staff at other agencies and the Governor's Office, legislative staff, legislators, representatives of federal and local government units, governing boards and commissions, and private interest groups.

Experience in:

• Government or non-profit sector in any of the following areas: policy making, public engagement, issue advocacy, working with elected officials, working with an elected or appointed governing board.
• Building strong collaborative relationships with internal and external partners and stakeholders.

• Demonstrated skills in executive and complex strategic negotiations involving multiple priorities and multiple stakeholders.

Preferred/Desired Education, Experience, and Competencies:

• Washington State legislative and budget processes.
• Federal, state, and local relationship(s) to agency business.
• Legislative bill or policy implementation for an agency or organization.
• Agency mission, direction, programs, and initiatives.
• Public Disclosure Commission reporting requirements.
• Administrative Procedure Act and Open Public Meeting Act.

Leadership competencies
Incumbents at DES in a supervisory or leadership position must show the following Washington State Enterprise Leadership Competencies:

• Models and champions our culture and values
• Cultivates a shared, strategic vision
• Develops people; drives results
• Fosters learning
• Builds relationships
• Fosters teamwork and collaboration
• Communicates effectively
• Makes things happen as a public servant
• Leads and navigates change
• Embraces and embeds inclusion in decision making

Read the full Washington State Enterprise Leadership Competencies (PDF document).
Equity Competencies:
State of Washington Employees contribute to ensuring services, programs, workplaces, and interactions are responsive, respectful, accessible, and effective to the people and communities we serve. Employees are expected to:

• Take action to learn and Grow: Demonstrate a willingness to learn from new experiences, seek feedback, consider different perspectives, and continuously improve knowledge, skills, communication, and approaches to work.
• Take action to meet the needs of others: Seek to understand the needs and experiences of customers, coworkers, and communities. Identify barriers to access and participation and address them before they become obstacles for the people we serve, providing support that is respectful, timely, and effective.

Supplemental Information
How to Apply: Interested? We would love to hear from you! Click "Apply" at the top of this page to start your application. You can save the application and come back to it, if needed. Be sure to complete the application fully to include a full work history and responses to the supplemental questions.

Please provide the following documents in order to be considered; failure to do so may result in you not being considered for the position:

• A letter of interest that describes why you are the successful candidate and how you meet the specific qualifications for this position.
• A current resume, detailing experience, and education.
• A current list of at leastthree (3) professional references with current contact information.

Do not attach any documents that include photos or private information (social security number, year of birth, etc.).

Please Note: By submitting these materials, you are indicating that all information is true and correct. The state may verify information. Any untruthful or misleading information is cause for removal from the applicant pool or dismissal if employed. A resume will not be substitute for completing the "duties summary" section of the online application. Please do not refer to the resume for detail or your application may be disqualified.