Manager of Government Relations

About Main Street America (MSA):

Main Street America (MSA) leads an inclusive, impact-driven movement dedicated to re-energizing and strengthening downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts through place-based economic development and community preservation. We work in collaboration with thousands of local partners and grassroots leaders across the nation who share our commitment to advancing shared prosperity, creating resilient economies, and improving quality of life.

Since its founding in 1980, the MSA network has helped to generate over $100 billion in local reinvestment, create 700,000 new jobs, and start 160,000 new businesses in over 2,000 communities. Main Street America is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

About the Team:

MSA is a small but growing, geographically dispersed team. Our group is passionate about Main Street’s mission, with ambitions to significantly scale and deepen our impact in communities across the country. Staff members have deep expertise across a broad range of disciplines including economic development, historic preservation, urban planning, finance, and public affairs.

They have a proven track record in helping a diverse range of communities through direct technical assistance, professional development programs, thought leadership, and targeted tools.

We strive for a culture that is team-oriented, collaborative, high performing, and committed to equity and inclusion. MSA is a remote-first organization, providing a flexible environment in which team members can thrive in both their professional and personal lives

Position Overview:

The Manager of Government Relations works collaboratively across teams, including Communications, Research, Coordinating Programs, Membership, Conference, and Education. As the leader of the Government Relations team, the Manager manages the team’s budget and personnel and contributes to the organization’s broader strategy.

The Manager serves as Main Street America’s primary point of contact with federal government staff and plays a strategic role in coordinating state-level policy and government relations efforts in partnership with the Coordinating Programs team.

The Manager of Government Relations will be hired by and begin reporting to the CEO, but in the future, will report to the VP Public Affairs.

This is a remote-first position open to applicants across the United States (except for Puerto Rico).

Priority consideration will be given to applicants who apply by October 6, 2026. Candidates selected to move forward should be available for the following anticipated interview timeline: initial phone screens on October 9, first-round interviews on October 16, and final interviews with external partners on October 23.

Requirements

• The purview of this team has five components: To lead Main Street America’s national network’s Advocacy Community of Practice, a group of invested practitioners from all levels of our association who advance the Advocacy work of our movement; To partner with internal teams and partners on state advocacy; To develop our biannual policy agenda from the ground up; To serve as lead and liaison in the variety of coalitions that Main Street America leads and participates in to advance the policy work critical to Main Street communities across the country; and
• To advance the strategy for national policy and federal appropriations that affect all areas of Main Street work
• Top Candidates MUST HAVE the following characteristics: 3-5 years' experience leading government relations or policy work such as economic development, historic preservation, urban planning, transportation, placemaking, tax credits, or housing.
• 3-5 years people management experience, with the ability to articulate personal philosophy for managing people toward results
• 2–3-year experience planning and managing a budget in partnership with the Finance Team
• Adaptive, ability to pivot and course correct based on political shifts and changes
• Attentive, active listening skills, ability to understand surface and subtext communication
• An excellent and experienced facilitator, applied to both remote and in person settings, with an emphasis on inclusion
• Discernment, discretion, ability to manage information carefully
• Organized, manages time well
• Open mindedness balanced with integrity, ability to think broadly about policy and to prioritize organizational and network goals over personal beliefs
• A strong and effective communicator, quick and easeful in translating complex policy for practitioners
• Contextual thinker with a strategic mindset
• Experience building trust and buy-in with diverse groups of people in a coalition or work setting, ability to bring many perspectives along into a single vision
• Unafraid to get their hands dirty; the Government Relations team is in a building phase and requires active leadership at all levels
• Comfort and experience managing work relationships remotely. Main Street America is a remote-first team, so regardless of your location, many of your colleagues will work elsewhere
• Comfort and experience with significant business travel; this position demands approximately 1-4 business trips monthly
• Commitment to Main Street America values
• On the job experience operationalizing equity and inclusion
• Extraordinary Candidates may have the following Nice to Have qualifications: Experience reporting to a CEO
• Experience managing a lobbyist
• Experience working in a Main Street district or coordinating program