Vice President, State Government Relations

## The National Grocers Association (NGA)

The National Grocers Association (**NGA**) is the national trade association for America’s 21,500 independent community grocers. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers, and service suppliers.

The NGA Government Relations (**GR team**) manages government relations, political activities, member casework, and more. The team lobbies on issues across a range of policies, including food, nutrition, antitrust, payments, labor and employment, tax, privacy, and pharmacy.

NGA is seeking a strategic, politically astute, and results‑driven professional to serve as **Vice President of State Relations**. This role will lead the development and execution of NGA’s state‑level advocacy strategy at a time when governors, legislatures, and state attorneys general are playing a growing role in food, antitrust, and retail policy.

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## Position Summary

The **Vice President of State Relations** is responsible for building and executing a credible, coordinated, and proactive state government affairs function for NGA. The role focuses on protecting independent grocers from harmful state‑level policies, advancing a pro‑competition agenda, and strengthening NGA’s value to members and state association partners.

This individual will serve as a trusted national resource on state policy issues, translating complex legislative and regulatory developments into actionable intelligence and effective advocacy strategies in close partnership with state grocery and retail associations and NGA members. The role requires strong political judgment, experience managing multi‑state advocacy efforts, and the ability to align NGA’s state and federal priorities in a rapidly evolving policy environment.

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## Responsibilities

### State Government Relations & Advocacy Strategy

– **State‑level strategy** — Lead the development and execution of NGA’s state‑level legislative and regulatory strategies in response to the growing influence of states on food and retail policy.
– **Monitoring systems** — Create systems and protocols to monitor, analyze, and assess state legislation, regulations, attorney general actions, and waiver activity affecting independent grocers, including SNAP restrictions, EBT modernization, WIC administration, antitrust enforcement, labor mandates, taxes, utility costs, retail crime, and supply chain issues.
– **Engagement with state officials** — Engage with governors’ offices, legislatures, state agencies, and attorneys general to prevent burdensome or harmful policies and advance pro‑competition solutions.
– **Advocacy development** — Develop and support advocacy strategies addressing inconsistent state rules that increase compliance costs and operational complexity.
– **Policy materials** — Develop and disseminate research, testimony, issue briefs, and model legislation.
– **Coalition building** — Build partnerships with state policymakers, coalitions, and third‑party organizations to ensure independent grocers’ concerns are reflected in enforcement and legislative decisions.
– **Representation** — Represent NGA in state‑based coalitions, regional industry groups, and multi‑state policy initiatives.
– **Political intelligence** — Provide strategic political intelligence related to gubernatorial and state legislative elections.
– **Consultant management** — Direct and coordinate contract lobbyists and external advocacy consultants in key states.
– **Political engagement** — Coordinate with the PAC manager on state‑level political giving strategies, ensuring compliance with ethics and disclosure requirements.
– **Compliance** — Work with external compliance consultants to ensure lobbying registration compliance.

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## State Association & Member Engagement

– Serve as NGA’s primary liaison to state grocers’ associations, ensuring close coordination and avoiding duplication of efforts.
– Support and manage a **State Government Relations Advisory Committee** composed of state association executives and NGA retailer and wholesaler members.
– Deliver timely, actionable intelligence tailored to the needs of independent grocers operating in diverse state environments.

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## Communications & Thought Leadership

– Develop briefing materials, policy analyses, issue papers, testimony, and position statements related to state policy issues.
– Contribute to NGA government relations communications, including state‑focused alerts, member updates, and strategic memos.
– Present state legislative and regulatory updates to NGA boards, committees, conferences, and member audiences.
– Coordinate closely with NGA’s Government Relations and Communications teams to ensure consistent messaging and integrated advocacy.

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## Operational & Organizational Leadership

– Support the development and implementation of NGA’s state affairs operating model, including staffing, monitoring software, consultant engagement, and reporting structures.
– Help define success metrics and expected outcomes for NGA’s state affairs efforts, including policy wins, responsiveness, and strengthened state relationships.
– Ensure effective project management across multiple concurrent initiatives.
– Contribute to cross‑departmental initiatives and broader organizational strategy.
– Perform other duties as assigned in support of NGA’s mission.

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## Skills and Experience

– Deep understanding of state legislative and regulatory processes and advocacy strategy.
– 8–10 years of experience in state government affairs, public policy, or legislative strategy.
– Demonstrated success managing state‑level advocacy efforts across multiple jurisdictions.
– Strong understanding of state legislative, regulatory, and attorney general processes.
– Experience managing contract lobbyists, consultants, or multi‑state advocacy programs preferred.
– Familiarity with food, retail, nutrition, agriculture, or consumer‑facing regulatory policy preferred.
– Excellent analytical, written, and verbal communication skills.
– Proven ability to represent an organization publicly through speaking engagements, including panels, conferences, legislative briefings, and member meetings.
– Strong relationship‑building skills and sound political judgment.
– Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.

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## Work Location and Flexibility

This position may be performed remotely from anywhere within the contiguous United States. While NGA’s headquarters is based in Washington, DC, the Vice President of State Relations role is national in scope and supports advocacy across all 50 states.

A successful candidate must be able to travel regularly to state capitols, member meetings, coalition engagements, and NGA events, and maintain strong working relationships with NGA staff, state association partners, and policymakers through both virtual and in‑person engagement.

The base salary range for this position is **$120,000–$140,000** per year with a performance bonus depending on qualifications. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

NGA is an equal opportunity employer offering generous benefits including employer‑paid health and dental insurance, 11 paid holidays and one floating holiday, generous PTO, and 401(k) eligibility starting on the 1st quarter of the following 6 months of employment.

Learn more here