Summary
Description
Legislative Director
Location: Denver
Work Schedule: Exempt, Full-time, Hybrid
Deadline for submission: Dec 10, 2025
About Conservation Colorado
As the largest statewide environmental organization in Colorado, our mission is simple: we work to protect our state’s climate, air, land, water, and communities. We play a unique role in Colorado as our work focuses on organizing communities, influencing decision-makers, and electing conservation-minded leaders. We work for a Colorado where every community can breathe clean air, drink clean water, protect the landscapes we share and secure our climate future. And, where communities once burdened by environmental injustices lead the way forward. You can learn more about our mission here.
What You’ll Do
This position reports to the Deputy VP of Programs and Politics and serves as a key architect of our legislative strategy. As the organization’s lead presence at the State Capitol, the Legislative Director builds and leverages relationships with decision-makers to advance our campaigns, shape policy outcomes, and grow our collective power.
Legislative & Regulatory Strategy: Serve as the organization’s lead lobbyist and primary representative at the State Capitol, building trusted relationships with legislators, executive branch staff, and key allies to advance Conservation Colorado’s policy priorities.
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Manage the work of contract lobbyists and ensure alignment with organizational strategy.
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Map the political landscape—power players, committee dynamics, leadership priorities, and legislative timelines—to inform and secure legislative wins.
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Translate policy goals into winnable strategies in close coordination with the advocacy team.
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Lead legislative tracking and management, including bill monitoring, testimony coordination, and legislative asks.
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Maintain a deep and evolving understanding of policy issues, especially those related to racial justice, environmental equity, and community impact.
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Apply a racial justice and equity lens to all strategic and tactical decisions.
Relationship Building & Power Mapping: Cultivate and manage relationships with legislators, agency officials, committee staff, and other influencers to build long-term power and policy momentum.
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Lead moves management across the Programs Department and CEO for high-priority legislative audiences.
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Track allies, opponents, and fence-sitters—and tailor outreach strategies accordingly.
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Develop and implement coordinated electoral strategies to help elect pro-conservation candidates and drive policy success, including helping in candidate recruitment, education & endorsement processes.
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Oversee planning and execution of events that engage legislators and elevate our policy agenda.
Advocacy Campaign Planning: Partner with the advocacy team to shape and execute campaigns that advance our climate and environmental priorities.
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Provide strategic input on campaign plans and ensure legislative alignment.
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Lead our ballot measure work by monitoring developments and recommending organizational engagement.
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Serve as a key strategist and decision-maker on legislative and regulatory campaigns, collaborating closely with campaign owners to ensure impact and cohesion.
In addition to your regular responsibilities, all staff are expected to participate at some level in organizational priorities including helping in certain fundraising efforts, taking part in election-related activities, and committing to organizational efforts around equity & inclusivity.
Qualifications
This position is a great opportunity to deliver meaningful wins for Coloradans on the environmental issues that impact their daily lives. To be successful in this job, you will have the emotional intelligence, flexibility, and tenacity, to work well with our team. Fundamentally, we want someone who can thrive in a fast-paced & collaborative environment and loves the political fight. More specifically, you will have or be most or all of the following:
Experience as a Lobbyist: We do require that you have experience working directly as a lobbyist in some capacity to pass policies through various government venues. You’ll need to demonstrate the ability to develop and execute sophisticated legislative strategies to win on issue based campaigns.
Use an Equity Lens on Policy: You will need a clear understanding of racial equity & justice and the centrality of this analysis to the work we do. That means applying a structural lens to projects & decisions and asking “who benefits?” and “who is burdened?” Integrating equity into content and policy, including pushing partners & allies to incorporate this thinking into their work is also central to this work.
Policy Leadership: We are not usually the policy experts in the room, and you don’t have to be an expert on our issues; that can be learned. But you do need the ability to digest dense policy language into clear, compelling messages that are tailored to different audiences and communities and can connect our policy positions to broader narratives, lived experiences, and systemic change.
Build & Exercise Power Effectively: Fundamental to this role is being able to strategically organize people, relationships, and resources to influence decision-makers in service of winning on our policy priorities. It’s not just about access or persuasion, though that is critical—it’s about shifting who has voice, who sets the agenda, and whose interests are centered in policy and public life.
Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving: We’re looking for a leader who can see the big picture and connect the dots. This role requires someone who can anticipate challenges, analyze complex information, and design creative, equity-centered solutions that move our mission forward. You’ll be expected to navigate ambiguity, make sound decisions under pressure, and align tactics with long-term goals. Whether it’s shaping policy strategy, refining campaign plans, or troubleshooting organizational hurdles—you bring clarity, curiosity, and a bias toward action.
Strong Collaborator: This role requires a seasoned collaborator who thrives in complex, mission-driven environments. You’ll work across departments—programs, communications, development, and executive leadership—to align strategies, share information, and drive collective impact. You bring clarity to roles and decision-making, navigate tensions with empathy and purpose, and foster a culture of trust, accountability, and shared ownership. You know that real change happens when teams move in sync—and you make that possible.
This position does not have an undergraduate education requirement. Spanish/English bilingual is a skill we value, but it is not a requirement. This is a full-time job but there can be some flexibility in the exact schedule.
Compensation and Benefits
The salary range for this full-time role is $105,000 – $120,000, with exact salary depending on relevant experience and demonstrated competencies. We offer competitive pay and benefits, rooted in equity, transparency, and trust—and never ask for prior salary history.
We provide high-quality health insurance and a strong benefits package that includes a SIMPLE IRA retirement plan with a match, at least 30 days of vacation & holidays in addition to six physical & mental wellness days in your first year, a parental leave and a sabbatical program. Please note that as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, Conservation Colorado employees are not eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
All Conservation Colorado roles involve some in-person work, so COVID vaccination is required. We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid model without a fixed in-office schedule—each team member works with their manager to determine what makes sense based on role and preference. Those who prefer can work from the office full-time.
We are committed to building a more diverse & inclusive organization and conservation movement to fully represent and engage all Coloradans and to build as powerful a movement as we can. Recruiting staff that better reflects Colorado is a priority, and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, ethnicities, geographies, political affiliations, sexual orientations, gender identities, and all other identities represented in Colorado or protected by law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
To Apply
If this job speaks to you, please click here to submit a cover letter & resume and answer a few short questions. If you have a disability and need accommodation or assistance with our online application process, please tell us how we can help by calling us at 303.333.7846.
