Position Summary:

Are you a future-focused leader eager to reimagine the talent structures of the federal government? If so, Democracy Forward Foundation (“Democracy Forward”) is hiring a Director of the Future of Government Talent Program to join our team.

The next era of effective government depends on the teams behind it—how they’re structured, how they work, and who’s on them.

Democracy Forward is launching a bold, multi-year initiative to reinvent how the federal government organizes and deploys its talent—and we’re seeking a visionary and operationally grounded Director of the Future of Government Talent Program to lead this work.

This is a chance to lead a systems transformation effort that will design the teams, skills, and staffing models our federal government needs to deliver—now and in the decades ahead. By building modern talent and team structures across government functions, this initiative will help ensure the government is ready with the people and capacity to deliver results when it is ready to build and hire. 

This position is full-time. Democracy Forward’s office is located in Washington, DC. While this position offers flexibility to work remotely, it requires regular in-office presence eight (8) times per month (averaging 2 times per week) to effectively support the nature of the role. Remote candidates within the United States will also be considered. If a candidate is outside of the DC area, travel to DC is expected 1-2 times per quarter.

The Director of the Future of Government Talent Program will report to the Director of Democracy Works 250 and work closely with staff and fellows on the Civil Service Strong team.

Our North Star:

Democracy Works 250 is designing the teams—and finding the people—that will power a modern federal government.

This initiative will create the talent models and actually find the people needed to equip government with agile and interdisciplinary teams that can deliver on the policies and programs Americans expect. By transforming how government organizes its people, we aim to transform how government shows up for the people it serves.

Key Responsibilities:

Below are the key areas of responsibility for this role. The specifics of each responsibility may vary based on the needs of the organization and department.

Design Interdisciplinary, Future-Ready Government Teams:

• Lead a team of fellows to redesign process across key federal functions (e.g. HR, procurement, regulation, customer experience, technology, AI, public engagement).
• Build and manage a small internal team of HR and technical experts supporting cross-functional design and research.
• Support organizational leadership in cultivating a culture of accountability, inclusivity, and excellence, including through providing real-time support and skills-development for your team.
• Convene and collaborate with external domain experts (AI, regulatory, HR, tech, etc.) to co-design staffing models that reflect how modern delivery actually works.
• Ensure new team models are agile, tech-enabled, interdisciplinary, and built to solve real problems, not replicate outdated org charts.

Build a National Strategy to Source and Prepare Talent:

• Develop and implement a strategy to identify and recruit mission-ready talent from federal alumni and state/local leaders to private-sector innovators and community-rooted practitioners.
• Define the skills, values, and lived experience needed for 21st-century public service and shape the strategies that bring those people in.

Oversee Development of a Civic Talent Platform & Training Curriculum:

• Lead the development or procurement of a digital platform to match individuals with redesigned teams and government missions.
• Lead partnership development with organizations to provide training on key, cross-cutting skills for future talent.

Co-Design with Communities and Institutions:

• Build and manage partnerships with academic institutions, public interest orgs, workforce programs, and civic tech networks.
• Lead co-design sessions with partners across the ecosystem—bringing in the lived expertise of those who know what functional teams must look like (e.g., regulators, procurement specialists, technologists).

Bridge Strategy Across Projects:

• Align the talent initiative with the other projects in Democracy Works 250: federal oral history project, personnel policy, and agency redesigning efforts.
• Collaborate with legal, research, and communications partners to test, refine, and package talent transformation and recruitment efforts.
• Contribute to and collaborate across other DW250 projects.

Who You Are:

A Builder with Bold Imagination:

• You design what doesn’t yet exist and know how to lead a team and partnerships to get there.

Fluent in Talent—from Government and Beyond:

• You understand the complexity of public sector hiring and the dynamism of modern private-sector team structures and you can translate across both worlds.

A Strategic Recruiter and Workforce Planner:

• You know how to define the teams a mission requires, find the people to staff them, and remove the barriers that keep good people out of government.

Collaborative and Equity-Driven:

• You bring humility, inclusion, and shared ownership to every partnership. You believe better government starts with better people—and better systems to support them.

Qualifications:

We recognize that strong candidates may not meet 100% of the qualifications listed. If you believe you can contribute meaningfully to our team, we encourage you to apply.

• 10+ years of experience in workforce development, organizational design, talent strategy, or public sector innovation.
• Experience managing small, high-capacity teams in cross-functional and collaborative environments.
• Deep understanding of both federal hiring systems and modern, mission-aligned talent models.
• Demonstrated ability to build distributed strategies and work across technical, policy, and community-based teams.
• Excellent project management, facilitation, and stakeholder coordination skills.
• Well-developed collaborative and interpersonal skills including demonstrated self-awareness, commitment to diversity and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Work Environment & Physical Demands:

• This role will require occasional travel for team retreats, conferences, and partner convenings.
• This role may involve sitting for extended periods and working on a computer. Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed.

The salary range for this position is $150,000 - $170,000 plus excellent benefits. Compensation is commensurate with experience.

Position Summary:

Are you a strategic and mission-driven attorney with experience in federal oversight litigation? If so, Democracy Forward Foundation (“Democracy Forward”) is hiring an Oversight Counsel to join our team. The Oversight Counsel plays a key role in advancing Democracy Forward’s mission by driving legal and oversight strategies to protect against executive branch attacks on democratic institutions, threats to civil rights and liberties, abuses of power, and efforts to erode government transparency. The  Oversight Counsel will play a lead role in designing strategy for Democracy Forward’s open records requests and litigation, and will independently manage a caseload related to these requests and handle all aspects of federal open records litigation, including research, complaint and brief writing, discovery, negotiation, and oral argument. 

This position is full-time. Democracy Forward’s office is located in Washington, DC. While this position offers flexibility to work remotely, it requires regular in-office presence eight (8) times per month (averaging 2 times per week) to effectively support the nature of the role. Remote candidates within the United States will also be considered. If a candidate is outside of the DC area, travel to DC is expected 1-2 times per quarter.

The  Oversight Counsel will report to the Director of Oversight, with active litigation matters managed by the Senior Oversight Counsel and the Legal Directors, or their delegates.

Key Responsibilities:

Below are the key areas of responsibility for this role. The specifics of each responsibility may vary based on the needs of the organization and department.

• Litigate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in federal and state court and to a limited extent, other transparency-focused litigation, on behalf of Democracy Forward and other clients, with the highest standards of legal skills, and independently manage a caseload. This includes:
• Serve as lead counsel across an active, diverse caseload of federal open records litigation in courtrooms across the country, helping to propose cases, setting litigation strategy, and handling day-to-day case management.
• Research, draft, and edit court filings, including complaints, motions, and briefs at the trial and appellate levels, including, as needed, amicus briefs.
• Conduct discovery where appropriate, including written discovery and depositions, as well as participate in evidentiary hearings.
• Conduct oral arguments in federal and state courts at the trial or appellate level.
• Draft, as needed, other advocacy materials, e.g., demand letters, administrative complaints, and other tools for demanding accountability. 
• Proactively, creatively, and independently propose and develop ideas or candidates for future public records cases, including novel or creative litigation and non-litigation strategies for accountability and transparency. 
• Develop and draft (or consult on) FOIA requests designed to advance DF’s litigation strategy (independent of its FOIA litigation). Work closely with litigation case teams to accomplish this.
• Work with DF’s Oversight team to research and develop investigation strategies and opportunities consistent with relevant federal and state open records laws. Review investigative plans and public records request drafts and advise on FOIA and state open records laws as well as best practices for evidentiary development and reasonable request drafting.
• Negotiate with the federal executive branch and state or local open records officials in connection with a high volume of pending open records requests. Maintain active communication and follow up with FOIA or open records officers in government agencies as DF’s point of contact for assigned active open records requests, or manage such correspondence handled by other team members.
• Partner with DF’s communications and research teams to develop messaging materials, blog posts, or other non-legal advocacy materials, as needed.
• Represent Democracy Forward in meetings with partners, coalitions, presentations, training, and meetings with congressional staff, consistent with Democracy Forward’s 501(c)(3) status. 

Qualifications:

We recognize that strong candidates may not meet 100% of the qualifications listed. If you believe you can contribute meaningfully to our team, we encourage you to apply.

• J.D. from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing in the bar of the District of Columbia, or membership in good standing in another state bar with the ability to become admitted in D.C. 
• At least 5-8 years relevant litigation experience
• Demonstrated excellence in performing legal research and drafting legal documents (including court filings such as complaints, dispositive motions, and appeals, and/or regulatory filings such as comments and petitions for rulemaking), in a professional, timely, and self-directed manner. Excellent writing ability is a plus. 
• Deep familiarity with FOIA, Federal Advisory Committee Act, Presidential Records Act, and/or federal ethics laws.
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest work.
• Demonstrated ability to think creatively and craft legal strategies to address difficult and complex social problems. 
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with legal, academic, government and nonprofit networks, build coalitions, and develop strong client and stakeholder relationships. 
• Demonstrated excellence in performing and supervising legal research and drafting legal documents in a professional, timely, and self-directed manner. 
• Extraordinarily high level of attention to detail and follow through.
• High degree of confidentiality and discretion, professionalism, integrity, diplomacy, and ethics.
• Ability to be a thought leader. 
• Well-developed collaborative and interpersonal skills including demonstrated self-awareness, commitment to diversity and inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Work Environment & Physical Demands:

• This role may require occasional travel for team retreats, conferences, or organizational meetings.
• This role may involve sitting for extended periods and working on a computer. Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed.

The salary range for this position is $155,000 – $165,000 plus excellent benefits. Compensation is commensurate with experience.