Advanced Specialist, Government Relations

Job Title – Advanced Specialist, Government Relations

Description – Support state-level policy and legislative strategy, delivering insight and analysis that shapes government engagement and informs business decisions across a complex, regulated environment.

About the role

The Advanced Specialist, Government Relations supports Pearson’s US Government Relations (USGR) function by tracking, analysing, and interpreting state-level legislative and policy developments that impact the business and its strategic priorities.

Working closely with senior colleagues, this role plays a key part in delivering clear, timely, and well-structured policy materials that inform internal decision-making and external engagement. The position partners with internal stakeholders across business units to ensure that policy analysis reflects operational realities and supports effective advocacy strategies.

This is a highly analytical and detail-oriented role, combining legislative tracking, policy research, and stakeholder coordination within a fast-paced and evolving regulatory environment.

What you’ll do

• Monitor and track state legislative and regulatory activity across assigned policy areas, identifying and escalating relevant developments to senior Government Relations colleagues
• Support assigned business units by developing and maintaining policy scorecards and tracking progress against key business and Government Relations objectives
• Review introduced legislation and regulatory proposals, summarising key provisions, status, and potential business implications
• Produce and maintain recurring updates including legislative trackers, policy digests, alerts, and concise summaries to support internal planning and responsiveness
• Support the development of internal briefings by organising research, synthesising inputs, and preparing clear written materials for use by the USGR team
• Partner with internal stakeholders to validate business context, gather relevant data, and ensure policy materials accurately reflect operational considerations
• Provide timely and accurate support to state Government Relations leads by responding to requests for background research, bill comparisons, and impact analysis (including financial, operational, compliance, and customer considerations)
• Draft and support the development of policy-facing materials such as:
  • One-pagers
  • Talking points
  • Issue summaries
  • Q&A documents
  • Comment letters
  • Testimony support materials
  • Background memos
    Ensuring alignment with established USGR positioning
• Support preparation for meetings with policymakers and external stakeholders by assembling briefing packs, agendas, and detailed notes
• Track key legislative deadlines, hearings, and engagement milestones, maintaining well-organised records and documentation
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of internal tracking and documentation processes, including template development, version control, and document management
• Utilise legislative tracking and monitoring tools to ensure consistent, high-quality policy reporting and analysis

What we’re looking for

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, Political Science, Law, Economics, Education Policy, or a related field
• 2–5 years of experience in government relations, public policy, legislative affairs, or policy analysis (or closely related environments)
• Hands-on experience with legislative tracking, bill analysis, and policy research within a government relations or public affairs function
• Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to produce clear, concise, and well-structured policy materials for internal stakeholders
• Good understanding of state legislative processes and how policy decisions are shaped and influenced
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work to deadlines, and maintain a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with internal stakeholders and respond to feedback and shifting priorities
• Exposure to education policy or another regulated industry is desirable
• Experience drafting or supporting policy or regulatory content, such as summaries, comparison tables, or suggested amendments
• Familiarity with policy areas such as education funding, assessments, procurement, accountability, data privacy, accessibility, or emerging technology policy is advantageous
• Experience using legislative tracking or monitoring tools such as FiscalNote, Quorum, State Net, or similar platforms

Location & working pattern

This is a remote role based in the United States, working as part of a distributed Government Relations team. The position requires regular collaboration with internal stakeholders and responsiveness to legislative timelines across multiple states.