Liesl Hickey has been appointed as the executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 2014 cycle.

Newly elected NRCC Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon tapped Hickey to direct the powerful committee, which is tasked with defending a sizable majority in the next election cycle.

Hickey, 38, served as the head of the NRCC’s incumbent retention Patriot Program during the 2012 cycle, a position she was appointed to in January 2011.

“Liesl Hickey gets it,” Walden said in a statement. “She understands how Republicans can win in competitive districts. She has sharp political instincts and led our Patriot Program to help the House retain the second largest GOP majority since the 1940s. With this solid base in place, she will lead our team forward to gaining ground in 2014.”

Hickey served as an adviser to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2010. A longtime Capitol Hill hand, she served as then-Rep. Mark S. Kirk’s chief of staff from 2003 to 2007. Kirk, who represented a suburban Chicago district, was regularly a top target of Democrats but managed to hold off the attacks, including in the Democratic wave years of 2006 and 2008.

Hickey also served on the senior staff of ONE, a grass-roots campaign working to eradicate poverty and preventable disease.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to work with Greg Walden and look forward to continuing to be a part of our outstanding team at the NRCC,” Hickey said in a statement. “Greg and I share an understanding that forward and creative thinking and aggressively staying on offense will make our majority stronger in 2014.”

Hickey lives in Washington, D.C.