The membership of the new House Republican Conference is nearly 90 percent white and male. But one of the key people responsible for getting its members reelected — or expanding its ranks — in 2014 is a woman.

Liesl Hickey, a 38-year-old operative tapped as the new executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, takes the reins of the House GOP campaign arm at a sensitive time in the party’s relationship with women and minorities. In the wake of the party’s 2012 drubbing, some of the GOP’s veteran hands have suggested that Republicans must do a far better job of reaching out beyond their base of white, male voters.

The critique certainly isn’t lost on Hickey, the second female in recent years to lead the NRCC. Sally Vastola, who headed up the committee in 2006, had been the most recent woman to do so.

In an interview at the committee’s headquarters, Hickey pledged that the committee would make a concerted effort to woo female candidates. She pointed out that the NRCC supported a slate of high-profile female contenders in 2012 who fell short, including Mia Love, Martha McSally and Maggie Brooks.

“We have had an outpouring of interest from members wanting to help in our recruiting process this cycle, and we’ll continue to aggressively recruit a diverse crop of qualified candidates,” said Hickey, who has chosen two women for senior roles at the committee: Andrea Bozek as communications director and Jenny Drucker as finance director.

But Hickey’s job is much bigger than improving House Republicans’ standing among female voters.

She arrived after an election in which Republicans took a beating but kept their majority. And in 2014, she’ll confront a landscape that’s likely to be defined by unpredictable, high-stakes congressional battles over the deficit, immigration and possibly gun control.