Working America - Political Director

With 5 million members, Working America mobilizes working people who don’t have the benefit of a union at work to fight for good jobs and a fair economy. As the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, we unite working people in urban and suburban communities around a shared economic agenda.

The Political Director is a national headquarters position that leads the development, implementation, and oversight of Working America’s electoral and issue campaigns.  The Political Director works closely with the Executive Director and other programmatic departments to direct Working America’s field and digital assets to meet organizational and campaign goals and objectives. The Political Director is also responsible for helping conceive and execute clinical experiments, build and expand the organization’s profile in the political space, manage relationships, and support outreach as needed.

Reports to:  Executive Director

Key Responsibilities 

Political Campaign Strategy and Leadership

• Oversee all aspects of campaign planning and implementation including campaign conception, research, assessment and analysis, plan development, and management.
• Work with Field leadership team to develop canvass raps and questions for campaign execution.
• Conduct and support political and programmatic teams on outreach.
• Support and manage the development and production of campaign materials.
• Alongside the Deputy Director, serve as lead coordinator among various departments including Political, Campaigns, Field, Data, Communications, Legal, and Administration on implementation and execution of new campaigns.

Partnership Development and Management

• Help manage relationships with stakeholders.
• Represent the organization in political spaces.

Staff and Program Management

• Effectively recommend on hiring, promoting, discharging, disciplining, managing work and evaluating Political staff of 3 to 6 people.
• Manage vendor relationships as needed.
• Work closely with the National Campaigns Director and National Field Director to manage program and campaign outreach for up to 2,000 canvass organizers and deploy a series of digital and mail tactics in 100-150 elections per cycle. 

Research, Analysis and Problem Solving

• Work with digital, analytics, political and programmatic teams to develop and implement in-cycle clinical experiments and conduct ongoing analysis with the goal of improving campaign design and execution.
• The ideal candidate will have demonstrated critical analysis and execution of a complex body of work, effectively communicated that work to a range of audiences and differing use cases.
• Participate in regular iteration, explanation of and refinement of campaign work.
• Demonstrated capacity to acquire new insights from quantitative and qualitative information and apply it to the program in measurable ways.

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• 7-10 years of experience managing electoral campaigns or political programs
• Experience with strategic planning and implementation of field canvass to support electoral and issue campaigns including voter contact and GOTV operations
• Advanced user knowledge of NGP VAN, Catalist, and other data platforms and tools
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Familiarity with the structure and workings of the labor movement and progressive infrastructure
• Experience working with at least two legal structures (hard side party, c3, etc.)
• Experience with campaign or complex system management
• Experience following structured process with attention to detail to collect, analyze and evaluate evidence to  inform decision making in continuous way
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders and navigating partner relationships in one or more spaces (eg- Labor, IE, Analytics communities)
• Ability to work independently in politically-sensitive and high-pressure environments
• Ability to manage and direct staff and work across departments
• Excellent problem-solving and relational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to travel on a regular basis as needed
• Must be able to work irregular and long hours

Location

• Washington, DC, in person 5 days/week at the national office at 815 16th St. NW Washington, DC; 21- 42 remote work days per year

Position

• Full-time
• FLSA Classification: Exempt

Starting salary is $137,499. Includes medical insurance and 401(k) with employer contribution. 

Working America is an equal opportunity employer.  Working America is committed to building a diverse workforce and encourages applications from women, people of color, LGBTQIA and other non-conforming individuals, and individuals with disabilities.

To apply, please submit your resume and answer the application questions. We will review applications on a rolling basis.

 

This search is being led by NRG Consulting Group. Reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Working America is implementing COVID-19 mitigation protocols to keep our employees and the community safe.

Working America staff are required to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 except in cases of accommodation as required under ADA or Title VII religious exceptions.