Campaign Manager

Position: Campaigns Manager

Hours and Position Type: 32-40 hours/week

Salary: $59,904-$74,880 annually (depending on FTE)

Location: This is a hybrid position with some remote work and some in-person community-based work (averaging 1-4 times monthly in-person across Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan Counties, more during key election seasons, less in winter/spring)

The Opportunity:

Rural People’s Voice (RPV) is building a multi-racial majority of rural working people, ready to come together to rewrite the future of North Central Washington. We are seeking a Campaigns Manager to play a leading role in our leadership development and electoral program in communities across North Central Washington (NCW). Now, in our third full year of programming, we are purposefully growing our base and engaging voters through deep organizing, narrative leadership development, winning elections, and seizing policy opportunities. We are committed to building a sustaining, multi-racial base of working- and middle-class power, one that can advance the leaders, actions, and policies our rural communities need.

The Campaigns Manager will lead key programs within our electoral organizing work, including strengthening a recruitment pipeline for future candidates, providing concrete and strategic campaign support for allied campaigns, partnering with RPV leadership to build our electoral organizing strategy, connecting with elected leaders in office, and, in time, supporting local and state leaders in forwarding policies that support working families.

The RPV Campaigns Manager will bring immense passion to our shared vision for a better future for rural Washington. The ideal candidate has experience in (or a huge appetite for) electoral campaigns and grassroots organizing, a good sense for the leadership landscape in rural Washington, a relentless curiosity for political strategy, and is fueled by connections with community. They have a strong, foundational political analysis, are excited about learning, have strong interpersonal skills, thrive as part of a team, can work independently, and are deeply aligned with the mission of RPV.

This position reports to RPV’s Executive Director.

Political Director Responsibilities

Electoral Strategy

• Candidate Pipeline:
  • Seat Identification Manage and distribute database of local elections and open seats that tracks short-term and long-term opportunities
  • Leader Identification: Lead robust candidate recruitment through RPV networks, open nominations, and more
  • Steward Recruitment: Steward potential candidates through recruitment process, adeptly communicating information about elected roles, campaign requirements, community organizing and movement building, and RPV campaign support process
  • Develop Leaders: Coordinate activities that strengthen the preparation of local leaders to run for office, including planning local campaign trainings hosted by RPV and its partners
• Concrete Support for Campaigns:
  • Campaign Support: Connect candidates with concrete and strategic campaign support (data planning, messaging, budgeting, etc.) either directly through 1:1 conversations or through contractors and a robust set of partners
  • Campaign Tools: Keep up-to-date on candidate training tools and maintain catalogue of “best practice” training materials for candidates and their campaign teams
  • Campaign Investments: Network with partners across the state to turn resources and support towards an increasing number of critical rural campaigns
  • Electoral Infrastructure:Data Planning: Contribute to planning and data mapping for door-to-door candidate canvasses (in collaboration with the organizing team)
  • Data Management: Skillfully utilize the VAN (Voter Activation Network) and other electoral data resources to inform voter outreach, engagement, and targeting
  • Compliance and Reporting: Become familiar with basic electoral, 501(c)4, and PAC reporting requirements, and with leadership from the Operations Manager, contribute to mandatory political reporting and monitoring organizational compliance.
• Electoral Planning:
  • Direct Voter Engagement: Help identify and steward annual independent expenditure and coordinated campaign activities that focus on RPV base and other strategic audiences
  • Policy Monitoring & Research: Stay up to date on a specific, limited scope of relevant ballot measures, federal, state, and local policies, and monitor opportunities for RPV to engage in these advocacy and organizing activities
• Candidate Endorsements:
  • Endorsement Decision Making: Coordinate the RPV Steering Committee through their designated process to assess and endorse candidates
  • Endorsement Process: Annually review and improve endorsement process with direct guidance from Steering Committee; steward candidates through endorsement process

Organizational Leadership

• Strategic Planning: Participate in efforts to build the annual strategic plan, including program-specific goals and tactics
• Fundraising: Participate in fundraising efforts for the organization, contributing to grant writing, reporting and partnership development as appropriate and joining 1:1 donor meetings as assigned; contribute to reports and other written materials that shape our story, successes, and potential
• Represent the Organization: Represent RPV at community meetings, in coalitions, and at events as assigned to understand the needs of the community and forward our collective work as assigned
• Build a Thriving Organization: Be a driving part of the broader work and mission of RPV, contributing insight and skills to the organization’s forward movement and overall strategy and goals
• Constant Learning: Connect to movement-building organizations across the country to tie in with and learn from best practices, awesome ideas, and innovative strategies in electoral organizing
• Embody RPV Values: Model and help root the inclusive values, hope, deep joy, and accountable culture of RPV across our staff and network, and in community

Additional Details:

• Location: While this can be a remote position, travel to NCW for in-person work in or near Wenatchee and Omak, and across North Central Washington will be frequent and required (averaging 1-4 times monthly in-person across Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan Counties, more during key election seasons, less in winter/spring) There will be additional travel for conferences, training, etc. Applicants who live in the region will be prioritized, though all are welcome to apply.
• Schedule: This is a full-time, salaried, exempt position supervised by the Executive Director. This position requires some weeknight and weekend hours. Exact start-date is negotiable, but we seek to start this position as soon as possible.
• Travel: This position will require occasional driving for meetings, training, conferences, advocacy, etc. This position must own or have full time access to a car as a licensed, insured driver. We cover mileage reimbursements equal to travel within NCW (up to 120 miles per direction traveled) for work at our regular location (Wenatchee or Omak). We also provide per diem and lodging for all required overnight travel.
• Culture and Leadership: RPV values a healthy workplace, worker rights and worker respect, including family and kid-friendly work options. RPV aspires to an expanded shared leadership model and depending on strategy, funding, and team makeup.

Required Qualifications

• At least 3 years of relevant experience, preferably in the context of grassroots organizing, labor organizing, and/or electoral politics
• Acute political savviness and excellent analytical skills, a strong desire to understand our current political/economic landscape and do work with a clear strategy to build political power over the short and long-term
• Exceptional ability to quickly build rapport and trusting relationships with community, stakeholders and staff
• Demonstrated ability to plan, manage, and execute projects with growing leadership
• Love for learning and constant research around the rural political landscape and narrative orientation of communities
• Strong commitment to racial, social, economic, and gender justice and to building working-class power guided by strategy
• Strong self-awareness, can recognize when you need support and can receive feedback as part of your growth
• Ability to work independently, set and meet personal goals, and work collaboratively as part of a team – both in a leadership team and as an accountable, respectful collaborator
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
• High confidence with Google Drive software (Sheets, Docs, and Slides)
• A personal and shared stake: you know why you want to win and why we need to build power together to win!

Desired (Not Required) Qualifications

• Bilingual, Spanish and English
• Experience working with power-building grassroots organizations, including organizations doing 501(c)(4) electoral work
• Experience with electoral strategy development, analysis, and deployment
• Familiarity with worker, housing, immigrant rights, climate, and environmental issues
• Experience with running or leading political campaigns or candidates