Strategic Partnerships Associate

Who We Are:

American Oversight is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog that advances truth, accountability, and democracy by enforcing the public's right to government records. We use multiple tools, backed by aggressive litigation, to fight attacks on democratic institutions, threats to civil rights and liberties, abuses of power, and erosion of government transparency. We expose and disrupt these attacks, and the officials and networks behind them, by forcing the government to turn over records officials would rather keep secret.

Since our founding in 2017, American Oversight has:

• Shut down Trump's bogus "voter fraud" commission.
• Revealed the Trump-sanctioned pressure campaign on the Ukrainian government by forcing the Trump administration to turn over records initially withheld from Congress.
• Uncovered rampant preventable deaths of immigrants in federal custody.
• Unmasked taxpayer-funded sham "audits" of the 2020 election.
• Obtained the fake electors' forged certificates submitted by fake electors during the 2020 election.
• Exposed networks of election denialists and subverters around the country.
• Halted the impeachment of a newly elected state supreme court justice in Wisconsin.
• Blocked state election board members in Georgia and Wisconsin from taking anti-democratic actions in secret.

For more information, please visit our website: www.americanoversight.org

About the Role:

Reporting to the Strategic Partnerships Director, American Oversight is seeking a Strategic Partnerships Associate to join its team.

The Strategic Partnerships Associate is a key member of American Oversight’s Partnerships team and works closely with the Strategic Partnerships Director to ensure effective and seamless internal collaboration and to cultivate and strengthen external relationships.

Internally, this role supports American Oversight’s partnerships strategies and collaborates with the communications, research, and legal teams as well as partners at the national, state, and local levels to advance a pro-democracy agenda and position American Oversight as the preeminent public records organization.

Externally, the Strategic Partnerships Associate serves as a critical link between American Oversight and its partner organizations and coalitions by developing and maintaining connections with organizations and stakeholders on issues related to American Oversight’s priorities to promote organizational impact in the field.

What You Will Do:

• Field partner organization inquiries, coordinating with American Oversight’s communications, research, and legal teams to support partners, help achieve organizational goals, and to amplify impact.
• Identify, prioritize, and propose solutions for handling unusual or urgent partnerships requests.
• Research potential partners and opportunities to advance American Oversight’s partnerships engagements across key campaigns and investigative priorities.
• Coordinate, prepare for, and staff meetings with partner organizations.
• Work with partners to develop ideas for open record requests and keep them updated on the progress of filed requests.
• Maintain internal tracking systems (e.g., Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to manage high-volume information flow and track organizational commitments to partners as well as evidence of and areas for partnerships growth.
• Prepare regular reports and updates on communications with other organizations to update American Oversight leadership.
• Attend and participate in coalition spaces as American Oversight’s representative, monitoring developments in American Oversight’s priority areas to identify potential partnerships opportunities.
• Identify and compile external materials needed for coalitions and partner organizations, as needed.
• Support key strategic partnerships initiatives including, but not limited to: reporting, virtual events, presentations to partners, and external communications with partner audiences.
• Other duties as assigned.

What You Will Bring:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent years of professional experience.
• 2+ years of progressively increasing responsibilities.
• 1+ years of experience working with external partners and in coalitions on progressive policy issues.
• Interest in American Oversight’s mission of government accountability and transparency; commitment to public interest advocacy.
• Exceptionally strong skills in the following:
  • Project Management: Drives, tracks, and proactively reports on the status of projects; understands and engages the necessary stakeholders, tools, resources, and information to produce desired results; is responsive and able to move nimbly among a variety of projects with varying timelines; manages expectations; is curious, asks questions early; anticipates and prepares next steps and outcomes.
  • Communication:
    • Oral: Effectively conveys information and ideas in a clear, concise, confident, and engaging manner; uses language that is understandable and relevant; appropriately adapts language to different audiences and contexts.
    • Written: Effectively conveys information and ideas in a clear, concise, and compelling manner; appropriately adapts language to different audiences and contexts; ensures work product is free from errors, typos, or inconsistencies.
  • Judgment and Decision-Making: Makes sound, well-reasoned decisions that support highly impactful outcomes, including strong partnerships; escalates and addresses concerns or challenges appropriately and in a timely manner.
  • Problem Solving & Critical Thinking: Identifies issues and surfaces creative solutions to achieve desired outcomes; processes large volumes of complex information, discerns meaningful patterns, and draws well-reasoned conclusions.
  • Customer Service: Responds promptly and professionally to stakeholder needs and inquiries; appropriately manages stakeholder expectations; seeks to timely address issues as they arise.
  • Collaboration: Is an inclusive, highly engaged team player; proactively seeks and provides thought partnership, assistance, and/or resources with/to colleagues.
• Self-starter who excels at identifying opportunities, taking ownership, and delivering results with minimal supervision.
• Experience working in and/or desire to contribute to workplaces with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Excellent confidentiality, judgment, discretion, professionalism, integrity, diplomacy, and ethics.
• Position is located in the United States; must be available to work East Coast business hours with occasional evening and weekend hours, as needed.
• Strong technology skills with an aptitude to learn quickly, ramp up on, or test new platforms or technology, including Microsoft Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint); Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides); file-sharing platforms (Drop Box).

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working for other pro-democracy organizations, campaigns, or congressional offices with high standards of responsiveness and accuracy.
• Willingness to develop and expand fluency across a wide swath of policy areas within American Oversight’s priority areas: attacks on U.S. democratic institutions, threats to civil rights and liberties, abuses of power, and erosion of government transparency.
• Familiarity with a CRM and/or Airtable.
• Experience working in a legal organization or an organization that uses litigation as a primary tool for accountability.
• Familiarity with the federal Freedom of Information Act or state open records laws.

We encourage individuals to apply even if they do not have any of the desired qualifications.

What We Offer:

American Oversight offers its employees a generous and comprehensive benefits package that includes 80% of health, dental, and vision premiums paid by the organization, a retirement plan with a matching contribution, and remote office reimbursements for personal devices and wireless connectivity.

Location:

American Oversight is a remote-first location. This position may require travel to attend in-person work-related events and functions, and work on-site as needed in American Oversight’s Washington, DC office.

Salary Range:

$56,000 to $70,000 (commensurate to experience)

Application Deadline:

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by December 18, 2024 to ensure consideration of your application. Following this deadline, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Our Commitment to an Inclusive Workplace:

At American Oversight, we value and strive to hire, develop, and grow a diverse and inclusive team. We are an equal opportunity employer, and encourage applications from all individuals without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, or local laws. We strongly encourage individuals to apply for opportunities at American Oversight even if they do not have any of the desired qualifications.