Political Director

Location: The position will be based in the Hudson Valley (Dutchess, Orange, or Ulster County). We may be able to offer a stipend to cover relocation expenses.

Reports to: Managing Director

Type of position: Full time, 40 hours

Start date: Ideally, April or May but we are open to different timelines

Mission:

We are building a grassroots movement of everyday people to transform New York so it works for all of us. For too long, greedy corporations, billionaires, and political elites have rigged our country to work against us. We are coming together across race and age to fight for laws and win elections that put the power back in our hands and create lasting change.

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead political strategy on statewide and local legislative campaigns, and develop and manage the execution of plans to carry out that strategy.
• Play leading role in endorsement strategy and process, develop and manage execution of plans to carry out that strategy.
• Manage relationships with partner organizations, unions, and elected officials.
• Represent the organization in coalitions and at public facing events.
• Manage the political team by setting meaningful goals, developing project plans, using effective day-to-day management practices, and supporting supervisees’ growth.
• Regularly communicate legislative campaign updates to staff and coordinate with other departments (digital, organizing, student & distributed team) as needed to support political goals.
• Develop the organization’s strategy collaboratively with the Managing Director, Executive Director, and Organizing Director.

Other duties & responsibilities

• Participate in weekly staff and coordination meetings
• Participate in other organizational activities, including recruiting volunteers and soliciting donors from your existing social networks, supporting organizing efforts through phonebanking, canvassing, and facilitation, attending staff retreats, and engaging with staff culture building

Work requirements

• In-person work. Each of our staff works a minimum of 3 days per week at the office or in the field.
• Irregular hours. Depending on the needs of the work, this position will be expected to work irregular hours, including on nights, weekends, and holidays. We provide flexible scheduling and comp time to ensure sustainability in the position.
• Ability to drive. Must have a driver's license, and daily access to a working car with current car insurance, and be willing to travel across the Hudson Valley regularly. Additionally, this position will require trips to Albany.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Strong political, organizing, and/or managerial experience. 3+ years electoral, legislative, political and/or labor organizing campaign experience and ideally 1+ year experience managing full-time staff.
• Politically clear. Understands why building power through elections, issue campaigns, and organizing is essential. Committed to building a multi-racial movement to transform our state and country to work for all.
• Commitment to building a powerful organizational culture, grounded in emotional awareness, proactive and direct communication, generative feedback and debate, and support and accountability.
• Strong planner — and problem-solver. Able to develop short, medium, and long-term plans for events, projects, and campaigns, and able to adjust and problem-solve on the fly when things don’t go according to plan. Learns from failures and generates smart and creative interventions.
• Highly motivated, organized, and detail-oriented. Has a strong system to get work done on time, juggle competing demands, and prioritize what is most important. Notices errors that others might overlook. Works as well independently as they do in a team.
• Strong relationship builder. Is able to quickly connect, build trust, and develop authentic relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds.
• Effective communicator. Effectively communicates about our work and beliefs, whether it’s in writing or in person at a rally, meeting, or one-on-one conversation.

Pluses:

• Bilingual in Spanish/English
• Knowledge and understanding of local and statewide politics in the Hudson Valley and/or New York State and key issues important to working people.