Interim Assistant Director

Position Title: Interim Assistant Director

Tier / Category: Tier 7

Reports to: Executive Director

Employment Status: Full Time Temporary

FLSA: Exempt

Location: Remote, in the US

NLRA: Management Role

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a national organization that brings white people into fights for racial and economic justice. We work to undermine the power of the Far Right and build the white flank of multiracial majorities fighting for the things all communities need. We organize white people by engaging their shared interest-- what they stand to gain by joining alongside people of color. We do this through 150+ local chapters across the US and Canada, a National Membership base, and local base building projects in the South.

Summary of Position:

This is a temporary position running full time from July 1, 2025 - August 1, 2026. During this period, the current Executive Director will be on out parental leave and the current Assistant Director will be the interim director. Upon the Executive Director’s return from parental leave, the current assistant director will be on sabbatical. This role is intended to provide organizing direction and organizational stability during this period.

The Interim Assistant Director is responsible for the cohesion and day-to-day functioning of all of SURJ’s organizing programs and helps in the management of movement partnerships. They are responsible for ensuring strong coordination and communication across SURJ’s organizing programs, and supervise SURJ’s Organizing Directors in developing, planning, and executing SURJ's strategic organizing work.

The Interim Assistant Director works closely with the Executive Director to execute the organization’s strategy and make pivots as needed. The Interim Assistant Director will play a lead role on liasoning between the organizing departments and the other departments of the organization: Communications, Development, Human Resources, Finance and Data.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES — Essential duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:

Priority 1: Supervise Organizing Directors

• Supervise the Director of Grassroots Organizing. Some support of Grassroots Organizing Department (GRO) staff under the director on an as needed basis, as well.
• Support for the National Organizing (NOD) Director - NOD Director will report to and coordinate with the Executive Director on strategy but report to/be supported by this role for all departmental management and organizational priorities.
• Be primary point of contact for Political Consultant and help facilitate electoral decision-making meetings with the National Organizing Director.
• Direct and manage professional development opportunities for SURJ organizers
• Help onboard and supervise a new director of a new organizing department at SURJ in collaboration with the Executive Director.

Priority 2: Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team responsible for envisioning and implementing overall organizational strategy designed to reach SURJ’s goals.
• Shares major organizational decision making responsibility with Senior Leadership Team
• Independently lead coordination efforts between organizing programs within SURJ to ensure cohesion of programs and pivots, maintain productive relationships and maximize impact where appropriate.
• This includes tracking the strategies and progress of various projects happening within GRO including Punch Up, Faith Organizing, Southern Crossroads, and the Appalachian People’s Union to support them in meeting goals and being in good communication across separate projects.
• Ensure coordination between organizing leadership and other parts of the organization including Communications, Development, Data, Finance and Human Resources. Serve as primary point person on organizing for all other departments and serve as lead troubleshooter and problem solver to avoid unnecessary rubs and establish new systems and workflows as needed.
• Support search efforts to hire new staff for new organizing department to do a distributed organizing effort to bring in more working class people

Priority 3: Organizing Partnerships

• Represent SURJ in movement spaces and bring back information to share with the appropriate staff
• Travel regularly to movement convenings as needed
• Collaborate on the development and presentation of political education initiatives for staff, members and partners as needed

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of 10 years experience as an Organizing Director or other senior level staff at a basebuilding organization, including 5+ years of experience holding organizational-level responsibility.
• Minimum 5 years experience supervising staff.
• Experience holding the big picture of multiple organizing campaigns with little to no external guidance.
• Experience running organizing projects that integrate and balance leadership development, campaign strategy, and winning change.
• Experience working in a social justice environment, and competence in working across lines of difference and power.
• SURJ policy requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to reasonable accommodation under federal, state, and local law. Accommodations may be not possible for positions that require in-person contact with other staff or members of the public.
• This job will require driving for work, please consult our driving policy to ensure you meet all minimum qualifications for this role.

KNOWLEDGE:

• Experience doing organizing on issues of racial and economic justice.
• Demonstrated knowledge of how to integrate political analysis with concrete organizing strategies from its fundamental functioning to its broad strategy.
• Understanding of the importance of organizing the working class and in the South.
• Understanding of the importance of electoral organizing.
• Alignment with the core values and strategy of SURJ and a heart for organizing in white communities.
• Experience navigating competing interests, multiple stakeholders, conflicting rules, a range of possible solutions and other complex elements
• Experienced at setting goals and envisioning and implementing new strategies toward those goals

SKILLS:

• Strong demonstrated skills in leadership, strategy, supervision, and management.
• Impeccable professional skills needed to execute the role.
• Excellent relational and verbal communication skills.
• Skilled in establishing and maintaining trusted and effective working relationships
• Highly skilled facilitator of teams, projects and meetings
• Highly skilled project manager able to plan and facilitate the execution of complex plans across multiple teams
• Skilled supervisor of people with strong talent for engaging and motivating a team
• Skillfully provide analysis and solutions for issues or problems that may arise in the course of management

ABILITIES:

• Recognized professional organizing experience.
• Demonstrated ability with planning, assessing, and refining a large-scale organizing department.
• High level of competence in managing a diversity of organizing departments.
• Competence in developing and monitoring program budgets.
• Demonstrated ability to manage up and laterally
• Ability to give and receive direct constructive feedback
• Ability to look ahead and anticipate needs
• Demonstrated ability to pivot easily and manage organizational growth and change
• Demonstrated experience to build strong and trusting relationships across lines of difference
• Willingness to adjust hours to occasionally work on weekends or after hours based on rapid response moments.