Organizing Director

About the Position 

The Organizing Director will lead the implementation of NJP’S relational civic engagement and deep canvassing efforts to advance ballot initiatives, legislative priorities and issue campaigns, as well as occasionally leading electoral programs for NJP’s sibling organization, New Justice Project Action Fund. The Organizing Director will design a program to integrate voter engagement into all aspects of our organizing, ensuring that our communities are the one’s crafting a vision for a thriving Minnesota, and holding our elected officials accountable to that vision at the federal, state, and local level. This is a senior level position which will manage two community organizers,  a small team of part-time canvassers (to be hired), and report to the Executive Director.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design and implement a statewide organizing and field plan for NJP
• Work in closer partnership with the Executive Director to build strategically-aligned short and long-term organizing and field plans, goals, evaluation and accountability systems

• Lead and collaborate with an organizing team to execute the programmatic vision and strategic direction of the organizing strategy and deep canvassing program within the organization (for both 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 civic engagement)
• Represent the New Justice Project at Coalition Tables; able to represent with other mission advancing opportunities as a 
• Recruit, train and retain a strong organizing team of community organizers and volunteers
• Foster a team-oriented, supportive and accountable work environment at NJP
• Develop curriculum and execute a training program for staff, membership and volunteers to build deep canvassing capacity
• Provide technical and training support to staff and members using VAN
• Create tracking and reporting data systems for organizing and field program; analyze data and modeling to create and track progress
• Ensure that daily, weekly and monthly goals are met
• Assist with fundraising through timely program reporting, partnerships, and coalition participation

Desired Qualifications 

• At least 2 years or 2 campaign cycles of organizing and field program leadership experience
• Experience managing and leading a team 
• Great communication skills (listening, speaking, and writing) 
• Ability to collect and analyze data, and make data-informed plans and decisions
• Track record of success recruiting volunteers to participate in electoral or community organizing campaigns
• Experience working with low income communities and communities of color
• Excellent relationship-building skills with significant experience building and sustaining working relationships with grassroots community members
• Experience with canvassing, virtual phonebanks, predictive dialer and texting in volunteer operations
• Experience using VAN (Voter Action Network) and MiniVAN including creating universes to meet our goals, setting up virtual phone banks and cutting turf
• Ability to develop teams
• Familiarity with legal frameworks for 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 eligible activities and cost sharing practices
• Familiarity with Deep Canvassing preferred
• Minnesota experience or ties to the state preferred

Other Expectations

• A strong commitment to social, racial, and economic justice and progressive political change.
• Enthusiastically promote New Justice Project and TakeAction Minnesota’s goals and priorities in compliance with all policies and procedures and have a deep investment in our shared agenda for change.
• Complete and coordinate special projects as needed.
• Other duties or tasks may be assigned on an as-needed basis.
• Flexibility to periodically work outside normal business hours that include evenings and weekends, and periodically work extended hours to accomplish requirements of the position.

Physical Demands and Working Environment

Work is performed in a standard office environment which requires occasionally lifting such articles as file boxes or heavier materials up to 25lbs with help from others and/or lifting and carrying light objects frequently. A job in this category may require walking or standing to a significant degree or may involve sitting most of the time with long periods of computer work and heavy phone usage.

Salary/Benefits/Other Information 

• Salary is commensurate with experience and starts at $62,500. Category: Organizer 3.
• Full time employment defined at thirty-two (32) hours a week.
• Full health and dental benefits through HealthPartners. New Justice Project pays 95% of monthly insurance premiums for the employee and their family.
• Long Term Disability, AD&D and life insurance provided at no cost to employee.
• 401(k) and Roth 401(K) Retirement plans with up to 3% employer match.
• 3 weeks of vacation in the first year, 2 weeks of sick and safe leave upon hire with another 2 weeks in the first year, 8 paid holidays, and an office closure the last week of the year.
• 12 weeks paid parental leave, as well as other health related extended paid leave options.
• Annual 4% guaranteed pay increase; Monthly reimbursements including cell phone and home internet use