National Organizing Department (NOD) Administrative Assistant

Position Title: National Organizing Department (NOD) Administrative Assistant

Tier / Category: Tier 2 / Associate II

Supervised By: National Organizing Department Director

Employment Status: Full time

FLSA: Exempt

Location: Remote in US

Union: Bargaining Unit Member

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a national organization that brings white people into fights for racial and economic justice. We work to 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.

The National Organizing Department (NOD) drives the execution of SURJ's national power-building strategies. NOD runs scaled, distributed, and in-person organizing programs that include electoral campaigns, year-round base building, and absorption of newly-activated white people in major movement moments.

Summary of Position:

SURJ is seeking an Administrative Assistant to coordinate with the NOD Director, Organizing Managers, and Organizers to ensure smooth and efficient department operations.

A successful person in this role will understand their own shared interest in organizing white people and be committed to SURJ’s model of shared interest organizing; be willing to work in a collaborative, interdependent workplace; and be ready to play a critical, “behind the scenes” role in supporting a high-impact team of organizers. An ideal candidate will bring a high degree of attention to detail and organization, a systems mindset, and a low-ego approach to problem solving.

This position will report to the NOD Director. This position is included in a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment are subject to negotiations for a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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

Priority 1: Scheduling, calendar maintenance, and online event support (40%)

• Manage NOD’s internal-facing Google calendar of NOD staff meetings
• Schedule department-wide meetings, retreats, and sub-team meetings at the request of NOD Director or Organizing Managers
• Review calendar proactively for potential conflicts (holidays, SURJ-wide events, staff vacations, etc.) and propose alternative dates to meeting owners
• Ensure NOD calendar events always include
• Zoom meeting link
• Links to appropriate notes and meeting documents
• All necessary meeting participants
• Manage NOD’s external-facing calendar of events, trainings, and other important organizing meetings
  • Ensure Communications department has up-to-date information about our organizing activities and calendar for SURJ’s website
  • Review and confirm draft Mobilize events submitted by members awaiting approval
• Coordination of and ensuring access to online events
  • Set up online NOD events, ensuring proper data set up and flow from Mobilize to Zoom
  • Coordinate accessibility services, including captioner and ASL interpreters as needed
  • Manage volunteer Zoom techs
    • Oversee the recruitment and training of new and existing volunteer Zoom techs
    • Assign trained volunteer technicians to specific events and confirm their availability
    • Maintain roster of trained volunteer technical support

Priority 2: Departmental tracking and communication (30%)

• Gather and compile information for reports and campaign progress updates
• Coordinate cross-departmental collaboration when NOD initiatives intersect with other SURJ departments
• Provide EveryAction database support for organizing campaigns and member engagement (upon request)
• Create graphics and social media content related to NOD campaigns (upon request and with guidance and support from NOD Director or Organizing Managers)
• Update and maintain organizing campaign materials and resources (upon request and with guidance and support from NOD Director or Organizing Managers)
• Maintain accurate information for website updates including:
  • Members page updates
  • Campaign-facing pages with current information and resources
• Respond to incoming email correspondence to the overall NOD team; routing emails and inquiries to relevant team members when appropriate
• Monitor NOD Slack channels to ensure no requests, action items, or important information falls through the cracks.

Priority 3: Logistics and coordination support for in-person events (20%)

• Manage all travel start to finish; finding appropriate accommodation options, creating and booking travel itineraries, and managing changes as they occur. Coordinate with traveling staff to ensure all needs are met.
• Work with organizing managers to prepare materials and logistics for events, campaigns, and organizing activities.
• Support team to track and input department-wide receipts from travel or other expenses within deadlines set by Finance.
• Coordinate physical materials distribution such as mailing visual materials for mass meetings and events.

Priority 4: HR and admin (10%)

• Prepare onboarding documents and facilitate the smooth onboarding of new staff in collaboration with the NOD Director
• Support hiring process for NOD staff
  • Participate in application review and initial screening
  • Coordinating interview schedules and logistics
  • Supporting NOD Director and Organizing Managers in job description updates and revisions
• Support NOD team with HR compliance
  • Send proactive reminders to team about timesheet completion and submission
  • Coordinate with HR team to ensure NOD stays current on org HR policy requirements

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of 2 years experience as an administrative assistant or 2 years of equivalent work-related experience.
• Google Workspace proficiency and experience with data tracking required.
• Strong relational / customer service skills are required.
• Familiarity with EveryAction and Asana preferred.
• 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.
• While driving for work is unlikely, all those who drive for work must abide by our driving policy.

KNOWLEDGE:

• Experience doing organizing on issues of racial justice preferred.
• This person will also undertake any other duties or projects that may be reasonably required, and deal with matters arising in a timely and effective manner.
• Must be proficient in data management and demonstrate a command of spreadsheets.
• Feels at ease and comfortable amidst rapidly changing priorities and pivots.
• Experience working remotely or comfortable working with a distributed team.
• Basic understanding of organizing campaigns and base building work preferred.

SKILLS:

• Excellent relational and verbal communication skills
• Solid time management skills
• Strong written communication skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Extremely detail oriented
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including proofreading and copy-editing
• Excellent interpersonal skills and capacity to work with people across a wide range of differences, especially lines of race and class.

ABILITIES:

• Flexible - open to new ways of doing things and experimentation
• Reliable - follows through on what they said they are going to do
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to look ahead and anticipate needs
• The ability to learn new technologies quickly
• The ability to prioritize work and to balance several work streams at a time
• Strong ability to complete complex tasks and projects quickly with some guidance
• Ability to handle confidential and/or sensitive organizational and personal information with tact and diplomacy
• Ability to identify urgent matters, without having the full picture, and notifying the appropriate involved parties such as Organizing Managers or the NOD Director
• Ability to make grounded assessments of how long tasks will take.
• The ability to build trust and work with a wide range of individuals and personalities, and to establish and maintain effective working relationships