Political Director

Tom Steyer is a Democrat running for Governor of California in 2026 to tackle the single biggest challenge we face as a state: the Californians, who built this state and make this state run, can't afford to live in California anymore. Tom Steyer has a long record of standing up to powerful corporations—and winning—and now he’s running for governor to hold the companies driving up prices accountable, make them pay their fair share, and make California affordable again. We are building a statewide movement focused on lowering costs, expanding access to housing, reducing energy bills, and strengthening public education. If you’re driven by economic justice, motivated by big fights that matter, and eager to help build a campaign that puts people—not corporations—at the center of California’s future, join us.

The Political Director will be responsible for strategic planning and management of the campaign’s political engagement, developing CA state-based goals, programs, and measurable outcomes - ensuring alignment across the campaign’s political efforts. The Political Director serves as the primary point of contact for key political relationships for the campaign including CA elected officials, party leaders, community organizations, and grass-top leaders. The ideal candidate is highly organized, politically astute, and able to work effectively in a fast-paced, evolving campaign environment. This role requires discretion, judgment, and the ability to balance multiple priorities across constituencies and geographies.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement political engagement goals, programs, and metrics of success.
• Lead outreach and relationship management with local party leaders, elected officials, advocacy groups, and key stakeholders.
• Participate in trip planning and assist with front-end strategic coordination for the candidate.
• Work closely with the scheduling and advance teams to identify and deploy appropriate surrogates and representatives at regional events.
• Serve as the campaign’s primary point of contact for stakeholder engagement across California, maintaining an updated database of key relationships.
• Communicate political insights, trends, and opportunities back to campaign leadership and candidates to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Pursue outreach to nontraditional stakeholders and potential supporters to expand the campaign’s coalition.
• Coordinate cross-departmentally with communications, digital, and policy teams to ensure integrated political operations.
• Represent the campaign at political gatherings, coalition meetings, and public events as needed
• May supervise political staff, consultants, and/or regional political leads as campaign staffing expands.

Qualifications, knowledge, and skills:

• Minimum of 8 years of experience or 3 election cycles in political and/or advocacy campaigns, organizing, or communications roles.
• Deep understanding of the California political landscape.
• Proven track record of success managing relationships with California elected officials, labor and community leaders, and diverse coalition partners.
• Experience managing and developing teams across multi-layered organizational structures.
• Experience working with statewide or congressional-level campaigns preferred.
• Ability to navigate complex political environments and competing priorities with diplomacy and discretion.
• Collaborative approach to problem-solving and team coordination.
• Strong sense of initiative and ability to adapt quickly to evolving campaign needs.
• Strong working knowledge of Google Workspace.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain discretion, and manage sensitive information.
• Comfortable with flexible hours and frequent in-state travel.