Political Director

SEIU HEALTHCARE MINNESOTA & IOWA

Political Director

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Organization Overview:

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa represents over 50,000 healthcare and long-term care workers in hospitals, clinics, nursing home, and home care across Minnesota and Iowa. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa is dedicated to building an organization which advances social and economic justice through work on local, state, national and even global policy issues which affect our members; our patients, residents, and clients; and our communities. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, long term care, and home care, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare, and more secure jobs for our communities, uniting their strength with their counterparts around the state and world to help ensure that workers benefit from today’s global economy.

Summary of Position:

The SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa Political Director will be a key management position in our Union, and will be part of our Senior Leadership Team.

The Political Director of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa leads and coordinates the legislative and electoral work of our whole Union. This includes direct lobbying at the state and local levels, supervising contract lobbyists, coordinating legislative efforts with other union and community-partner lobbyists, representing the Union in a variety of political meetings and coalitions, designing and implementing persuasion and mobilization campaigns for elections, supervising staff and member-leader work on elections, training and developing member-leaders who are active in the Union’s legislative and electoral programs, directing organization-wide efforts to grow our Union’s COPE (Committee on Political Education) voluntary PAC fund, and other tasks as the need arises.

Any candidate must be willing to work long and irregular hours including weekends and evenings when called for. The Political Director must also be willing to travel with some overnight stays. The Political Director shall be required to perform services in accordance with the needs of the Union and at such times and places as are necessary. The Political Director must be dedicated to improving the lives of our members and strengthening our Union, and must faithfully represent the interests and democratic decisions of our members at all times.

In order for SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa to fulfill its core functions effectively, it is essential that all employees perform their jobs in solidarity with the membership and leadership of the Union consistently. The Political Director must maintain respectful, professional relationships with Union members, coworkers, the Union’s elected leadership, elected officials, candidates, coalition partners, other organizations’ lobbyists, and not-yet-Union workers the Union is organizing.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serve as the Union’s primary representative and lobbyist at the Minnesota State Capitol, advancing our members’ priorities and winning concrete improvements in their lives.
• Supervise the work of the Union’s contract lobbyists at the Minnesota State Capitol.
• Lobby federal elected officials, in coordination with staff from SEIU International.
• Lobby city and county elected officials whenever the Union pursues a city- or county-level legislative campaign.
• Coordinate with Iowa-based staff and partner organizations in Iowa to engage in effective advocacy at the Iowa State Capitol.
• Represent the Union in a variety of coalitions, federations, task forces, and other political meetings.
• Coordinate legislative and electoral efforts with the Political Directors of the other SEIU locals in Minnesota and the Executive Director of the SEIU Minnesota State Council, and represent SEIU Healthcare MN&IA on the SEIU Minnesota State Council.
• Identify, recruit, train and develop member leaders to participate in a variety of capacities in our Union’s legislative and electoral campaigns.
• Develop and lead electoral persuasion and turnout campaigns on behalf of our Union’s endorsed candidates for office in both Minnesota and Iowa.
• Supervise the work of fellow Union staff and member-leaders on electoral campaigns.
• Develop and lead a program to increase the number of members contributing to our Union’s COPE (Committee on Political Education) voluntary Political Action Committee (PAC) fund.
• Provide support and recommendations to the Union’s PAC (a subcommittee of the Executive Board) in determining where to allocate PAC contributions, and administer those funds based on the decisions made by the PAC.
• Recruit elected officials to speak at important member mobilizations and meetings such as pickets, strikes, Executive Board meetings, Lobby Day, and our annual Leadership Assembly and Convention; and support those elected officials in powerfully connecting with our members in those events.
• Write and edit social media posts, email updates, flyers, and newsletter articles regarding our legislative and electoral efforts.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

• High School Diploma or GED, Secondary Education preferred, or an equivalent combination of training and experience related to the duties of the position
• Proven track record of success as a lobbyist
• Proven track record of success in leading electoral programs
• Ability to communicate well in writing and orally
• Excellent personal organizational skills; good record keeping
• Good judgment and ability to discern priorities when faced with many important tasks
• Ability to work under pressure independently, and to manage conflicting demands
• Ability to establish rapport with members and to maintain respectful, professional relationships with members
• Must be computer literate; advanced computer skills a plus
• Must have a valid driver’s license and vehicle in good working condition, and proof of auto insurance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior experience in and direct knowledge of the labor movement and collective bargaining
• Expertise in human services and/or healthcare policy
• Prior experience and demonstrated skill in leadership-development organizing, whether in a Union context or in community or faith-based organizing
• Prior experience and success in lobbying at the Minnesota State Capitol
• Prior experience and success in running programs to grow the small-donor base of a Political Action Committee or advocacy nonprofit organization

The Political Director will be assigned to meet the needs of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, and management may alter assignments as those needs change.

Compensation and benefits are set forth in SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa policies and procedures and as determined by the President. All positions come with excellent insurance and retirement benefits. The expected salary range for this position, depending on qualifications and prior experience, is from $105, 000-120,000

Interested candidates should send a letter of interest, résumé, and three professional references by Monday, July 6th to Jigme Ugen and Dr. Rasha Ahmad Sharif at jobs@seiuhcmnia.org.