Senior Program and Research Manager, Cash Initiatives

The Economic Security Project seeks a strategic and resourceful Senior Program and Research Manager to support our work promoting cash initiatives (guaranteed income and cash transfers) as tools for economic and racial justice.

The Senior Manager reports to and supports the Director of Cash Initiatives, Shafeka Hashash, serving as both her principal implementation partner and an important thought partner to help fine-tune and operationalize our strategy.

The Senior Manager drives strategic program management and provides hands-on and operational support to translate big-picture strategy into actionable outcomes for the narrative and policy projects that make up our cash initiatives work.

This requires the Senior Manager to execute nitty-gritty details with precision while reliably connecting the dots between the larger strategy and any work they touch.

In more concrete terms, some of the work the Senior Manager does is strategic research, some is stewarding how information flows and decisions are made, and some is the back-end work needed to make it all happen.

In addition, the Senior Manager also supports the smooth functioning and growth of the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice (GICP) – a peer-learning and support network of partners and collaborators in the guaranteed income space co-led by the Economic Security Project.

The day-to-day of this role will vary, but could include (for example):

• Holding an onboarding call with a new partner organization, adding the staffers to relevant listservs and calendar events, and ensuring they have access to shared document folders. (If anything comes up on your call that needs to be filtered up to the Director, you’d also make sure that happens.)
• Pulling information from governmental sources about funding streams for a cash transfer program in a strategic State, and writing a first draft of a two-page research memo or slide deck outlining and contextualizing your findings.
• Thinking ahead about an upcoming coalition call and creating a draft agenda. Suppose one of the agenda items is a follow-up discussion about a new coalition initiative being proposed, which has been the subject of a wide-ranging discussion since the last call. You might comb through the relevant email threads, Slack conversations, and notes from 1:1 conversations to create a document you can share along with the agenda that briefly summarizes what’s been agreed to already, who is doing what on what timeline, and what still needs to be sorted out or nailed down on the call.
• Following up with a co-presenter for an upcoming webinar, reminding them of the deadline to send you information you need to put together the PowerPoint deck, and scheduling a walk-through of the webinar platform to make sure they know how it works and allow ample time to troubleshoot any tech issues that might crop up in advance of the webinar.
• Updating a project plan and timeline in response to an unexpected development, thinking more than one step ahead, and accounting for both the immediate impacts of this development and its likely ripple effects.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Director Support and Project Management (40%)

• Drive the development, implementation, and tracking of strategic work plans for cash initiatives, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.
• Provide programmatic and operational recommendations by thinking several steps ahead, assessing tradeoffs, and being opportunistic.
• Develop compelling presentation decks and other materials to communicate guaranteed income ideas and research to internal and external stakeholders.
• Support meeting planning and facilitation, including scheduling calls, drafting agendas and meeting materials, taking and distributing notes, designing effective and strategic meeting content and presentations, and coordinating with external partners and consultants.
• Manage and track project deliverables, timelines, and key deadlines across cash initiatives, coordinating across key stakeholders to achieve objectives.

Research And Program Development (30%)

• Conduct research and support complex research projects on a diverse set of ESP cash initiatives.
• Write and develop first drafts of fact sheets, policy analyses, and memos synthesizing complex information for various audiences, including policymakers and/or funders.
• Track and summarize relevant research, trends, current events, and news in the guaranteed income field, including policymakers' positions on guaranteed income and related proposals, synthesizing and sharing findings with colleagues to inform strategy and programs.
• Assist with research quality control and documentation by fact-checking materials, maintaining website records, and organizing research files.

Expansion of GICP and administration of cash initiatives (30%)

• Design, expand, and implement systems, processes, and structured convenings (including onboarding and topic-specific engagement opportunities) that enable strategic decision-making and support the next stage of the GICP and cash initiatives.
• Maintain organized systems for tracking GICP membership, engagement, policy priorities, network connections, and deliverables.
• Design systems to capture participant feedback to help improve programming.
• Coordinate the GICP and provide administrative support to GICP by preparing materials for convenings, tracking deliverables, and maintaining member communications.
• Create and maintain resource libraries, including the GICP website, and update briefs and resources with the latest information.
• Prepare background materials, data summaries, and briefing documents for GICP meetings, convenings, and other cash initiatives events.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The Economic Security Project is a virtual office with staff across the country.

ESP provides a robust benefits package which includes:

• Medical, vision, dental insurance with premiums fully covered for employees and their dependents
• Worker's Compensation
• Long and short term disability insurance
• Basic Life Insurance with a 50K maximum
• 401K with a 3% contribution upon start date; up to an additional 1% at year-end
• Full office closures for Summer & Winter breaks
• PTO: 136 vacation hours, 80 sick leave hours, 9 standard holidays, 2 floating holidays, and 20 hours of volunteer leave
• 6-week paid sabbatical after 5 years of full-time service
• Connectivity and home office stipends, and wellness use bonuses (taxable)
• Annual professional development budget
• Organization-provided computer or $50/month bonus for employees who choose to use their own
• Access to commuter and flexible spending accounts

Because the Economic Security Project values a diverse and representative workplace, people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and people of all gender identities are strongly encouraged to apply. ESP is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding, and enables each of us to realize our potential. Our work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

• 5-7 years of relevant experience in program management, stakeholder management (including collecting stakeholder engagement metrics), research synthesis, direct cash programs or policy, or related fields.
• Bachelor's degree in public policy, economics, political science, or related field, or additional years of relevant experience in lieu of a formal degree.
• Experience in the guaranteed income movement or background in progressive policy or advocacy organizations, preferred.
• Experience supporting communities of practice, advocacy coalitions, or similar multi-stakeholder initiatives that may include government officials, researchers, and nonprofit partners.
• Experience putting together workshops, trainings, or convenings.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and Google Workspace, with demonstrated experience in a) creating slide decks and presentations, and b) tracking and managing information using Airtable, spreadsheets, and databases like Salesforce, etc.

DESIRED ATTRIBUTES/SKILLS

• Strong project-management, systems-thinking, and process-design skills.
• Comfort understanding and analyzing public policy, including the ability to read and critique peer-reviewed research or policy papers, or other technical written material
• Excellent research and analytical abilities, including the ability to synthesize complex information into clear, accessible formats (fact sheets, slides, memos) for a variety of audiences.
• Ability to pivot seamlessly in a rapidly changing environment while handling multiple complex, deadline-driven tasks, priorities, or initiatives.
• The ability to work well across lines of difference.
• A low-ego, collaborative approach that prioritizes shared success and collective problem-solving.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns and strategic implications.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills (effective writing for non-technical audiences is particularly important).
• High degree of self-motivation, including a strong ability to work independently in a remote environment.
• Flexibility, adaptability, and resilience in the face of problems, along with a knack for anticipating challenges and finding practical solutions.
• Exceptional organizational skills and a strong and consistent attention to detail.
• Commitment to economic justice and racial equity.