Campaigns Director

About People’s Action Institute

People’s Action Institute (501c3) is a national people-powered organization that conducts public education toward winning an inclusive democracy and economy. People’s Action Institute builds the power of poor and working people in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through policy education and campaigns, leadership development, narrative and communications strategies, and more.

Headquartered in Chicago, IL, and with remote staff across the country, we support and advance state-based and national efforts for common-sense policies on the environment, decarceration, health care, economic security, housing, education, and more.

For more information on People’s Action Institute, please visit https://peoplesaction.org/about-us/peoples-action-institute/

The Opportunity

Are you interested in issue campaigns on housing, healthcare, and climate, focused on the affordability crisis and solutions by poor and working people? We focus our campaigning in ways that build base, develop leaders, and achieve stepping stones on our path towards our long-term agenda.

Overview of the Position

The primary function of the Campaign Director is to support our Senior Strategists and member groups to build bottom-up power that leads to tangible changes in the lives of people and communities. In doing so, the Campaign Director will focus on advancing these campaigns through a unified approach, so that they mutually reinforce one another, push back on the role of corporations and billionaires in undermining real democracy, and address the needs of the multi-racial working class.

As the Campaign Director, your typical day will include (but isn’t limited to):

• People Management & Team Building: In this role, you will supervise and provide strategic direction to 3-4 Senior Strategists, ensuring their efforts align with the organization’s national organizing strategies and leadership development goals. You will actively monitor team performance, set annual goals, and provide real-time feedback through 1:1 meetings and field support. Additionally, you will oversee the hiring, training, and management of staff, contractors, and interns, ensuring the team is well-equipped to drive the success of campaigns.
• Strategy & Alignment: You will work closely with Senior Strategists to develop and execute national campaigns on healthcare, housing, and climate that are driven by our member groups, advancing structural change and progress toward long-term goals. Progress towards building power at a national level depends in large part on power at the local and state levels. Therefore, a key responsibility will be strengthening local and state campaigns, helping to build leadership within member groups while reinforcing the collective power of our network. You will support alignment of issue campaigns with other organizational strategies, such as movement politics and corporate accountability.
• External Engagement: This position involves identifying and managing relationships with key external partners, including labor, community organizing, research and policy, and others to amplify campaign impact. You will also represent the network in national ally and coalition spaces, ensuring that our strategies both shape and are shaped by the broader ecosystem.
• Finance, Reporting, and Development: You will participate in annual budget planning and actively manage expenses for the three primary issue campaigns, tracking metrics and reporting on campaign effectiveness to internal stakeholders and the Board of Directors. You will also support donor relations, proposal writing, and fundraising efforts, working closely with the development team to cultivate key funder relationships and ensure the financial health of our campaigns.
• Communications: In this role, you will ensure that the stories of our members and their work are shared regularly with internal staff, member groups, funders, and the public. You will collaborate with the communications team to implement media strategies that amplify our campaigns, using both traditional and digital media channels to advance the organization’s narrative and reach a broad audience.
• Other Duties as Assigned

The ideal Campaign Director should have the following experience and qualifications:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in issue-based organizing, campaign management, or public policy work that is driven by a grassroots membership.
• Strong understanding of policy-making processes including legislative and administrative strategies.
• Proven experience leading successful campaigns, including grassroots organizing and media engagement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to craft clear campaign plans, compelling narratives and messaging.
• 3 -5 years of staff supervision, team leadership, or people management, including hiring, training, and providing ongoing support and accountability for direct reports.
• Strong record of achieving results even when positional authority does not exist (i.e. through partners) and building momentum across coalitions.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities.
• Experience with CRM and advocacy tools such as Salesforce, NationBuilder, EveryAction, or similar platforms is a plus.
• Commitment to social, economic, and racial justice, and affecting real change in people’s lives.

Compensation and Benefits:

Status: Full-time, Regular, Exempt, benefits-eligible

Union Position (Yes/No): No

Salary Range: Level F - $106,894 - $133,939

Location: Can be based in our Chicago, IL or Washington, D.C. office but remote locations may be considered anywhere within the continental United States.

Reports to: Strategic Initiatives Director

Supervises: Three to four Senior Strategists

Travel Requirements (Yes/No): Yes; 1-2 times a month

Our Commitment to Equitable Compensation:

We believe in fair compensation for your work - no matter where you live. Our salary scale is comparable to salaries you would find in Chicago, IL, where our headquarters is based. It is based on your months/years of work experience. While we do not determine education as a factor in whether we hire someone to work for People’s Action Institute, we do factor in any relevant higher education experience that you have. To further counter pay inequities and inequality on the team, we have a non-negotiable compensation practice and provide opportunities for advancement for full-time employees based on performance evaluation. Your starting pay reflects where you sit within our salary scale and is based on the information that you provide us on your resume. PAI continues to monitor wages through triennial compensation analysis to ensure that we continue to offer our prospective and current employees fair wages.

Commitment to Disability, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:

People’s Action/Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer; womxn, people of color, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQI people are strongly encouraged to apply.

Union

People’s Action Institute recognizes our staff bargaining unit affiliated with Chicago Midwest Regional Joint Board, Workers United (CMRJB). Any position that is indicated as included in People’s Action Institute’s bargaining unit will be covered under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Close date: Friday, August 22nd at 9:00 am CST

No phone calls, please.