Director, National Organizing

Summary

Join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as the Director, National Organizing, a remote, full-time position within the National Political Advocacy Department. This role leads the National Organizing team, developing programs to engage supporters, volunteers, and community members in impactful grassroots and mobilization campaigns. You will collaborate with national and affiliate colleagues to achieve political and policy successes, building long-term capacity. The position requires strategic planning, budget management, and relationship building with internal and external stakeholders. You will also oversee staff, manage vendors, and report key metrics to senior leadership. The ideal candidate possesses extensive union or issue campaign organizing experience, strong leadership skills, and a deep commitment to civil rights and liberties.

Requirements

• The ACLU seeks a highly skilled and experienced individual who brings deep union or issue campaign organizing experience and passion for civil rights and civil liberties issues
• They will have a track record of designing campaign strategy and tactics and executing sophisticated campaign plans on a national scale
• This leader will be experienced in leading organizing campaigns
• They will be familiar with building, leading, and working within coalitions
• The successful candidate will naturally connect and build strong relationships with others, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively
• They will bring excellent communication and analytical skills
• The successful candidate will be comfortable representing the organization and bring public speaking experience
• This leader will be effective working in a fast-paced environment, can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, is able to work efficiently and quickly, is reliable in their delivery against deadlines, and is composed under pressure
• Proven track record in union or issue campaign organizing experience
• Decisive in strategic planning but is aware of a changing environment and maintains a needed level of flexibility
• The vision and skills to create and articulate an inspiring vision for the work
• The ability to set clear and challenging goals while committing the organization to improved performance; tenacious and accountable in driving results
• Comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty; capacity to adapt nimbly and lead others through complex situations
• A leader who is viewed by others as having a high degree of integrity and forethought in their approach to making decisions; acts in a transparent and consistent manner while always taking into account what is best for the organization
• Develop and manage budgets to execute multi-tooled campaign plans
• Experience developing, executing and evaluating data-driven organizing programs and experiments/tests
• An understanding of organizing theory, including distributed, digital, and relational
• Experience using a variety of political advocacy tools, for instance NGPVAN, EveryAction, GetThru
• Demonstrated experience leading people and teams
• The ability to motivate the team, attract and recruit, and retain top talent, delegate effectively, celebrate diversity within the team, and manage performance; widely viewed as a strong developer of others
• Able to persevere in the face of challenges, and exhibit a steadfast resolve and relentless commitment to higher standards
• Self-reflective and aware of their own limitations; leads by example and drives the organization's performance with an attitude of continuous improvement by being open to feedback and self-improvement
• The willingness to make mistakes in pursuit of ambitious, game-changing goals, while possessing the ability to accept responsibility and learn from those mistakes with a sense of humor and humility
• Outstanding relationship builder who uses influence effectively in a variety of settings, both within the organization and with external constituencies
• Ability to work in a matrixed and federated environment; strong conflict management skills; ability to bring consensus around a common purpose and deliver collaborative solutions
• Demonstrated commitment to working respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts
• Skilled at influence and persuasion; able to convince others to act on information or recommendations based on compelling logic or common best interests
• Deep commitment to actively promoting the values and practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and further fostering an environment of belonging and trust
• Demonstrated understanding of both the barriers and opportunities for organizing with immigrant communities, communities of color, and low- and moderate- income people
• Excellent emotional intelligence and ability to work closely and collaboratively with a wide range of people

Responsibilities

• Work with the Chief Political & Advocacy Director to plan and execute high-impact grassroots organizing and mobilization programs, in collaboration with the national office and affiliate colleagues, resulting in political and policy successes, and long-term capacity building
• Lead the Organizing team, charged with developing and implementing grassroots organizing and mobilization goals, strategies, and budgets to reach political/policy outcomes
• Work to ensure that supporters, volunteers, community members and staff are empowered and supported in participating in the work of the ACLU
• Ensure goals for the organizing program are aligned with broader organizational goals
• Operate as a central decision maker on designated areas like with regards to overall organizing strategy and priorities, shaping budgeting decisions, and managing external stakeholders
• Identify areas of work that should be prioritized by the team, as well as in response to unexpected, significant developments
• Work closely with Electoral, National and State Campaigns, and Policy & Government Affairs to develop large-scale grassroots campaign efforts and help to advise the National Political Advocacy Department more broadly on all of its work
• Develop and maintain relationships with affiliate leadership to further political advocacy goals
• Work closely with internal stakeholders like Comms, Analytics, Corporate Counsel, ASNI and Finance in order to deploy campaign tactics and tools
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with key external partner organizations to further organizing goals, identifying strategic partnerships that expand the ACLU’s influence
• Coordinate the day-to-day activities of the organizing staff, including retaining and managing vendors and consultants as needed
• Manage a large budget, making strategic investments in hosting events and trainings, technology, grants to affiliates, and other resources as needed to further organize goals
• Distribute regular quantitative and qualitative data reports for senior leadership and stakeholders with key metrics and analyses
• Maintain awareness of emerging opportunities and challenges in the issue areas within the team’s purview
• Maintain awareness of the work to facilitate representation of the Department internally and externally
• Attract, hire, develop and retain staff, and give clear and actionable feedback
• Help develop staff capacity to work together collaboratively, and grow expertise and skills
• Demonstrate an ability to be flexible and adjust priorities as necessary in order to adapt to changing external environment
• Exercise significant independent judgment to solve problems and determine creative solutions
• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned
• Center principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in all work, embedding the values in program development, policy application, and organizational practices and processes
• Commitment to the mission of the ACLU
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity within the office using a personal approach that values all individuals and respects differences in regard to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability and socio-economic circumstance
• Demonstrate a commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts
• Willingness to travel
• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

Benefits

• Time away to focus on the things that matter with a generous paid time-off policy
• Focus on your well-being with comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment)
• Plan for your retirement with 401k plan and employer match
• We support employee growth and development through annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops
• The annual salary for this position is $220,285 (Level - C2 - Non-Union) , reflecting the salary of a position based in New York, NY, where our national offices are headquartered