Job Opportunity: Organizing Manager, parental leave cover

Position: Organizing Manager (Parental leave cover)
Posting date: Thursday, January 20, 2021
Closing date: Monday February 21, 11:59 PM Pacific Time Note that the deadline has been extended from the original deadline of February 14.
Start date: As soon as possible
Location: Flexible, with preference for Toronto or Vancouver. (Note: we currently have staff based in Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria, but we are all currently working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Compensation: $64,555.44, plus benefits including paid vacation and sick leaves OR 11% top-up in lieu of benefits. Leadnow is a BCGEU-unionized workplace. Note: we are working a 4 day, 32hour, Mon-Thurs week as of Feb 1, 2022, salary unchanged, with the intention to ratify in the collective agreement after the trial period.

Summary

Leadnow is an independent advocacy organization powered by more than 600,000 members campaigning for social, economic and climate justice. Together, we do what it takes, with fierce integrity, to have impact as a powerful progressive force in Canada.

Our campaigns aim to create accessible opportunities online and on the ground for people to organize and influence the priorities and policies of governments and corporations. We want a more open, accountable, and representative democracy because decisions should be driven by the people whose lives they affect.

We’re seeking a motivated and passionate Organizing Manager to join our team to cover a parental leave through to May 2023. The ideal candidate will have a collaborative leadership style, effective people and project management skills, demonstrated abilities in crafting smart organizing strategies to build power and create real-world impact, and is passionate about our vision of using digital tools to unlock and scale people-powered organizing. If that sounds exciting, we’re interested in hearing from you!

About the role

Reporting to the Campaigns Director, the Organizing Manager leads our organizing workstream by identifying organizing moments, developing organizing plans, managing organizers, and working with the rest of our campaigns team to deepen engagement and ensure our campaigns have growing impact. Working with senior staff, the Organizing Manager will help set the strategic direction of the organization, and help run special projects, including hiring processes should they be required.

Core areas of work this role is responsible for are:

Overall Organizing Leadership

Work with the leadership team, ensuring Leadnow establishes its place as the most innovative and leading organization in distributed, digitally-enabled organizing in Canada, by planning, executing and evaluating organizing priorities for Leadnow
Help oversee the development and execution of organizing plans to meet the organizing priorities and KPI’s (growth, engagement and impact) of the organization
Identify, develop, and train the team on best practices to improve the quality, impact and community experience of our field program
Coordinate data-driven and qualitative evaluation of organizing efforts
Lead and facilitate organizing-related meetings
Ensure that organizers are provided with appropriate resources, constructive feedback and learning opportunities to continue to strengthen their work

Create, implement and evaluate organizing strategy and plans

Develop field plans for campaigns that include targets for organizing tactics, volunteer recruitment and training plans
Create resources for field tactics that are well-researched, effectively messaged and follow widely accepted best practices for organizing
Work with Leadnow campaigns team to coordinate and implement on-the-ground actions and field tactics related to rapid response, mid-term and long-term campaigns
Seek opportunities to deepen our organizing through ongoing volunteer leadership development, volunteer team growth, training and coaching
Stay on top of current events and work with the campaigns team to identify key moments for effective field tactics that advance KPIs (impact, growth, engagement)
Help shape the overall strategic development of the organization, and at times take responsibility for recruitment, team building and special projects

Manage the implementation of our organizing work

Draft campaign organizing plans that are well-researched and high quality, that speak to issues the Leadnow community cares about
Manage organizing staff, hiring organizers, and contractors to execute organizing plans
Coordinate with the tech team around organizing tech and data workflows
Ensure high-quality work and assess and mitigate risk of potential and ongoing campaigns

What we’re looking for

We’re seeking candidates with a mix of the following characteristics. If you don’t meet all of them, but are energized by Leadnow’s mission and excited about how you could contribute in this role, we want to hear from you.

Abilities and qualities you’ll need to have:

Aligned with working in a pro-active anti-oppression work environment that engages in sometimes tough conversations to build awareness and skills to identify and dismantle structural inequalities within and beyond Leadnow
Excellent project management and organization skills
A collaborative and empowering leadership style
A growth-oriented mindset and willingness to learn new ways of doing things
Strong strategic thinking and sharp political analysis, particularly as it pertains to organizing
Excellent interpersonal communication, facilitation, coaching and conflict resolution skills and ability to work well with a range of colleagues and volunteers
The ability to effectively prioritize and handle competing demands in an organization where our campaign goals may change depending on political events
Several years experience empowering volunteer leaders in a grassroots, non-profit or political context (paid staff and unpaid volunteer roles are equally valued)
Good tech skills, familiarity with online collaboration tools and virtual meeting tools (e.g. Google Docs, Slack, Zoom, etc.)

Some things that would be considered ‘big pluses’ but not required:

Experience working with data or analytics, particularly in an advocacy context
Familiarity with digital campaigning and organizing model of Sum of Us/Avaaz/MoveOn etc.
Experience running P2P texting actions, digitally distributed phone banks, and using distributed event tools
Experience working with AirTable, Zapier, P2P texting platforms, or writing HTML
Experience managing teams and projects remotely
Experience in Government Relations, media, or public relations

As a leading progressive campaigning organization, we recognize the importance of our staff reflecting the communities our work aims to benefit. Even as we work to unlearn our biases, we know that our identities and lived experiences affect how we work, prioritize, and how we build relationships. We strongly encourage candidates who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, women, LGBTQ2I, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people from low-income and working class backgrounds and/or with lived experience of poverty to apply. We recognize that this is neither exhaustive nor representative of the intersectionality present within each individual.

How to apply

To submit an application, please send the following, ideally in a single PDF, to [email protected] by Monday February 14, 11:59 PM PT:

Your CV or resume
In lieu of a cover letter, a supporting application, addressing the following four questions (suggested max of 250 words per question):
- Why are you applying for this job?
- Briefly tell us about an organizing-focused campaign, project, or tactic you led. What did you aim to do? What was effective about it and what were your key learnings?
- How does your personal/lived experience or identity shape your approach to social change and justice?
- If applicable, list which of the ‘big plus’ skills you have, with a few sentences explanation if helpful for context.

Leadnow is committed to ensuring that all applicants are able to participate in our hiring processes to the best of their ability. Please indicate in your application if there’s anything we can do to make the application or interview process more accessible.

Only selected candidates will be contacted by Friday, February 25 (note that this date has changed to reflect the deadline extension) to organize next steps. Short-listed candidates will be invited to complete a take-home task, followed by an interview and final task with the panel, held over Zoom.