Arena Careers

About Democratic Party of Wisconsin

WisDems is nationally recognized as one of the country’s highest-performing and most pivotal political organizations. During the upcoming election cycle, WisDems will drive massive programs to hold Republicans accountable, elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot, and work to build volunteer-led coalitions for the long term. WisDems’ work is grounded in inclusion, respect, and empowerment across race, gender, other dimensions of identity, and the rural/suburban/urban divide. Our work continues year-round, collaborating with partners to build a movement that delivers meaningful change for all Wisconsinites. We seek outstanding applicants who share our values and vision to join the team, help win elections, and build a future where everyone can thrive.

The Opportunity: As Communications Director, you will play a pivotal role in driving the success of Wisconsin’s Democratic Party by collaborating closely with elected officials, allies, and key stakeholders. You’ll lead the development and execution of a comprehensive and aggressive research and communications strategy designed to secure victory in Wisconsin’s 2026 elections, advance our legislative priorities, and ensure Democratic success in the upcoming cycle.

You will be instrumental in strengthening and amplifying Wisconsin’s Democratic voices, ensuring partners and stakeholders are on-message and supporting our communications goals, and overseeing research on political opponents, creating compelling narratives from that research, and disseminating this information through effective communications strategies. As a member of the senior staff team, you will be a valued voice in strategic discussions, the overall owner of messaging for the party, and you will work closely with the Chair, Executive Director, and Deputy Executive Director to advance DPW’s strategic goals in the press.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience in political communications, working with opposition research, and honing in on messaging, as well as the ability to work quickly and strategically in a high-stakes, fast-moving political environment.

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the Communications Department, including strategic planning, budgeting, hiring, and project management.
• Oversee all opposition research efforts, analyzing GOP speeches, voting records, financial disclosures, and other publicly available information to create powerful, narrative-driven stories.
• Work closely with your team to turn research findings into public-facing materials. This includes preparing research briefs, fact sheets, and other materials that can be used for press pitches, press releases, social media, earned media events, and ads.
• Lead the rapid response function of the organization by ensuring that the organization can quickly react to attacks or political developments. This includes drafting press releases, op-eds, talking points, and responding to breaking news events in real-time.
• Serve as an on-the-record spokesperson for the party, maintaining relationships with key national and in-state press.
• Proactively seek media opportunities for the Chair and other party spokespeople and allies, and develop pitches to secure national and key local bookings and interviews.
• Prepare and provide talking points, background materials, and other materials for relevant party staff, volunteers, and surrogates.
• Liaise, coordinate, and troubleshoot with allied campaigns and stakeholders to ensure unified, consistent Democratic messaging with Democratic elected members and candidates up and down the ballot.
• Work collaboratively with senior leadership, the digital team, and other departments to ensure seamless execution of research and communications strategies and ensuring consistent, on-brand messaging across all platforms.
• Ensure that the messaging of DPW embodies the values of the party, is grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and seeks to meet the voters of Wisconsin where they are.

Qualifications (Required):

• Growth Mindset - ability to take and implement feedback.
• Relentlessly Goal Oriented - enjoys working toward and achieving ambitious goals.
• Cultural Competency -  able to build relationships and collaborate with colleagues, voters, and volunteers across lines of identity difference.
• Keeps Calm in Stressful Situations -- has the capacity and willingness to work long hours during peak season, rolling up their sleeves and getting the work done.
• Demonstrably excellent verbal and written communication skills, in particular the distillation of complex issues into publicly digestible bites which spurs people to action.
• Demonstrated ability to craft communications strategy to advance an organization or candidate’s objectives.
• Experience hiring and managing a team of communications professionals to successfully hit ambitious strategic messaging goals.
• Sharp, strategic instincts, meaning you’re fast on your feet and able to make confident strategic choices with minimal oversight.
• Previous experience interacting with members of the media.

Qualifications (Preferred):

• Election cycle experience in a communications role.
• Connections with Wisconsin politics and/or media.

Benefits: Great benefits including; excellent health care ($1/month), dental ($1/month), vision ($1/month), life insurance (free), short term and long-term disability (free), free TalkSpace virtual therapy, free Calm premium subscription, monthly cell phone stipend, 10 days paid vacation, retirement plan with employer match, 3 floating holidays, 9 paid holidays, plus more!

Equity and Inclusion: The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has a vision for a deeply inclusive and diverse party organization, membership, and electorate. In order to be successful at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin candidates must have the cultural competence to successfully work with a diverse array of constituency groups. We especially strongly encourage applicants with close ties to Black, Indigenous, AAPI, Latinx, Muslim, non-English-speaking, disability, and LGBTQ communities. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Note on COVID-19: Candidates will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 upon commencing employment, except where prohibited by law. Reasonable accommodations due to disability, medical condition, or bona fide religious belief will be considered on a case-by-case basis for exemptions to this requirement in accordance with applicable law.