Arena Careers

Pennsylvania Organizing Director

Employment Type: Full Time
Minimum Experience: Management

About Us
Empower Project is the national leader in both paid and volunteer relational organizing (RO).

Empower Project organizes to improve people’s lives using the power of relational organizing. Together with our partners, we’ve helped boost voter turnout, especially for BIPOC communities, through our approach of tapping into personal networks of friends and family. We provide the software and expertise to help communities, progressive organizations, and nonprofits leverage their personal relationships to build power and dramatically expand the electorate. Our cutting-edge technology, Empower, stands at the forefront of the industry and is trusted by over 1,500 organizations nationwide.

It’s effective. Empower has been studied in nine different independently-run, randomly controlled trials which all found that its usage led to large and statistically significant increases in voter turnout — far more effective than phone-banking, text-banking, or door-to-door canvassing.

It’s growing fast. The number of conversations Empower facilitated grew by over 10x between the 2016 and 2018 election cycles, grew by 10x again in the 2020 election cycle, and then grew by 30x for the 2024 election cycle. In order to keep up that pace going forward, we need to grow our team and keep adding features that help our organizations!

About the Program and Role

In 2025 we’ll be running paid relational organizing programs – programs where we recruit folks to talk to their family and friends about elections and issues and then pay them for their time and effort – in several states including Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey, starting in Pennsylvania.

The Organizing Director will start by leading a small team for the summer that will include a Deputy Organizing Director and one Community Organizer. As we move into the fall we will increase staffing and that process will be overseen cby the Organizing Director.

The Organizing Director will hire, onboard, train, lead and monitor metrics for, and coach up to 4 Regional Organizing Directors in the fall. Additionally, the State Organizing Directors will onboard, train, monitor metrics for a team of up to 36 Community Organizers (COs,) as well as conduct related administrative tasks. Critically, they will also facilitate large-scale trainings alongside their organizing team, ensuring the smooth flow of operations and maximum impact of each event. The COs in each region will be responsible for building a universe of paid Community Mobilizers (CMs) to conduct calls to action for Congressional accountability this summer and before the election in November.

The Organizing Director will be responsible for the combined output of each of their direct reports during each of these cycles of outreach. The State Organizing Directors will also be expected to create a positive and safe work environment, and to address the daily tasks of the campaign with flexibility and creativity.

The Organizing Director will be leading members of the strategic team and be encouraged to offer input into program design. This position is an opportunity to play a senior role in a groundbreaking program in 2025.

This position is available starting June 11th and is scheduled to end on November 15, 2025. Work hours will vary.

Job Responsibilities

• Supervise and delegate responsibilities to members of the organizing team.
• The Organizing Director will work with Empower Project to evaluate and hire ROD and CO applicants
• The Organizing Director will manage and lead a team of RODs and CO’s, fostering a supportive team culture of excellence and accountability
• Ensure all data is entered in a timely fashion, meeting campaign-wide standards
• The Organizing Director will direct organizing staff during large-scale trainings, managing key elements of technology, presentation and team coordination
• Following the onboarding of each wave of RODs and COs, the Organizing Director will maintain a regular 1:1 meeting schedule with direct reports as well as plan and lead weekly organizing team meetings
• Ensure that all program requirements are well-communicated by reviewing and contributing to published materials
• Monitor the results of various accountability and organizing approaches and and share best practices with their colleagues and Empower Project leadership
• Collect critical feedback on training materials from RODs. COs and CMs and deliver to Empower Project leadership in order to improve support materials
• Support Empower Project leadership in monitoring and identifying trends in the CM recruitment pipeline
• Other tasks as assigned by Empower Project leadership

Who would be a good fit?

This opportunity is perfect for someone who has a history of working in and around progressive campaigns and organizing for at least 6 years and has a passion for doing something different.

We're looking for a campaign professional who:

• Cares deeply about the mission
• Has at least 3 cycles of organizing experience with increasing levels of managerial responsibility
• Is detail-oriented, bordering on obsessive
• Is productive in a remote environment
• Excels at Excel (and/or Google Sheets)
• Communicates well, is open-minded, and is open to improvement and learning
• Takes initiative
• Has a track-record of inspiring and managing a team to achieve set goals
• Will create a positive, inclusive, and collaborative work environment free from discrimination or harassment
• Additional consideration will be given to candidates who have experience with relational organizing and who are fluent in a second language
• Access to a reliable laptop and cell phone are required
• Has US work authorization

What's the compensation like?

Salary: $102,000 per year, or $8,500 per month

This position will start at 5 days per week and will transition to 6 days per week in mid-September. Hours will vary but will generally be from 12pm - 8pm ET.

We provide full health care and 4 paid personal days.

Empower Project is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate based on age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual preference. Women, persons of color, and individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community are strongly encouraged to apply.