Arena Careers

PRFP Release Date: February 24, 2026 

Title: Director, Protect Education, Accountability Now 

Application Submission Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to applications received by Friday, March 6 , 2026 

Location: Arizona 

Projected Start Date: ASAP 

1. Project Overview and Intent 

The Protect Education, Accountability Now Campaign Committee is seeking proposals from qualified individuals or firms to act as the director of a statewide voucher accountability initiative on the November 3, 2026 General Election ballot in Arizona. 

2. Background 

We are seeking a dynamic, disciplined, and results-driven Campaign Director to lead a statewide initiative aimed at bringing accountability, transparency, and safety standards to Arizona’s billion-dollar ESA voucher program. This initiative aims to eliminate the fraud, waste, and abuse occurring in the universal voucher program known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) and put safety standards in place to protect Arizona’s kids. This role will be responsible for building out a dynamic campaign in partnership with the General Consultants and the Executive Committee, managing a broad coalition and ensuring key milestones of the initiative are hit. 

The Campaign Director will lead this initiative from its launch with support from the parents, educators, and organizations spearheading this initiative, along with supporting staff and consultants. This role reports to the initiative executive committee with day-to-day contact and support from the General Consultants and executive committee members. This role will require strong project management skills, high-level ballot initiative strategy, creativity, political judgement, and the ability to lead a team of diverse stakeholders. 

Note: We do not expect the Campaign Director to solely lead political outreach and coalition development. The political strategy will be co-led by consultants and executed in partnership with the Director.

3. Responsibilities 

Strategic Leadership & Planning: 

● Develop and execute a comprehensive, multi-phase strategy designed to build broad public, political, and institutional support for and adoption of voucher spending accountability in Arizona. 

● With approval of the initiative steering committee and dependent on campaign needs, identify, recommend, recruit, and oversee management of a team of staff and/or: 

○ Coordinate with consultants and appropriate coalition organization staff to support the strategy across workstreams, including signature 

gathering, policy white paper design, revenue development, stakeholder engagement, communications, polling, and ballot campaign execution. 

● Work in partnership with the initiative's executive committee, principal funders, and supporting organizations to strategically leverage their expertise, 

infrastructure, and resources, aligning organizational capacity with initiative priorities and timelines, as appropriate. 

● Provide dynamic leadership of the initiative, using data, campaign metrics, polling results, landscape analyses, and other tools to continuously refine and strengthen the initiative’s strategy. 

● Provide consistent, structured communication and reporting to the initiative’s governance structure, ensuring transparency, accountability, and adjusting work as needed. 

Management & Execution: 

● Ensure all elements of the initiative, including qualification, outreach, organizing, policy design, coalition building, and fundraising are advancing in coordination and alignment with strategic goals. 

● Lead the initiative’s daily operations, infrastructure development, and budget management, ensure compliance (with legal and compliance firm supervision), performance benchmarks, and coalition partner actions are on track. 

● Manage initiative staff, consultants, and funded partners to ensure alignment with initiative goals and effective execution of organizing and outreach 

strategies. 

Stakeholder Engagement: 

● Hire and manage staff as proposed to and approved by the initiative’s executive

committee. 

● Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including grassroots organizations, funders, advocacy groups, non-profits, and the business community. 

● Ensure that the campaign meaningfully incorporates the perspectives, leadership, and participation of parents, low-income and BIPOC families, and other directly impacted communities. 

Communications 

● Assist with hiring and managing a team of consultants to support the initiative’s communications strategies as approved by the executive committee at the appropriate time in the initiative’s life cycle. 

● Support the ongoing adaptation and execution of messaging in partnership with consultants and organization staff. 

● Help ensure message discipline, narrative consistency, and strategic alignment across all communications platforms and partners. 

Polling, Message Testing, & Adaptability: 

● As directed by initiative leadership, engage and oversee firm(s) conducting regular polling, focus groups, and message testing. 

● Make recommendations on the campaign strategy as needed based on data, political developments, and stakeholder feedback. 

5. Qualifications 

● 6-10+ years of experience in leading issue campaigns, political campaigns, or similar relevant experience. 

● Proven experience leading large-scale political or issue-based initiatives, ideally including ballot initiatives. 

● Demonstrated experience working with paid signature-gathering vendors and/or large scale volunteer programs to ensure timely, compliant, and accurate collection, tracking, and submission of petition signatures, in coordination with legal counsel and compliance teams to ensure adherence to state and federal requirements. 

● Strong understanding of grassroots organizing, field strategy, and coalition building, with a track record of engaging diverse stakeholders/communities. 

● Excellent communication, leadership, and organizational skills. 

● Experience managing consultants, polling firms, and complex budgets.

● Experience in and/or knowledge of Arizona, preferred, but not required. This position is expected to be full-time through November 30, 2026. 

6. Location: 

This position will be based in Phoenix, Arizona and will be expected to be in-person. 

7. Salary and benefits 

$10,000-15,000 per month with a health insurance stipend. 

8**. Submission Information** 

Resumes, cover letter and 3 references should be submitted electronically to [email protected]. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to applications received by Friday, March 6th, 2026 at 5:00 PM.