Arena Careers

About Swing Left

Swing Left’s mission is simple: we make it easy for people to maximize their impact on the most competitive elections to help Democrats win. Since launching in 2017, Swing Left’s one million members have raised more than $140 million for Democratic candidates, civic organizations, and voter mobilization efforts, and engaged more than 50 million voters door-to-door, by phone, and through handwritten letters. What makes us different:

• Swing Left is singularly focused on directing grassroots time and money to help Democrats win close races that will determine the balance of power in our government, from the White House to key state houses.
• We use data and technology to increase volunteer and donor impact by driving the right resources to the right campaigns, at the right time.
• We put people first, delivering a member experience focused on strategic action, not noise—no spam emails, texts, or doomsday messaging.

About Vote Forward

Vote Forward is a nonpartisan organization that helps grassroots volunteers turn out citizens from underrepresented communities and encourage active participation in our democracy through high-impact voter engagement tactics. Since 2018, more than 250,000 grassroots volunteers have used the Vote Forward platform to send handwritten letters to more than 40 million prospective voters to encourage them to register to vote and turn out for elections. Vote Forward is affiliated with Swing Left.

Job Summary

The Political Associate helps drive political programs – including managing the National Political Director's schedule, tracking current events, coordinating and drafting materials for engagement with external stakeholders, and facilitating candidate support processes – in service of advancing the organization’s political efforts and maximizing the effectiveness of these programs.

Key responsibilities include:

• Support the National Political Director’s engagement with campaigns and elected officials by conducting research, coordinating and scheduling meetings, drafting talking points and memos, etc.
• Help coordinate, draft, and execute the political team’s communication with external stakeholders—including campaigns, partner organizations, alumni, political entities, and state parties.
• Represent the organization in meetings, events, and external convenings in advancement of political priorities.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate support for candidates in Swing Left’s targeted races.
• Track coverage of key electoral and political campaign developments and provide timely updates for priority races.
• Support cross-functional coordination on electoral/political activities and campaigns.
• Manage contact databases and other tracking systems for the political team.

Qualities of the Ideal Candidate

• A strong interest in and alignment with the distinct missions and values of Swing Left and Vote Forward.
• Strong preference for candidates based in Washington, DC.
• 1-2+ years professional, full-time experience supporting political operations (on a campaign, Capitol Hill, or political committee preferred); at least one year of administrative and operational experience is required.
• Excellent organization, communication, and time management skills; very strong attention to detail in both written and verbal communication.
• Familiarity with scheduling and logistics coordination for high level stakeholders.
• Demonstrated skill in taking initiative, anticipating needs, and following through with consistency. Desire to proactively pitch ideas, identify relevant opportunities for engagement, and find strategic ways to augment political programming.
• Ability and desire to keep up with political developments and the broader news cycle.
• Ability and interest in representing the organization externally with professionalism, discretion, and tact.
• Working level knowledge of campaigns, political dynamics, and the congressional battlefield.
• Very comfortable with Google Suite, Slack, Asana, Zoom, and quick to learn new systems that improve workflow.
• Comfort with some irregular work hours during peaks and rapid response moments.

Logistics

Hiring Process:

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
• The priority deadline to apply is May 16, but applications will be accepted until the posting is closed.
• We are aiming for a start date in July.
• We will communicate about our expected timeline as the process progresses, and all candidates will receive communication from our team regarding their application status.

Compensation:

• The pay range is $65,000 - $70,000/year.
• We provide an annual cost of living compensation increase.

Location and Working Hours:

• This position is a full-time, exempt, and remote position based in the United States.
• Due to the requirements of this role, candidates based in Washington, DC are strongly preferred.
• There is an expectation for this position to attend in-person meetings and events; candidates must be available and able to travel (almost entirely within DC, and occasionally elsewhere in the US for key events).
• We expect employees to be available for meetings and asynchronous collaboration during normal business hours, and sometimes outside of these hours for events or other peak moments.

Benefits for Full-Time Employees:

• Medical, dental and vision insurance: 100% of the premium paid for employees and 50% for dependents
• Health and dependent care FSA accounts
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance
• Retirement plan
• Professional development, remote work and technology stipends
• An unlimited time-off policy + a flexible medical and parental leave policy
• Our office is closed for approximately 25 business days each year

We are happy to answer any questions you have about our benefits and policies in interviews.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and seek applications from all qualified candidates who are eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas at this time. We use E-Verify during onboarding to complete the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. We welcome all applicants regardless of age, citizenship, gender identity or expression, national origin, pregnancy status, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other differences.