ABOUT THE JOB

The ACLU seeks a full-time position of National Organizing Director in the National Political Advocacy Departmentof the ACLU’s National office in Washington, DC and New York, NY. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month.

The National Political Advocacy Department builds power to achieve an accountable, representative democracy. We have ambitious goals across Reproductive Freedom, Voting Rights, Systemic Equality, Immigration, Trans Justice, and Criminal Justice in order to protect and expand civil rights and civil liberties, and advance the freedom, equality, ability to prosper, and humanity of all People. 

Our department conducts analysis, develops policy, crafts world class campaigns, and situates the ACLU to have impact across legislative and executive levers. We are policy experts, lawyers, community organizers, lobbyists, campaign strategists, program managers and more. We partner across the ACLU to drive national efforts, and support and amplify the priorities of our affiliates. We work to center principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in our approach.

Reporting to the National Political Director the National Organizing Director will be responsible for leading the National Organizing team, which sits within the National Political Advocacy Department. The National Organizing team develops programs to engage and empower supporters, volunteers, and community members. The team develops high-impact grassroots and mobilization campaigns in service of ACLU’s goals by identifying and activating volunteers online and in-person to support national and state campaigns, and electoral efforts.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work with the National Political Director to plan and execute high-impact grassroots organizing and mobilization programs, in collaboration with the national office and affiliate colleagues, resulting in political and policy successes, and long-term capacity building 
• Lead the Organizing team, charged with developing and implementing grassroots organizing and mobilization goals, strategies, and budgets to reach political/policy outcomes
• Work to ensure that supporters, volunteers, community members and staff are empowered and supported in participating in the work of the ACLU
• Ensure goals for the organizing program are aligned with broader organizational goals
• Track political developments and identify strategic organizing and advocacy opportunities for the ACLU, including opportunities for multi-state or nationwide programs
• Collaborate with other departmental leadership to develop large-scale grassroots campaign efforts and help to advise the National Political Advocacy Department more broadly on all of its work
• Manage a large budget, making strategic investments in hosting events and trainings, technology, grants to affiliates, and other resources as needed to further organizing goals
• Work with affiliates and colleagues in the Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives Department to develop comprehensive strategy to advance ACLU’s approach to organizing
• Collaborate with other national departments to support and evaluate the ACLU’s organizing work (e.g., Communications Department to generate earned media coverage of grassroots organizing work)
• Attract, hire, develop and retain staff, and give clear and actionable feedback
• Promote a positive work culture for the team as a whole
• Apply a strong equity lens throughout all aspects of the work, promoting key values such as racial justice and gender equity

In addition: 

• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned
• Center principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in all work, embedding the values in program development, policy application, and organizational practices and processes
• Commitment to the mission of the ACLU
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity within the office using a personal approach that values all individuals and respects differences in regards to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability and socio-economic circumstance
• Commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

• Significant grassroots organizing experience, including union or issue campaign organizing and electoral organizing
• Demonstrated direct experience supervising and developing teams of full-time organizers and remote staff, managing toward excellence in outcomes
• Strong preference for candidates with experience managing candidate, advocacy, or issue-based campaign teams
• Strong preference for candidates with experience working within large and/or complicated organizations, and who understand the importance of relationship building, both internally and externally
• Experience running inclusive teams with a commitment to staff growth and development
• Experience developing, executing and evaluating data-driven organizing programs and experiments/tests
• An understanding of organizing theory, including distributed, digital, and relational
• Experience using a variety of political advocacy tools, for instance NGPVAN, EveryAction, GetThru
• Strong project management skills, and ability to build broad support for new and emerging initiatives
• Strong communications skills in order to convey complex concepts in a clear and concise manner
• Must be self-motivated and possess the ability to work independently as well as within a team
• Ability to work and communicate quickly and accurately, handle multiple projects and devote time and energy to the most important responsibilities, and to lead others in doing so
• Demonstrated understanding of both the barriers and opportunities for organizing with immigrant communities, communities of color, and low- and moderate- income people

COMPENSATION

ABOUT THE ACLU

The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union – beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

The ACLU is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Black people, Indigenous people, people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people; women; people with disabilities, protected veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals are all strongly encouraged to apply.

The ACLU makes every effort to assure that its recruitment and employment provide all qualified persons, including persons with disabilities, with full opportunities for employment in all positions.

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

The Department of Education has determined that employment in this position at the ACLU does not qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.