Coalition Director

Voting Rights Lab; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with employer match

Unlimited vacation and paid holidays

Sick leave and parental leave

Remote work flexibility

Job summary

Secure Democracy Foundation is seeking a Coalition Director to lead national coalitions and advance democracy initiatives across diverse political perspectives. The role centers on coalition operations, member engagement, and program development to strengthen elections and democratic institutions.

The ideal candidate will have deep experience coordinating across organizations, facilitating cross-partisan collaboration, and building trusted relationships with executives and stakeholders while

Qualifications

• Experience managing grassroots organizing and coalition-building initiatives.
• Ability to recruit, engage and mobilize coalitions or networks across diverse groups.
• Proven skill in developing programs based on member needs and results.

Responsibilities

• Manage a national coalition of partner organizations and coordinate cross-ideological initiatives.
• Develop organizing models and opportunities to expand coalition reach and impact.
• Serve as primary contact for coalition members and facilitate meetings and action items.
• Identify member needs and translate them into programs, resources, and initiatives.
• Build trust with member organizations and senior stakeholders across political differences.

Skills

Grassroots organizing

Coalition building

Relationship management

Facilitation

Strategic planning

Project management

Communication

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Secure Democracy Foundation

Location: Remote, U.S.-based
Classification: Full-time, Exempt
Reporting to: Chief Program Officer
Managing: N/A
Travel: Up to 15% of the time

Role Overview

Secure Democracy Foundation is a national, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization building stronger elections, state by state. We combine deep election policy expertise with a cross-partisan approach, working with lawmakers, election officials, organizations, and communities across the political spectrum to identify common ground and advance practical solutions that strengthen free, fair, and secure elections.

The Coalition Director serves as the primary relationship manager and strategic coordinator for the Advancing Liberty Coalition. This national, multi-organization coalition brings together organizations and leaders with different political perspectives and constituencies around shared goals for strengthening elections and democratic institutions.

This role leads coalition operations, member engagement and recruitment, grassroots organizing initiatives, and program development. The Coalition Director will help members identify opportunities for collective action, develop and test organizing approaches, strengthen coalition infrastructure, and expand the coalition's reach and impact.

The ideal candidate is an experienced coalition builder and grassroots organizer who is skilled at finding common ground and building trusted relationships across political and ideological differences. They can work effectively with executives and senior leaders while remaining closely engaged in the hands-on work of organizing, facilitation, recruitment, program development, and follow-through.

A Note on the Advancing Liberty Coalition

The Advancing Liberty Coalition brings together organizations and communities that don't typically share a table, including center-right democracy organizations, veterans and military families, Mormon and evangelical women's organizations, disability advocates, and business leaders.

The coalition is grounded in the belief that strong elections benefit all Americans and that durable solutions require participation from people with different political perspectives, experiences, and constituencies. Members do not need to agree on every issue. The work requires identifying areas of common ground, building trust across differences, and creating opportunities for organizations to act together around shared objectives.

We welcome candidates whose professional backgrounds and networks come from across the political spectrum. Success in this role requires genuine curiosity about different perspectives and demonstrated experience building productive relationships with people and organizations that may not share the same political worldview. Cross-partisan coalition building is not peripheral to this position; it is a central responsibility of the Coalition Director.

Duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Coalition Management, Member Engagement & Organizing

• Manage and coordinate a national coalition of partner organizations working together on cross-ideological democracy and election-policy initiatives.
• Develop organizing models and opportunities that advance coalition campaigns, strengthen member organizations, and increase their collective reach and impact.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for coalition members, building strong relationships and maintaining meaningful engagement.
• Plan and facilitate coalition meetings, including developing agendas, identifying decisions and action items, and ensuring follow-through.
• Identify member needs and translate them into coalition programs, resources, and initiatives.
• Build trusted relationships with member organizations, executives, and other senior stakeholders that enable organizations with different perspectives to pursue shared objectives.

Strategy, Programs & Growth

• Develop coalition programming based on member needs, opportunities, and strategic priorities.
• Recruit and onboard new coalition members to broaden participation and strengthen the coalition's reach and impact.
• Lead the collaborative development and implementation of coalition strategy with members, advocacy teams, and organizational leadership.
• Develop, test, evaluate, and refine coalition programs based on member feedback and evidence of effectiveness.
• Build and strengthen the processes, systems, and infrastructure necessary for the coalition's long-term sustainability and growth.
• Understand and monitor coalition programs across VRL's state portfolio and identify opportunities for members to contribute to state-level campaigns and initiatives.
• Help members identify opportunities to build organizational capacity, increase influence, and expand collective impact.

Communications & External Representation

• Serve as a spokesperson for the coalition alongside members of the advocacy team.
• Develop materials and reports that communicate the coalition's work and impact to external audiences.
• Collaborate with communications and development teams to align messaging, storytelling, and fundraising opportunities with coalition priorities.
• Represent the coalition in external meetings, conferences, convenings, and strategic partnerships.
• Help communicate coalition priorities in ways that resonate with audiences representing different political and ideological perspectives.

Operations & Systems Management

• Manage coalition databases and CRM systems to ensure accurate tracking of members, relationships, engagement, and activities.
• Develop systems for tracking commitments, action items, participation, and program outcomes.
• Establish meaningful qualitative and quantitative measures that help determine whether coalition strategies and programs are working.
• Use member feedback, participation data, and program results to identify opportunities for improvement and inform strategy.
• Support reporting and evaluation efforts that demonstrate coalition impact and organizational learning.

Required Experience

• 10+ years of professional experience with substantial responsibility for grassroots organizing and coalition building, including experience working with multi-organization initiatives.
• Demonstrated success building, growing, engaging, and mobilizing coalitions or networks of organizations.
• Experience designing, leading, and scaling grassroots organizing or advocacy initiatives.
• Experience working directly with executives, organizational leaders, and other senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience building trusted professional relationships across political and ideological differences, including experience working with moderate, conservative, center, or center-right organizations and leaders.
• Ability to identify areas of common ground and move people with different perspectives toward shared goals and collective action.
• Genuine interest in working with colleagues, partners, and coalition members whose political perspectives, values, or approaches may differ meaningfully from your own.
• Strong facilitation skills, including experience helping groups navigate disagreement, competing priorities, or different approaches and move toward decisions and action.
• Proven ability to design, implement, evaluate, and adapt programs based on member needs and results.
• Experience representing an organization, network, or coalition externally.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with audiences representing different perspectives.
• Experience collaborating across communications, advocacy, development, policy, or related functions.
• Experience developing the systems and infrastructure needed to manage a coalition or network effectively, including CRM/database systems, engagement tracking, and accountability processes.
• Strong project-management, organization, and follow-through skills.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking, relationship management, organizing, and hands‑on execution.

We do not expect candidates to come from one particular political, ideological, or organizational background. We are interested in candidates who can demonstrate a sustained record of bringing people and organizations together, building trust across differences, and translating relationships into effective collective action.

Salary & Benefits

The Coalition Director is in the Director pay band, with a hiring range of $110,00 to $130,000. The base salary offered will take into account internal equity and may vary based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other relevant factors.

Eligible employees currently receive:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance that is majority employer-funded
• 401(k) retirement plan with up to a 6% employer match
• Unlimited flexible vacation leave, two weeks of sick leave, 13 paid holidays, winter holiday closure, parental leave, volunteer time, and other PTO opportunities
• Medical and dependent-care flexible spending accounts
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Basic-term life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance, with an employee buy-up option
• Work-from-home, cell phone, and fitness benefits

Voting Rights Lab and Secure Democracy Foundation are initiatives of SD Foundation, a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. With that you may see branding or contact information associated with both Voting Rights Lab and Secure Democracy Foundation throughout the recruitment process.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Secure Democracy Foundation is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people and creating a workplace where employees can contribute and thrive.

Secure Democracy Foundation's work environment is open to employees and partners across the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and other classifications protected by applicable law.