Executive Director

Election Administration Resource Center; Washington (District of Columbia); Remote; USD 140,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Simple IRA

Parental leave

Unlimited PTO

Holidays (11)

Job summary

Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center in the United States is seeking an Executive Director to lead strategy, fundraising, and external affairs for a remote, national nonprofit.

You will guide growth, expand revenue, manage an all-remote team, and ensure high-impact program delivery while upholding nonpartisan credibility with election stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in public administration, public policy, nonprofit management, finance, or a related field, or comparable professional experience.
• Experience 5–10 years in senior leadership managing teams and budgets, including nonprofit contexts.
• Ability to set strategic priorities and translate them into actionable plans.
• Track record of securing foundation grants and renewing grants.
• Experience building individual donor bases, including five-figure and recurring gifts.
• Strong financial management, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting skills.
• Excellent communication to convey mission and impact to partners and donors.
• Strong project and program management skills.
• Experience leading largely remote teams.
• Proven collaboration with a Board of Directors to achieve goals.
• Maintaining professional neutrality and nonpartisan credibility with stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Strategy: set priorities for growth and align programming and personnel.
• Fundraising: steward foundations, cultivate grants, grow donor base, develop fee-for-service revenue.
• External Relations: serve as primary spokesperson and maintain partnerships.
• Operations: recruit, develop, and manage a remote team; oversee budgets and contracts; ensure compliance.
• Governance: liaison between Board and staff; plan board meetings and governance improvements.

Skills

Strategic planning

Fundraising

External relations

Operations management

Governance

Communication skills

Project management

Remote leadership

Board collaboration

Nonprofit finance

Education

Bachelor's degree in public administration, public policy, nonprofit management, finance, or a related field

Graduate degree in public administration, public policy, law, nonprofit management, finance, or related field

Tools

Donor management software

Budgeting software

Job description

Executive Director Full-Time, Remote Position

Lead the nation's premier nonprofit supporting ranked choice voting implementation.

The Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center is a national, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to making ranked choice voting elections successful. We provide research, education, technical tools, and practical support to election administrators, policymakers, advocates, media, and the public. We currently support our partners across the country with a remote, distributed team of seven full-time staff members and a $1M annual budget.

The incoming Executive Director will lead the Center’s next phase of growth — expanding our team and revenue base while maintaining the credible, high-caliber service that has earned the trust of partners nationwide. In the process, you'll help shape the delivery and public perception of election innovation in the United States.

Responsibilities

The Executive Director (ED) serves as the Center’s chief executive officer – leading our strategy, fundraising, and external affairs while maintaining operational excellence and managing our talented, dedicated staff. Responsibilities include:

Strategy

• strategic planning — setting priorities for our next growth phase and aligning programming and personnel with those goals
• monitoring developments in election administration and related policy fields that affect our work
• identifying opportunities to expand the Center’s reach and impact

Fundraising

• stewarding existing foundation relationships, ensuring renewal of the six-figure grants that anchor our budget
• cultivating new grant support from institutional funders
• growing our individual donor base, with a focus on five-figure and recurring major gifts to diversify our funding
• developing the Center’s emerging fee-for-service revenue stream

External Relations

• serving as the Center’s primary spokesperson at conferences, meetings, and other public events
• building and maintaining relationships with partners in election administration, civic engagement, philanthropy, academia, and the media

Operations

• recruiting, developing, and retaining a high-performing, mission-driven, all-remote team
• overseeing day-to-day operations and financial management, including budgeting, forecasting, and contracts, with support from the Center’s operations staff
• ensuring compliance with applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and ethical standards, in partnership with the Center’s general counsel

Governance

• serving as the primary liaison between the Board and staff
• planning and facilitating board meetings with reporting on program milestones and finances
• collaborating with the Board to strengthen governance, including Board recruitment and leadership development

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in public administration, public policy, nonprofit management, finance, or a related field – or comparable professional experience
• 5-10 years of senior leadership experience managing teams and budgets (in any sector), including at least three years managing in a nonprofit organization
• demonstrated ability to set strategic priorities and translate them into actionable plans in a shifting landscape
• a track record of cultivating new foundation grants and renewing existing grants
• experience building an individual donor base, including five-figure and recurring gifts
• strong financial management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, and reporting
• excellent communication skills for conveying the Center’s mission and impact to partners and donors
• strong project and program management skills
• experience leading teams in a largely remote work environment
• proven success developing and collaborating with a Board of Directors to achieve strategic goals
• demonstrated ability to maintain professional neutrality and nonpartisan credibility with a wide range of stakeholders

Preferred

• graduate degree in public administration, public policy, law, nonprofit management, finance, or related field – or equivalent professional experience
• experience working in election administration, election policy, democracy reform, or civic engagement
• experience leading an all-remote, nationally distributed team
• expertise in nonprofit financial planning, impact evaluation, and organizational development
• a nonprofit management certification from an accredited university or the willingness to obtain one within one year of hire

Compensation and Benefits

• starting salary: $140,000 - $175,000
• employer-matched SIMPLE IRA
• paid parental leave
• unlimited PTO
• 11 organization-wide holidays
• two organization-wide vacation weeks – one in July and one in December

RCVRC is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. To request an accommodation, please write Rosemary Blizzard at [e-mail].

The Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining an inclusive and diverse group of team members. We promote a policy of equal treatment and opportunity and prohibit discrimination in any aspect of our hiring and promotion process with regard to disability, race, age, religion, sexual orientation, partnership status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital, parental or familial status, national origin, ethnicity, alienage or citizenship status, veteran or military status, or any other basis protected by law.