Organizing Director - Iowa

The Outreach Team; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 82,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full benefits

Unlimited PTO

Cell phone stipend

Job summary

The Outreach Team in Des Moines, IA is seeking an Organizing Project Director to lead a team of organizers and manage campaigns focused on democracy reform. This on-site role requires strong leadership, client-relations skills, and the ability to drive goals under tight deadlines with extensive travel.

Based in Iowa, you will hire and develop staff, coordinate field plans, and oversee budgets, administration, and data systems while maintaining a focus on equity and justice across campaigns.

Qualifications

• Experience managing a diverse team of organizers in fast-paced campaigns.
• Ability to lead large campaigns, coordinate with coalitions, and hit goals.
• Proven track record in recruitment and staff development.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the fundamental decision maker and bottom line for success on assigned organizing projects.
• Develop, review, and adjust campaign metrics and timelines to drive objectives.
• Hire, train, and manage full-time organizers and volunteer leaders.
• Coordinate client relationships, reports, and field plans with accuracy.

Tools

Action Network

EveryAction

VAN

ThruText

MailChimp

G-Suite

Excel

Slack

ADP

Job description

About The Outreach Team and the Campaign

The Outreach Team is a premier national field firm. We partner with organizations working to solve some of the biggest problems facing our society -- from protecting human rights to fighting climate change -- and help them build the resources they need to make an impact. We are a people-powered enterprise; our campaigns are effective because we hire diverse teams of talented people, invest in our staff, and treat them well.

We are excited to be working on a campaign to engage members of the community to advocate for holding corporate polluters, big industry, and the politicians that enable them, accountable.

We’re looking for an Organizing Project Director to manage a team of organizers who will engage constituents around democracy reform and action opportunities in their communities.

This is a full-time position for an experienced project and people manager who loves working on social change campaigns. At The Outreach Team, Organizing Project Directors are expected to bottomline the development, implementation, evaluation, and overall success of our campaigns. Our Organizing Project Directors develop and maintain relationships with our clients, manage full-time staff, drive campaign timelines and deliverables, oversee administrative systems, and motivate staff and communities for social change along the way. We’re seeking a candidate who has experience managing or coordinating diverse teams, driving goals, and working within coalitions or partner organizations. This job may be for you if you excel at running large-scale, social change campaigns with urgent deadlines

Candidates must be based in Iowa or willing to relocate or travel extensively to Iowa for the duration of the campaign. Strong preference for candidates with knowledge of the Iowa political landscape and for candidates with experience working in diverse communities, including communities of color, immigrant communities, and communities historically underrepresented in the political process.

You should expect to work 40-60 hours per week, depending on how close to elections or other deadlines your project is. Travel for site visits will be required.

This position is through December 2026, with potential to extend.

Responsibilities:

Project Management:

• Serve as the fundamental decision maker and bottom line for success on assigned organizing projects
• Work as a strategic partner with clients in developing and executing field plans and organizing strategy
• Keep close attention to project deliverables and proactively identify problems in the program and propose proactive solutions
• Develop, review, and adjust campaign metrics often using mathematics and company planning tools for driving the campaign trajectory and achieving goals
• Coordinate office and project launch and shutdown logistics, including but not limited to: identifying and renting office space, coordinating staff relocation, securing the purchase and return of office materials and furniture, etc

Staff Management:

• Hire and manage a team of full-time organizers, who will in turn recruit, train, and supervise dozens of teams of volunteers, volunteer leaders, and interns or fellows to hit campaign goals
• Drive goals on the team to ensure that deliverables are met and exceeded, including recruitment targets, volunteer engagement, and campaign actions
• Build and maintain a team culture that centers on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Treat organizers with empathy and respect, and ensure the staff you supervise do the same
• Maintain high-performance standards and provide ongoing feedback and evaluations
• Hold staff accountable and have tough conversations when necessary; coach the managers you supervise to do the same with their staff
• Develop and facilitate organizing and leadership training for your team
• Get on the ground, completing site visits and leading by example to drive goals when necessary
• Drive recruitment efforts to identify, recruit, and train volunteer canvassers and key volunteer leaders for daily and ongoing campaign shifts; oversee weekly volunteer campaign meetings to build a community of leaders and drive campaign deliverables

Client Management:

• Approach all work with the priority of “wow-ing” our client through professionalism, integrity, and achieving goals
• Interface regularly with clients who work on voter registration, voter contact, issue campaigns, and/or signature gathering
• Write and edit daily and weekly project reports to clients
• Prepare and run calls including but not limited to: client onboarding calls, weekly check-in calls, debriefing calls

Technology and Administration:

• Manage and track project budget and submit accurate expense reports and updates
• Ensure payroll is accurate for your team by managing the hours reporting process and reviewing payroll
• Nail 100% of all administrative and legal requirements and ensure that organizers do the same
• Manage the development of improved systems for tracking organizing work, volunteer engagement, and campaign data, which may include identifying and managing a vendor, testing new features, and providing feedback
• Manage and track teams and projects using platforms including, but not limited to: G-Suite, NPG VAN, Action Network, Slack, MiniVan, ADP, ThruText, EveryAction, and more

This job may be for you if you: (Hiring Characteristics)

• Share The Outreach Team’s passion for social and political change and commitment to prioritizing equity and justice in our work and team culture
• Are a swift decision maker and creative problem solver, able to confidently approach challenges and create organizing solutions
• Are able to deliver high quality work on schedule in a fast-paced environment
• Can adapt to sudden shifts in project goals or timelines and adjust organizing plans accordingly
• Can identify when it’s appropriate to step in or step back, leading by example when necessary while still developing and empowering your organizers
• Can teach key organizing skills, coach and train organizers on their jobs well while motivating them along the way
• Are an active listener who builds authentic relationships with organizers, volunteers, and community members and follows through on commitments
• Can be counted on to manage project timelines, your time, and the time of your organizers while managing administrative systems to keep track of important details
• Make thorough and detailed numbers-based plans that others can understand and buy into
• Are able to work long and irregular hours, including weekends and week nights with frequent and significant travel
• Capable of and willing to learn various data management and organizing tools
• Approach leadership with a “power with” mindset that recognizes the impact power hierarchies have in different settings

Qualifications (the must-haves)

• Experience managing a diverse team of organizers in a fast-paced or goals-based environment, especially in paid field campaigns, canvass operations, or field organizing
• Experience being a fundamental decision maker on a large or fast-paced organizing project where you were responsible for tracking results and hitting goals to meet benchmarks
• Previous participation or work within coalitions, alongside partner organizations or stakeholders
• A track record of results in organizing contexts; hitting goals, meeting benchmarks, and developing volunteer leaders
• Experience driving recruitment efforts, building volunteer pipelines, and developing leaders within organizing programs
• Experience tracking progress to goals, analyzing performance, and ability to tell a narrative around an organizing project. OR. Experience writing grants, proposals, or progress reports
• Experience navigating the legal and HR requirements and obligations of a manager and addressing issues quickly and effectively
• Baseline competency and familiarity with tech and computers, including G-Suite or Microsoft Office. Intermediate to advanced skills in Excel/Sheets
• A willingness to perpetually expand your knowledge of equity and justice and apply it to your work
• Experience reviewing payroll and ensuring organizers are paid on time is a plus
• Bilingual in Spanish-English a plus
• Previous experience with The Outreach Team a plus
• Experience with relevant organizing tools and technologies: Action Network, ThruText, MailChimp, eCRMs like EveryAction, VoteBuilder (VAN), or social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) is a plus

Compensation

This is a salaried position with a range of $75k - $82,200k per year, depending on experience, plus an additional performance-based bonus at the end of every project. As part of The Outreach Team’s commitment to compensation equity and transparency, salary within this range is determined through an equity calculator. We offer benefits including:

• Fully paid health, dental, and vision care
• Unlimited paid vacation and sick leave
• A monthly cell phone stipend

At The Outreach Team, we prioritize equity and inclusion. We are an equal opportunity employer and we strongly encourage Black, indigenous, people of color, women, people with previous felony convictions, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and others who identify with underrepresented groups to apply.

Please note: We want to hire people of all gender identities. This hiring platform (JazzHR) does not allow us to add in specific options for gender identities outside of the binary, but we are currently working with them to find a solution.