Organizing Manager

Citizen Action/Illinois; Illinois; On-site; USD 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Citizen Action/Illinois is seeking an Organizing Manager to lead statewide field and organizing work, manage a growing canvasser team, and build strong relationships with local leaders and coalition partners. The role emphasizes strategy, coordination, and travel across Illinois to support events and campaigns.

You will initialize and train new organizers, set team goals, and guide campaigns from launch to completion while collaborating with staff across departments to ensure effective

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading field teams, canvassers, or organizers.
• Ability to run multiple campaigns with deadlines and clear tasks.
• Strong relationship-building with coalition partners and community leaders.
• Experience planning rallies, press conferences, and public events from logistics to execution.
• Data-informed approach to tracking outreach and campaign metrics.

Responsibilities

• People management: coach, set goals, provide feedback, and accountability for canvassers and organizers.
• Project management: own campaigns, coordinate with communications, digital, and program staff, ensure event support.
• Relationship building & organizational presence: cultivate partners, recruit attendees, raise CAI visibility across communities.

Skills

People management

Project management

Relationship building

Event organizing

Data-driven

Travel readiness

Strategic thinking

Job description

Organizing Manager

Location: Rockford, Peoria, Bloomington, or other Illinois locations, with regular travel across the state

Compensation: $65,000, with flexibility up to $70,000 for exceptionally qualified candidates

About Citizen Action/Illinois

Citizen Action/Illinois works to break down the systemic racial and economic barriers that keep working families, young people, and communities of color from accessing quality public education, affordable healthcare, and economic opportunity. We build power through direct advocacy, coalition organizing, and grassroots mobilization on healthcare, tax justice, and related campaigns across the state.

About the Role

The Organizing Manager leads Citizen Action/Illinois's field and organizing work statewide. This role involves managing a growing team of canvassers, keeping organizing campaigns on track from launch to completion, and building the relationships with local leaders, coalition partners, and community organizations that make rallies, press conferences, and other public actions possible.

The Organizing Manager will start by managing a team of canvassers, with the expectation of hiring and training additional part-time organizers over time as the program grows - so organizers can carry field-level work while the Organizing Manager focuses on strategy, coordination, and relationship-building across the state.

This position is ideal for someone who combines strong people-management instincts with sharp project-management discipline, and who genuinely enjoys building relationships with community leaders and partners in service of a campaign.

Key Responsibilities

People Management (30%)

• Manage and coach a small team of canvassers, with the expectation of growing to manage regional hubs of canvassers over time.
• Hire, train, and onboard new canvassers and organizers as the team grows.
• Set clear goals and expectations for each team member, provide regular feedback and coaching, and hold the team accountable through consistent check-ins.

Project Management (30%)

• Own project management for all assigned organizing campaigns, coordinating with communications, digital, and program staff to make sure events and campaigns have the support they need.
• Manage event logistics end-to-end, from confirming dates and locations to developing the run of show and driving attendee recruitment.
• Track outreach and organizing activity and report regularly on project status, progress, and blockers.

Relationship Building & Organizational Presence (40%)

• Cultivate and maintain ongoing relationships with coalition partners, community organizations, and allies in support of Citizen Action/Illinois's policy and campaign priorities.
• Conduct direct outreach to partners and community members to build support, recruit event attendees and speakers, and deepen organizational relationships over time.
• Build CAI's visibility and presence in communities by organizing events that reflect the organization's coalition and policy priorities and bring new people into contact with the organization's work.
• Identify and develop relationships with community leaders, spokespeople, and organizational partners who can amplify CAI's campaigns and grow the organization's reach and influence across the state.

Who You Are (Ideal Candidate Qualifications)

• Experienced people manager - You've led field teams, canvassers, or organizers and know how to set clear goals, coach effectively, and hold people accountable with both structure and care.
• Strong project manager - You can run multiple campaigns at once, keep tasks and deadlines on track, and follow up without letting things slip.
• Relationship builder - You're energized by building genuine, lasting relationships with coalition partners and community leaders, and you know how to turn those relationships into action.
• Skilled event organizer - You've planned rallies, press conferences, or similar public events from logistics through execution, and you know how to drive attendee and speaker recruitment.
• Organized & data-driven - You track outreach and campaign metrics closely and adjust strategy based on what the data shows.
• Willing and able to travel - You're comfortable traveling regularly (25% of the time) across Illinois to build relationships and support events in different communities.
• Issue-aware & strategic - You understand the stakes of the policy fights Citizen Action/Illinois takes on and can connect with partners and communities on the issues.

Citizen Action/Illinois is committed to building a culturally diverse staff and strongly encourages applicants from underrepresented communities to apply. Citizen Action/Illinois is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer which does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status in any of its activities or operations.