Senior Associate, Jewish Communal Engagement

J Street; Washington, New York (District of Columbia, NY, WA); Hybrid; USD 66,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited personal time off

Health and dental and vision insurance

401k with employer match

Sick leave

Job summary

J Street is seeking a Senior Associate, Jewish Communal Engagement to work remotely or in a hybrid setting. The role partners with lay leaders, regional staff, and the national Communal Engagement team to map communities, identify opportunities, and equip local leaders to build relationships with rabbis, synagogues, and Jewish institutions.

The ideal candidate brings deep Jewish communal fluency, strategic judgment, and strong organizing skills to advance J Street’s national strategy locally.

Qualifications

• Strong commitment to J Street’s mission, including support for a secure, Jewish, and democratic Israel.
• Deep knowledge of American Jewish life across denominations, synagogues, clergy, and communal organizations.
• Ability to identify and cultivate leaders and help them use relationships toward shared goals.
• Willingness to travel and spend significant time meeting with people in Jewish communities.
• 3+ years of professional organizing, leadership, or community-building experience.

Responsibilities

• Organize and activate J Street leaders: recruit, develop, and support lay leaders to open doors in their communities to J Street, connecting them with one another and with J Street staff and resources.
• Drive regional strategy and execution: implement national communal priorities at regional and local levels via engagement plans; coordinate with regional and national staff; ensure follow-through; support events and programs.
• Map and prioritize local Jewish communities: in collaboration with leaders, learn the communal landscape in assigned areas; identify key institutions, clergy, and leaders; decide where J Street should focus its energy.
• Support broader Communal Engagement work: contribute to department-wide projects, including events, data management, communications, and the development of resources and materials.

Skills

Jewish communal fluency

Organizing and leadership

Strategic judgment

Highly organized with follow-through

Willingness to travel

3+ years of organizing experience

Job description

Position Title: Senior Associate, Jewish Communal Engagement

Reports to: Director of Jewish Communal Engagement

Start Date: As soon as possible

Status: Full Time, Exempt

Location: Remote or Hybrid.
Preferred
candidates based in or near a city where J Street has offices: New York City, Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago, or California. Requires regular regional travel.

Are you someone who knows how to navigate Jewish communities—and loves organizing within them?

J Street is looking for a relationship-driven organizer with deep Jewish communal fluency to help bring our national communal strategy to life in local Jewish communities. Working as part of a team with J Street lay leaders, regional staff, and the national Communal Engagement department, the Senior Associate will help map communities, identify opportunities, and equip local leaders to build lasting relationships with rabbis, synagogues, and Jewish institutions.

The ideal candidate brings a passion for the American Jewish community, strategic judgment, and the organizing skills to engage a community, identify key people and institutions, and work with the right J Street leaders to set priorities and move work forward. They are an outgoing team player aligned with J Street’s mission and bring a strong interest in broadening Israel discourse within the Jewish community.

About J Street

J Street organizes pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans to promote US policies that align with Jewish and democratic values, that help secure the State of Israel as a just, democratic homeland for the Jewish people, and that advance freedom, safety and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

J Street focuses its work in three main areas: (1) Advocating and demonstrating support for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy policies in Congress, the media and the Jewish community; (2) Endorsing and raising money for federal candidates who share J Street’s agenda; and (3) Educating the public and raising awareness of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Our Core Values

At J Street, everything we do is grounded in three core values that guide how we work, collaborate, and show up for our mission.

• Impactful — We act with intention. We measure success not just by what we do, but by the progress we make and the change we help bring about.
• Adaptable — We treat every challenge as an invitation to think creatively, reframe the problem, and find a better path forward.
• Aligned — We are united by shared principles and an unwavering commitment to our mission. Our strength comes from believing in what we're building together.

Responsibilities

The Senior Associate, Jewish Communal Engagement is a regional organizer responsible for helping J Street leaders and supporters build and deepen relationships within Jewish communities. Working with J Street’s national and regional teams, this position will create strategic opportunities, organize and equip local leaders, and help turn J Street’s national communal strategy into meaningful local engagement and activity.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Organize and activate J Street leaders: Recruit, develop, and support lay leaders to open doors in their communities to J Street, developing relationships with Jewish clergy and institutions. Connect them with one another and with J Street staff and resources.
• Drive regional strategy and execution: Execute J Street’s national communal priorities at regional and local levels via engagement plans; coordinate with regional and national staff; ensure strong follow-through; and support events, programs, and other opportunities that advance J Street’s communal goals.
• Map and prioritize local Jewish communities: In collaboration with J Street leaders, supporters, and regional staff, learn the communal landscape in assigned communities: key institutions, clergy, and leaders. Help decide where J Street should focus its time and energy.

• Support broader Communal Engagement work: Contribute to department-wide projects, including events, data management, communications, and the development of resources and materials.

What You Bring

Required:

• A strong commitment to J Street’s mission, including: Commitment to J Street's mission, including support for a secure, Jewish, and democratic Israel. This includes an active US role in ending the occupation and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• Strong Jewish communal fluency: You are deeply knowledgeable with the language, rhythms, and institutions of American Jewish life, across denominations, synagogues, clergy roles, and communal organizations.
• Organizing and leadership skills: You build trust across backgrounds and affiliations. You can identify and cultivate leaders and help them use their relationships toward shared goals. You leverage your outgoing personality and knowledge base to establish yourself as a leader to whom others can look for guidance.
• Strategic judgment and community awareness: You are able to quickly assess a Jewish community to determine where J Street should focus its energy.
• Highly organized with strong follow-through: You can manage multiple communities, relationships, and priorities; create systems to stay organized; and build trust by following up promptly, keeping accurate records, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
• Willingness to travel and spend significant time meeting with people and engaging in Jewish communities in person.
• 3+ years of professional, organizing, leadership, or community-building experience, including work with or within Jewish communities.

Strongly preferred:

• Meaningful experience in Jewish communal life, such as summer camp, youth movements, Hillel, campus Jewish life, synagogues, or Jewish organizations.
• Experience in community organizing, advocacy, volunteer engagement, or leadership development.
• Existing relationships with rabbis, Jewish communal professionals or lay leaders.
• A collaborative teammate who works well across departments and with a range of supporters and leaders, balancing differing priorities.
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, plus fluency in and strong interest in US foreign policy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Compensation

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time exempt position, with occasional work outside traditional work hours on an as-needed basis. The salary is $66,000 - $70,000, commensurate with experience.

Our comprehensive benefits package includes:

• Unlimited personal time off
• Sick leave
• Generous parental and family paid leave (up to 12 weeks)
• Paid time off on many federal and Jewish holidays
• Health and dental and vision insurance (80% of the premium employer paid for you and your family)
• Company-paid life insurance
• A 401k program including a competitive employer match and unmatched contributions
• Commuter benefits
• A Flexible Spending Account
• Health Savings Account with an employer contribution
• Professional Development Funding
• Six Week Paid Sabbatical

J Street recognizes a staff bargaining unit affiliated with IFPTE Local 70, a union for non-profit workers.

Physical Requirements

There are no extraordinary physical requirements for the performance of the essential functions of this position. J Street will make reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. There is potentially some travel associated with the role but this can be discussed if the physical demands of travel would prevent someone from applying.

At J Street we value an inclusive, welcoming, and diverse workplace. We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to understanding and valuing each other’s perspectives at all levels of the organization thereby creating a culture that allows us to better serve our employees, and the communities we work with. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law. This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment and fellowship, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits, and termination.