Organizing director

 

 

Hiring Timeline: Applications and interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis from October through December 8th, 2023. Deadline to apply is December 1, 2023. We anticipate this position starting January 8th, 2024. 

 

How To Apply: Please send resume and cover letter to info@surgenw.org with subject title: Organizing Director Application.

 

Benefits: 23 days paid time off, 11 paid holidays, flexible, family-friendly schedule, medical (zero-deductible HMO and PPO options), dental, short- and long-term disability, life, and AD&D insurance, with RVC covering over 90% of the costs of the insurance package. 401(k) and Roth IRA Retirement accounts and a Transit Orca card are available. 

 

About Surge Reproductive Justice (SRJ): 

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SRJ is a Reproductive Justice (RJ) organization. RJ is defined by Sistersong as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” The RJ approach brings together diverse communities and perspectives to reach solutions that are led by the communities most affected by reproductive oppression and racial injustice. 

Our mission is to mobilize communities to build a world where all people can make powerful, self-determined choices for their bodies and the future of their families and communities. Our work centers Black women, women of color and  Queer and Trans People of Color for a movement that rises from the bottom up. Currently we are working on Black perinatal health, Medicaid access for doulas, addressing barriers to accessing health care and reproductive health care, and decriminalizing sex work in the state of Washington. 

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About The Position: At SRJ, we see our role in the community as facilitators who support the leadership and expertise of our community to develop solutions rooted in a reproductive justice framework. We are searching for someone to join our team who will be committed to our goals of SRJ being a tool for the communities who are most impacted to create their own solutions. SRJ seeks someone who will manage our growing team of organizers, whose goals are to work alongside community members to create solutions that have an intersectional analysis of race and gender. 

 

The Organizing Director:

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• Deeply connected to the community they belong to.

• Believes in a “people-power” theory of change. 

• Has a deep understanding of the reproductive justice framework and intersectional Black Queer feminist thought. 

• Can motivate, support, and develop a team of organizers.

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As the Organizing Director at Surge, they will support the organizing team with building and implementing campaigns that are rooted in anti-racist principles. They will also develop the leadership within the organizing team, and support and hold organizers accountable to campaign plans and work plan goals. The Organizing Director will work closely with the Executive Director and Policy Director to ensure that the organizing strategy is being implemented.

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Organizing Director Development and Evaluation Period:

If offered this position, upon review at the one year mark of their position, we will make the decision to offer the job as a permanent position at SRJ. The Organizing Director will be provided with the expectations that SRJ uses and the foundational trainings the organization uses within the first three months of their start time. Evaluations will be made at the three and six month marks, respectively. 

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Responsibilities Will Include: 

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Supervising, leadership development, and Managing Base-Building Organizers (40% of time):

• Weekly check-ins with Base-Building Organizers 

• Attend as needed base-building organizer’s events and coalition/ leadership team meetings 

• Develop and facilitate organizing trainings, leadership development trainings, and annual organizing team retreat, for base-building organizers and their leadership teams

• Conduct annual reflections for base-building organizers 

• Provide support and direction for base-building organizers trimester work plans and campaign strategy 

• Ensure base-building organizers are using tactics that are operationalizing anti-racist organizing principles

• Work with the Executive Director to track and create base-building strategy and goals both for internal use and for grant development.

• Attend work planning meetings [ once a month] with the Policy Director and the Executive Director to coordinate base-building and systems and policy change strategy. 

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Community Connector (20% of time) 

• Work with the Executive Director to assign who represents SRJ in different coalition and community spaces that need leadership/ executive staff representation, and represent at the designated spaces.

• Build connections with community as part of the process of building out a reproductive justice movement 

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All Staff (20% of time)

• Attend weekly staff meetings 

• Attend team building activities, e.g. Trimester Work Planning, Healing and Restorative processes and Retreats 

• All Hands on Deck: All other campaign strategies, community events, and hiring processes when requested

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Leadership Development Trainings and Communications (20% of time)

• Facilitate, co-facilitate and/or attend trimester  Leadership Development Trainings

• Participate in creation of new trainings

• Coordinate with communications point person on press releases, flyers

• Serve as a secondary contact for press, availability for presentations as needed

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Ideal Qualifications:

• 4-6 plus years of community organizing experience

• Experience managing teams

• Local and state legislative experience 

• Issue campaign experience

• Analysis and commitment to Anti-Racism 

• Background in reproductive justice / RJ aligned work 

• Relationships in the [QT] BIPOC community in Seattle and/or King County

• A well-developed interpersonal skill set — especially active listening, empathy, patience, personal accountability and relationship building. 

• Track record as a highly organized, collaborative teammate who can also thrive in independent projects.