Temporary Distributed and Ground Voter Contact Organizer

Position Title: Temporary Distributed and Ground Voter Contact Organizer

Tier / Category: Tier 2 / Organizer II

Reports to: Distributed Voter Contact Coordinator, Brian Stillwell 

Supervised by: Co-Director of National Organizing Department, Taryn Hallweaver

Employment Status: Full time, Temporary: 9/1/24 – 1/31/25

FLSA: Exempt

Location: Remote

Union: Bargaining Unit Member

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a national organization that brings white people into fights for racial and economic justice. We work to undermine the power of the Far Right and build the white flank of multiracial majorities fighting for the things all communities need. We organize white people by engaging their shared interest– what they stand to gain by joining alongside people of color. We do this through 150+ local chapters across the US and Canada, a National Membership base, and local base-building projects in the South.

Summary of Position:

SURJ is seeking a Temporary Distributed and Ground Voter Contact Organizer in our National Organizing Department (NOD) to support SURJ’s electoral organizing work throughout 2024. This includes supporting the infrastructure of SURJ’s distributed voter contact campaigns by project managing distinct parts of the program on an ongoing basis and contributing to the overall health of the program by holding various aspects of the program as a whole depending on emergent needs in a given period. This position will also support the canvassing efforts happening on the ground in key swing states.

Every organizer within SURJ’s National Organizing Department is expected to carry out recruitment, leadership development of members, and design and execute organizing programs aligned with SURJ’s national strategy and campaigns. The amount of time focused on each of these will vary based on the position. NOD organizers are responsible for executing their unique realm of work while also participating in department-wide initiatives and team-wide pushes at key moments. In other words, NOD organizers are all expected to act as both specialists and generalists.

This position will report to their Peer Leader the NOD Distributed Voter Contact Coordinator, and is supervised by the Co-Director of NOD. This position is included in a union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific terms and conditions of employment are subject to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES — Essential duties and responsibilities of this position may include, but are not limited to the following:

Priority 1: General support for the distributed voter contact program (50%)

• Work under the supervision of the NOD Distributed Voter Contact Coordinator to understand and address emergent needs for the overall program, including: 
  • Preparing members and volunteers to lead voter contact phonebanks, and being available as the SURJ staff person on weeknight and weekend banks
  • Preparing the “back end” logistics of phonebanks, including updating scripts, and (depending on experience and skill set) loading lists
  • Soliciting and incorporating feedback from member-leaders, teammates, and supervisor on our voter contact program to strengthen the model 
  • Ensuring voter and member stories are captured at phonebanks, to share for the purposes of press, recruitment, and general visibility of our efforts
• Coordinate with colleagues across NOD to enlist thought partnership, best practices, and peer-to-peer requests for support when needed. 
• Support, mentor and cultivate the leadership of members and volunteers
• Build deep trust with members and volunteers through respectful communication, supportive feedback and clear job expectations

Priority 2: Support on-the-ground canvassing in key states (40%)

• Under the supervision of the NOD Distributed Voter Contact Coordinator, support SURJ’s canvassing in WI and NC, including by: 
  • Confirming members who are signed up to canvass 
  • Recruiting more members into our canvassing work by joining NOD’s recruitment team for canvass-specific recruitment programming 
  • Ensuring our sign-up links are up-to-date
• Ensuring there is effective communication between our distributed (phones-based) and on-the-ground (canvass) operations, including by: 
  • Sharing stories, photographs, and insights between the two programs
  • Recruiting SURJ staff and members in WI and NC to join phonebanks and share short updates from the ground  

Priority 3: Coordination and administration (10%)

• Attend weekly meetings for NOD, NOD sub-teams, all-SURJ staff, and as relevant, with other departments.
• At times, work with local or national partners to strengthen voter contact and rapid response organizing. 
• Maintain daily coordination with colleagues (including across departments) via our shared remote workplace communication platforms: Slack, Google Workspace, email, etc. 
• Complete timesheets, reimbursement requests, and credit card expense submissions in accordance with compliance based policies
• Complete requests to supervisor for time off (vacation, health & wellness leave, etc.) via BambooHR in accordance with policies

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of 2 years of equivalent work-related experience in distributed organizing and member-leader development. 

KNOWLEDGE:

• Understanding of and commitment to SURJ’s work of organizing majority white communities for racial and economic justice
• Experience designing and leading teams through processes of campaign or action planning, execution, and evaluation
• Experience with voter contact preferred.
• Experience facilitating large and small groups in digital spaces, conducting trainings, and providing technical assistance.

SKILLS:

• Excellent relational and verbal communication skills
• Excellent time management skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills 
• Experience doing public speaking, conducting trainings, providing technical assistance, and facilitation of large and small groups 
• Proficiency with tools for distributed organizing and voter contact: EveryAction or VAN, Scale to Win, Mobilize
• Experience using tools for remote work:, and other digital communication tools (Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom, etc.etc.) 

ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated ability to develop members into leaders taking on significant responsibility, and create systems for them to do so
• Ability to direct the work of volunteers and members
• Ability to manage multiple projects
• Flexible – open to new ways of doing things and experimentation
• Reliable – follows through on what they said they are going to do
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to work in fast paced environment at times of rapid response 
• Ability to work in a cross-class environment while also holding a strong class politics that centers poor and working people
• Ability to prioritize their personal work and the work of a team they manage.
• Willingness to speak up, suggest new ideas, receive feedback, reflect, and adjust plans to ensure successful completion of goals, and be part of the solution.
• Ability to travel occasionally to work with members and chapters, and to work weekends and evenings.