Southeast Iowa Canvass Director

Food & Water Watch•Davenport, IA

7d•Remote

About The Position

Food & Water Watch is a leading national organization that mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests. Food & Water Watch is organizing on some of the biggest issues Iowans face today, like holding factory farms accountable for their pollution and advocating for clean drinking water. Recent polling has shown that Iowans consider the state’s water and cancer crises to be very serious concerns, on par with affordability. Food & Water Watch has been working for years, organizing to build power in Iowa. Our work gets real results. In 2025, we defeated the so-called “Cancer Gag Act” that was pushed on the Iowa legislature by Bayer and Big Ag. This bill would have prevented farmers, workers, and anyone affected from exercising their right to hold companies accountable for failing to warn them of health risks. We also played a role in passing legislation blocking carbon pipeline companies from using eminent domain to take property from landowners. The Southeast Iowa Canvass Director will report to the Political Director and will work with other staff on the Iowa Organizing and administrative teams to support Food & Water Watch’s work. The position will run a canvass operation that knocks on tens of thousands of doors to educate and engage Iowans on the issue of water pollution and the associated cancer crisis facing our state. This is a full-time temporary position starting as soon as possible, running through November 6. Salary: $45,000 - $53,300 dependent on experience. Location: This position will be based in Scott County. FLSA Status: Exempt This position will start as soon as possible, running through November 7, 2026. We are not planning to rent office space for this campaign. Instead, we plan on running the canvass remotely, with regular meetups in the field for canvassers to get training and materials.

Requirements

At least one election cycle canvassing experience (either electoral or issue organizing works!)
Familiarity with VAN or a similar voter database tool.
Strong interest in Food & Water Watch issues and commitment to social change.
Strong verbal and written communication and time management skills.
Desire to develop campaign organizing skills.
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States.
We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas.

Nice To Haves

One election cycle canvass directing or one year organizing on an issue advocacy campaign.
Experience training others.
Experience with using Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets to track work.
Knowledge of the region.
Relationships with organizers and potential canvassers in this area.

Responsibilities

Recruit and hire canvassers.
Training canvassers to effectively conduct canvassing conversations
Cutting and assigning turf.
Analyzing canvasser performance, including running VAN reports, tracking petitions and pledge cards collected.
Quality control to maximize canvasser success and minimize submission of fraudulent canvass data
Scheduling and tracking hours, and working with the Finance team to ensure canvassers are paid in a timely fashion.
Completing at least one canvass shift themselves each week.
Ensuring a daily transportation plan for canvassers to get to turf and back, including acquiring rental cars when necessary.
Identify meetup locations for canvass sendoffs.