Executive Director

Justice Democrats

26d • Remote

About The Position

Justice Democrats is seeking a dynamic and thoughtful Executive Director to lead our high-impact, nimble organization whose mission is to build people power in our country by electing a bloc of working class leaders in Congress who meet the urgency of our political moment and serve the people’s agenda — not the interests of big corporate donors.

Justice Democrats (JD) has successfully recruited, elected and coalesced a powerful bloc of leaders that time and time again has proven to be a moral compass within Congress, advocating every single day for working class Americans. Justice Democrats is a Hybrid PAC.

Justice Democrats launched in early 2017 with a clear and urgent mission: to transform the Democratic Party by electing a new generation of bold, multiracial, working-class leaders who answer to the people, not corporate PACs or lobbyists.

In our very first cycle, we helped ignite some of the most stunning upsets in modern politics. Our victories signaled what was possible when we challenged the establishment and transformed what voters expected from their elected leaders. JD has continued to support progressive champions who are reshaping Congress and driving the national conversation on climate, racial justice, economic inequality, and foreign policy. Today, we remain a leading force in the fight to transform the Democratic Party through our strategy of running morally courageous, rooted leaders in Democratic Primaries.

Fundamentally our goal is to use electoral politics through the Democratic Party (at this time) to add to the collective effort of building political power for the working classes. We believe our candidates and members can build power for the working class through the megaphone they get from being on the national stage and through local organizing work. The megaphone brings working class and movement demands into the halls of power and allows us to counter the ideologies and stories that enable capitalism, fascism and imperialism. Through local organizing efforts our candidates and members are able to win the people’s trust and empower people to take collective action.

We are a small but mighty team of 10 staff members. We are a highly collaborative organization where staff opinions and perspectives are welcomed and expected. Our work thrives on input from across the team, and effective leaders listen closely, surface strong ideas, and foster shared ownership. At the same time, leaders at JD are accountable for making clear decisions, setting direction, and ensuring the organization moves forward in alignment with our mission. The ideal candidate brings a leadership style that values openness, supports staff autonomy, and provides steady decision-making that helps teams do their best work. In our fight for the working class we are rooted in an explicit opposition to global white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalist exploitation.

Key aspects of our programmatic work includes:
Overarching political strategy: Political work touches each bucket of work in many ways. From the work we do with our incumbents on their re-elections, in a limited capacity with them on the hill, to political education with our new candidates and their leadership development as they campaign and to get ready when they enter Congress. We are on the frontlines of this kind of leadership and emotional support to help us accomplish our goals as we work to build a more trusting, cohesive team each cycle in Congress.
Candidate Recruitment and Vetting: This is the heart of our work – we spend hundreds of hours and extensive resources recruiting and vetting strong candidates for Congress.
Setting up and maintaining strong campaign infrastructure for Key Races: We provide tiered direct candidate support for all of our endorsed candidates, providing support across budgeting, finance, comms, voter outreach planning, and more.
Driving Campaign Strategy: We are in the room with the candidates and campaigns and help drive key messaging decisions, tactical resource allocation recommendations and the drafting of key campaign resources.
Independent Expenditure Infrastructure and Expertise: We have been the leading IE vehicle in primaries for the past 3 cycles.
Mobilizing Political Partners: We engage movement partners early and intentionally, ensuring they have compelling candidates and campaigns they can rally behind.
A Strong Public Voice: We help shape the narrative for the electoral left, ensuring our message and strategy reach the public through effective press engagement.

Requirements

• Deep alignment with Justice Democrat’s values, political strategy and mission
• Holds compassion, integrity, and honesty as core values when working with all people - from candidates to staff to volunteers to supporters to donors.
• Brings creative energy that is infectious and inspiring to others, that makes them want to take risks and try new things.
• Comfortable, experienced and passionate about working with and electing working class people of color.
• Committed to shaping internal and external practices that foster a collaborative culture grounded in economic, racial, and gender justice.
• Brings courage in the face of adversity and tough choices by remaining true to our mission and who we aspire to be as members in the movement for transformative change in America.
• Strategic thinker and leader that is able to balance short and long term planning.
• Strong communicator both internally and externally. Ready to represent the organization in the press, and excited to connect and talk with all stakeholders including the staff team, candidates, partners, and donors.
• Robust fundraising skills: ready to make asks to major donors and organizations, and understands the importance of this and engaging with grassroots supporters.
• Has a background in electoral and/or grassroots organizing - has worked on an underdog electoral campaign, run a field program, been deeply involved in local community organizing, etc.
• Committed to building strong, trusting relationships with staff, candidates, and partners.
• Models leadership and conviction, and sets a tone for the JD team, partners, and campaigns in how they operate.
• Prepared to navigate internal and external conflict in a productive, thoughtful, and honest way.
• Strong management skills - both of individual staff members, and of their own time and workload.
• Basic understanding of federal election law and the compliance aspects of running a PAC.
• Self-aware and hungry to learn in all areas of their role. Is aware and constantly developing in their own skill gaps.
• Skilled and excited to navigate complex political terrain and how JD can best achieve our mission within the larger left ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Proactively set topline organizational strategy, in collaboration with the team
• Engage in all high level organizational communications, in collaboration with the Communications Director
• Stay up-to-date on politics to be able to shape our strategy in rapid response moments effectively
• Work with the organizational leadership, including the Board, to ensure that our organizational goals and strategic plans are designed and implemented
• Identify short or long term strategic gaps or problems in the organization and work with organizational leadership to solve them
• Lead on organizational political strategy - how we work and collaborate with partners and incumbents, and leading on shaping the role we play in the larger left ecosystem.
• Serve as a core representative to donors, via in person meetings, fundraising events, phone calls and communication on our email list.
• Giving topline guidance and direction on what and how we pitch donors on our work
• Give regular and consistent feedback and strategic guidance to the Finance Director
• Weekly call-time and relevant followup to top donors with support from finance team
• Regular travel to meet with donors and attend fundraising events
• Serve as a leading figure at fundraising events hosted by the organization, and endorsed candidates
• Make significant fundraising asks to fund the organization
• Seek out and attend networking and fundraising events on behalf of the organization
• Give regular feedback and sign off on key materials including: decks, scripts, prospectus’, email updates, memos, and more
• Share and communicate the identity and mission of Justice Democrats with the media, partners, candidates, politicians, and funders.
• Hold relationships with politicians and partners at the executive level
• Conduct high profile media interviews and be active on social media, with support from the communications department.
• Participate in the organizational Candidate Recruitment process and meet with all vetted nominees for endorsement.
• Maintaining a culture where staff feel motivated, clear, and supported in their work
• In collaboration with the Managing Director, maintain the macro view of our organizational management structure and identify gaps and needs
• Supervise the PAC Director, Managing Director, and Communications Director
• Final decider on annual organizational budgets
• Core liaison to the Board of directors
• Support their teams in hitting their goals and maintaining a strong team culture.
• Support the Managing Director in improving and making sure internal communication, team meetings, and decision-making processes are clear within and across departments
• Work with Directors team to manage hiring processes into PAC
• Work with Directors team to convene, coordinate, and manage agendas for PAC directors, staff meetings and retreats

Benefits

• Unlimited vacation with a 2 week minimum, all federal holidays off, and the organization is closed the final week of the year
• Unlimited sick days
• Fully paid Health, Vision, Dental (including dependents)
• 401K and 4% employer match
• Raise every two years

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed