Illinois Coalition & Campaigns Senior Manager

Economic Security Project

5d•Remote

About The Position

The Illinois Coalition & Campaigns Senior Manager sits at the center of ESIL’s legislative and advocacy work. Reporting to the ESIL State Director and working in close partnership with the Illinois Research & Policy Director, this role is responsible for helping turn ESIL’s strategic priorities into winning campaigns. The Senior Manager helps run the day-to-day execution of legislative efforts that move money and power—inside the Capitol, with coalition partners across the state, and in the public arena when it matters. This is a role with real responsibility and visibility. The Senior Manager helps operationalize ESIL’s priority campaigns by translating strategy into clear plans, timelines, and targets; coordinating legislative outreach and lobbying efforts; tracking fast-moving political dynamics; and ensuring follow-through across staff, lobbyists, and partners. They are a key point of coordination, helping keep complex workstreams aligned and moving with urgency and discipline. At the same time, the Senior Manager plays a central role in coalition leadership. They help strengthen ESIL-led coalitions by clarifying roles, securing commitments, and ensuring partners are prepared, mobilized, and moving in sync toward shared legislative goals. They represent ESIL in coalition spaces, legislative hearings, and partner meetings, building trust and alignment while navigating the realities of power, politics, and differing organizational incentives. This role is well-suited for a seasoned campaigner who understands how policy wins actually happen—through preparation, pressure, timing, and relentless execution. The Senior Manager must be comfortable making smart calls in fast-moving moments, surfacing risks and tradeoffs early, and bringing leaders clear options when decisions are needed. Above all, this role exists to help ESIL win: by turning strategy into action and action into concrete legislative victories. The ideal candidate will be outcome-oriented and bring a deep commitment to Economic Security Illinois’s purpose of advancing economic security, affordability, and dignity for working families across the state. They will demonstrate a genuine belief in the power of coordinated campaigns, strong coalitions, and disciplined execution to translate bold ideas into real policy wins. This leader understands that progress is achieved not just through vision, but through preparation, pressure, timing, and follow-through. The Illinois Coalition & Campaigns Senior Manager will be based in Illinois. This role is fully remote, with in-state residency required, and includes periodic in-person engagement with legislators, coalition partners, and stakeholders as legislative and campaign needs arise.

Requirements

The Senior Manager must bring hands-on experience running or supporting legislative or advocacy campaigns, ideally within Illinois.
They understand how policy actually moves through the legislature, including how targets are identified, champions are cultivated, opposition is navigated, and pressure is applied at the right moments.
They are comfortable tracking bills in real time, coordinating with lobbyists, and adjusting tactics quickly as political conditions shift.
Economic Security Illinois needs a leader who works with urgency, translates strategy into clear plans, and ensures nothing drifts.
The Senior Manager can break complex campaigns into executable steps, assign responsibility, track progress, and close loops relentlessly.
They bring discipline to fast-moving work, maintaining strong campaign infrastructure such as plans, trackers, timelines, and follow-up so the team can move quickly without dropping critical details.
The Senior Manager exercises strong judgment in assessing what is urgent, what is sensitive, and when to escalate.
They are comfortable operating in ambiguity and making smart calls with imperfect information.
The Senior Manager builds trust quickly across diverse partners, navigates power dynamics with awareness, and moves organizations toward action without alienation.
They are skilled at clarifying roles, securing commitments, and holding partners accountable while maintaining strong relationships.

Responsibilities

Translating campaign strategy into concrete plans: timelines, target lists, milestones, and action steps
Coordinating legislative outreach with staff, champions, and contract lobbyists
Tracking bill movement, amendments, hearings, and votes in real time
Monitoring political dynamics and opposition tactics, and adjusting strategy accordingly
Supporting high-impact campaign moments such as lobby days, district actions, briefings, and public pressure events—ensuring preparation and follow-through are tight
Coordinating coalition tables and issue-specific alliances
Clarifying partner roles, securing commitments, and tracking deliverables
Preparing agendas, materials, and follow-up to keep partners moving
Representing ESIL in coalition spaces, legislative hearings, and partner meetings
Supporting coalition growth by identifying and onboarding new partners and messengers
Maintaining campaign infrastructure such as workplans, trackers, calendars, and decision logs
Coordinating across policy, communications, and fundraising to align messaging, timing, and outreach
Supporting communications execution through action alerts, toolkits, talking points, and storyteller coordination
Supporting alignment between state and federal ESP priorities in Illinois
Contributing to advocacy-related donor engagement and campaign updates as needed