Location
Indiana | United States
Job description
United Food and Commercial Workers
Political Director
Based in Washington, DC
(on-site)
Organization:
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is North America’s neighborhood union; standing together to improve the lives and livelihoods of workers, families and communities. Our members work primarily in the retail food, meatpacking, poultry, food processing and manufacturing and retail store industries.
Location:
Washington DC, near Metro (on-site)
Position Description:
This position designs the UFCW member to member program including RFPs for vendors, ensures comprehensive research is done for priority races, works on overall design and development of UFCW’s mail and digital program for UFCW members and ultimately oversees UFCW’s direct member to member voter contact program. At times, this position may run IEs targeting the general public. This position handles relationships with allied organizations and committees with political discretion.
This position builds relationships with individual candidates while they are running for priority offices and supports the legislative team in building relationships with elected officials. This position assesses candidate viability, priority races, and meets with potential candidates to ensure they understand UFCW’s issues.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Includes the following. Other duties may be assigned. This list is not exhaustive and may be supplemented.
- The Political Director designs, implements, and reviews campaign plans, which can be state specific or national. Plan types include ballot measures, candidates, legislation, organizational, and other campaigns, and makes funding recommendations. Campaign activities include voter contact, mail, digital, phones, research, analytics, earned and paid media, and other means of reaching voters or members on the assigned campaign. Creates a process for tracking budgetary items for work that is vended out and ensures invoices are paid in a timely manner and are correct.
- Works to review content in collaboration with outside counsel to ensure voter registration materials, mail and digital, as well as worksite literature has the appropriate information and disclosures.
- Manages the Assistant Political Director, and Political Staff in the Legislative and Political Action Department. Is responsible for creating clear processes and deadlines for updating UFCW Votes assets such as the website and social media on voting information, candidate information, and issues.
- Manages assigned national staff and political member organizers programs during electoral cycles.
- Creates and implements internal regulatory culture for uniformity in programs across electoral and legislative grassroots programs, including reporting, plan templates, and tracking. Works with the Data and Analytics team to build out clear reporting on voter contact, as well as program set up for canvassing, phones, worksites, and peer to peer texting. Writes clear post-election reports and memos to share with key stakeholders on UFCW’s electoral and grassroots legislative engagement.
- Directs field programs to increase Active Ballot Club participation and local political activism in coordination with regional offices. Coordinates event tracking and political giving with the Director and the Legislative Director.
- Serves as the point of contact for designated groups and committees.
- Works with senior staff to coordinate in-state and DC lobbying with local unions to lobby on legislative issues of concern to UFCW.
- Builds out a monitoring system that staff maintains on competitive races covering the U.S. on electoral race demographics such as DPI, COH, UFCW membership, endorsements, and giving.
- Works with the Director to ensure we have a thorough endorsement process at the federal, state, and local levels that involves viability assessments of races and candidates, candidate interviews, candidate questionnaires and where possible, member engagement in the endorsement process.
- Coordinates with regional offices and local unions to recruit activists to support UFCW program goals and objectives.
- Works with senior staff to develop relationships with allies in support of program goals and objectives. Assists in integrating legislative and political programs.
- Works with senior staff to develop the UFCW's strategic political plan and corresponding proposed budget. Provides analysis on multiple state legislative proposals and reports findings to designated staff to use in recommending organizational support or opposition based on the impact on UFCW members, wages and working conditions, industries, families, and communities.
- Regularly coordinates work priorities with Director.
- Extensive travel and long/irregular hours required. Relocation may be necessary. Long term deployment for legislative and/or political campaigns.
QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education and/or Experience
Bachelor’s degree in related field and minimum of ten years’ experience required, ideally in a labor organization with organizing, staff management or other relevant experience in a community or political organization.
Computer/Software Skills
Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite and ability to use all functions in Microsoft Excel. Must be able to put together comprehensive reports in Excel and written reports without errors or typos. Experience using online databases like NGP-VAN. Ability to review documents like mail and digital content for messaging and ensure that the content is factual.
Communication, Analytical, and Leadership Skills
Excellent oral and written communication skills are required. Must have the ability to work with and show leadership with a team of people to reach programmatic goals. Must have the ability to work with discretion, handle sensitive situations and recognize when to refer to a higher level. Must have the ability to work with people from different aspects of the political work, Presidential candidates and staff, local union presidents and staff, as well as rank and file members. Demonstrate strong technical, policy, analytical and strategic abilities, and skills.
Other Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Required
- Must understand FEC laws and regulations concerning PACs and their interactions with state election and financial disclosure laws. Must be able to quickly learn their interaction with labor organizations.
- Must have the ability to work independently, as well as develop relationships and make independent judgments, when working with local unions. Must have initiative.
- Must be well organized and have experience setting up systems to hold individuals and organizations accountable for programmatic goals.
- Must take initiative to identify and learn new programmatic technologies.
- Demonstrate understanding of the labor movement and culture.
Personal Characteristics
Commitment and dedication to the UFCW’s mission to fighting for our members.
Job Demands
Must be able to work well under pressure. Must be able to handle multiple priorities and work projects for completion in a timely manner. Must be able to work in a fast-paced environment. Work requires long and irregular hours, including nights and weekends. Extensive travel required across the U.S. in both planes and cars. Ability to perform long-term assignments outside of DC for weeks or months at a time.
Compensation:
The UFCW provides a very generous benefits package, including:
- Comprehensive health insurance coverage.
- Life insurance provided with ability to purchase supplemental life insurance at favorable rates.
- Retirement Savings Account.
- 401(k) plan with employer matching.
- Pension plan.
- Dependent care reimbursement account program.
- Health care reimbursement account program.
- Transportation program benefits.
- Three weeks of paid vacation, 12 days of paid short-term sick leave, Extended Sick Leave program, paid parental leave.
- Prepaid Legal Plan (for DC/MD/VA only).
Duration:
This is a full-time position; posting closes when position is filled.
Vaccination Requirement:
UFCW requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, consistent with applicable law. Any requests or questions may be submitted to [email protected].
To Apply:
Submit cover letter, résumé to: http://jobs.localjobnetwork.com/j/76737375
We believe our success rests on recruiting and retaining a diverse staff. UFCW is an equal opportunity employer. Woman and people of color are encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations will be provided pursuant to the state and federal laws.
WHEN APPLYING: Be sure to indicate that you saw this information at .
Job tags
Salary
