Job Opening: Outreach Director for Downballot Campaigns

Reno, NV-area. Must be in or willing to relocate to this area and have reliable transportation.
Full time salaried position, 50 hours/week average, but variable.
Compensation: approximately $5,000 per month, DOE, some benefits.

About Us

Changing Dynamics is a political campaign and PR consulting firm dedicated to making positive change. We focus on state legislative and local/downballot races (almost entirely for Democratic candidates). We do public relations for government entities like school districts, non-profits, and others. We do some of almost everything ourselves, including strategy, messaging, outreach, design, content, and management. We work with a mix of local talent and national partners to make the magic happen. We currently have 10 campaigns signed up for the 2024 cycle.

About You

You’ve worked at least one full-time field campaign job (ideally more, but if your one field experience was long and/or had real growth it might work). You’re an outgoing person, who likes the idea of working with and managing outreach for multiple different candidates and their volunteers as well as overseeing a paid walk program. You know at least the basics of VAN set up and are confident you can learn back-end set up configuring API keys. You are eager to grow volunteers, interns and paid staff to take over most of your organizer duties, at which point you can learn and help on things like managing photo/video shoots, content writing, social media, mail, and/or digital advertising, depending on your skill and interest.

Required Job Duties:

This is what you’ll be doing as Outreach Director (OD). You do not have to have strong experience in all of these, but you must have a willingness (or eagerness) to engage in them all. If you do not have strong experience in at least two of these areas, you must have strong experience in some of the “other skills” areas.

Set up VAN for each campaign – create everything from survey questions to targeting searches, manipulate report formats, connect API keys for P2P texting
Manage candidate door-to-door programs, which for most involves working with the candidate to identify volunteers to take on leadership roles, then training and managing them in those roles. The OD is expected to not be at every candidate launch; the OD is not expected to be a paid canvasser.
Recruit, train and manage interns, who can and should be trained and used to launch candidate canvasses
Train and manage paid canvass teams. There is budget to pay strong team leaders; the OD is responsible for growing and overseeing those team leaders.
Set up and manage candidate outreach events, like house parties.
Run P2P texting programs, which are usually candidate-only doing the texting.
Work directly with candidates/elected officials. At a minimum, you must be ok with interacting with our clients and be able to ask them gently but firmly to do what we need, and tell them “no” when they ask for things that aren’t in our scope of work (at first, this looks like saying “let me check with Riley” or “talk to Riley, he’s my boss and he has said I shouldn’t be doing that”).
Work nights and weekends. Many nights, and most weekends, though not every one. OD must be available to “backstop” canvass launches and evening events, but is not expected to be running every single one. Work schedule is at least one full day off M-Th flexible/scheduled, plus ample flexible time off during the regular work week. We’re a small, family business that values work-life balance, and also works political campaigns.
Nice to Haves: conversation+ in Spanish, experience in another campaign department or with media/PR/advertising.

Other Possible Work Areas:

The OD may be asked to help in some or all of the following areas as needed. As much as the OD is able to organize themselves out of being completely full of work with the Required Job Duties, we would love to train and use them more and more in other areas where they have skill and interest.

Set up and staff photo/video shoots large and small
Manage some organic social media
Assist on social and digital media advertising placements
Proof/edit written materials, possibly generate or adapt some first drafts
Website updating (WordPress)
Photo, graphic, and/or video editing
PR event or other work. We do not anticipate picking up major other outreach or public relations work that the OD would be expected to work on, at least in the short term. However, that is work we engage in and the OD is expected to assist as necessary with this or other duties as assigned.
Accounting/budgeting/bookkeeping

Other Info

Job Posting closes December 15, 2023; the position is expected to start by January 15, 2024. The OD will have a trial period through March 15. Hoping and assuming it’s a good fit for everyone, the position is then guaranteed through December 2024. Bonuses and salary growth are anticipated and will be commensurate with output and client success. Our medium-term company goal is to grow the business and the person to fill an on-going position indefinitely.

We value diversity, equity, and the inclusion of historically marginalized voices. People of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a major plus.

Benefits: We offer a simple IRA with a three percent employer match, and subsidize private/individual health insurance coverage for campaign cycle employees (if hired on indefinitely, we would move employee to a company plan we’d purchase to begin by the start of 2025).

Other Minimum Qualifications

Two years of professional/full-time work experience in a directly related area, and;
Either an undergraduate degree, or substantial/equivalent work experience in a related or at least semi-related job, like service industry, customer service, or sales.

To apply, send resume, short cover letter, and two professional references to riley@changingdynamics.com