California State Director, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center
(California)
About the position
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) seeks a talented and experienced leader and strategist to be its first ever California State Director in 2015. The BISC California State Director will report directly to BISC's Executive Director.
Ballot
measures play a significant role in California politics and policy,
affecting every issue progressives care about – from LGBT equality, to
workers' rights, to funding for important public services – and often
act as a bellwether for national policy and issue trends.
California
is also the most expensive ballot-measure state in the nation, home to
over 60 percent of all spending on ballot measures. In 2012 alone,
progressives in the Golden State spent over $190 million on initiatives
and referenda, while our opponents spent $174 million, for a
staggering total of $364 million.
BISC
and its progressive partners and funders in California have created
this new, senior-level position because with so much at stake both
politically and financially, it is critical that the California
progressive community approach ballot measures with the best and most
recent data, the clearest strategic thinking, and – most importantly –
the closest coordination possible.
Responsibilities:
The
BISC California State Director is primarily responsible for working
with and leading state, national, and local BISC partner organizations
to develop and execute a strategically coordinated California
ballot-measure plan that maximizes the priorities, resources, and
effectiveness of all partners, and reduces duplication of efforts in
the areas of ballot-measure voter outreach, education, advocacy, and
turnout. Furthermore,
the BISC California State Director will ensure short-term programs and
elections advance the shared long-term vision for progressive change
through ballot-measure work, including ballot-measure reform proposals.
The Director will lead efforts to coordinate the following:
- Planning for joint base-building and voter education over time;
- Contracting together for paid signature-gathering, with joint negotiating power, to manage petition work together;
- Conducting joint polling when possible, rather than individually paying separate consultants for similar research;
- Targeting voters as a group when possible, so progressives avoid turning out voters that hurt each other's efforts and avoid wasting resources on duplicative efforts;
- Using defensive investments as opportunities to organize and message, especially in communities of color, low-income communities, and with young people;
- Collaborating to track and communicate with the progressive community about initiatives filed, potential funders, right-wing initiative funding, etc.;
- During campaigns, supporting coordination around research, ballot-measure voter guides and get-out-the-vote efforts;
- Strategizing collectively about proactive opportunities that can drive turnout among people of color, young people, women and drop-off voters;
- Collaborating with partners to advance ballot-measure reforms that increase transparency and accountability within the ballot-measure process; and
- Working with partners to expose abuses of the system and advance reforms that return ballot measures to their roots – as a citizen's check on corporate special interests and unresponsive lawmakers.
The Director will also be responsible for:
- Writing and implementing the organizational plan and budget for the collaborative;
- Raising funds required to support the annual budget and managing the collaborative' s financial systems;
- Managing the staff and consultants required to support the collaborative and meet programmatic goals;
- Conducting outreach to organizations (local, state, and national affiliates) to build the reach and depth of the collaborative's membership;
- Working with the leadership committee to determine the strategic direction of the collaborative;
- Planning and facilitating regular meetings of the collaborative to create, negotiate, and share plans; make progress towards goals; and identify problems and new opportunities; and
- Regularly and thoughtfully communicating with the BISC Executive Director and national staff on the activity, goals, and vision for the California collaborative.
Qualifications:
All applicants must have a bachelor's
degree with a minimum of 6 years of campaign (especially
ballot-measure campaign) or issue-advocacy experience, or 8-10 years of
experience in political or issue advocacy, plus knowledge of and a
strong commitment to progressive causes. Applicants will ideally have a mixture of electoral or advocacy campaign experience and organizing skills. Applicants must have demonstrated an ability to negotiate, build consensus, and strategically disagree. The
coordinator must be respected by stakeholders and be trusted to lead,
and must be able to create shared space between all partners regardless
of budget size or political power.
The
applicant must also be a self-starter, willing to work long and
irregular hours and travel as needed, and must possess the following:
o Excellent management and leadership skills
o A passion for the work being done by the partner organizations
o Ability to develop a vision for a social justice movement in California
o Strong communication skills, both written and interpersonal
o Knowledge of fundraising, budgeting, and grant-making
o Ability to work independently in a telework position, while still a senior member of a state-wide and national team
o Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team environment
o Ability to prioritize and handle a variety of projects simultaneously
o Candidates
with field program management experience, staff management experience,
and an understanding of the legislative process preferred
o Ability to create and manage a large budget
o Demonstrated experience in coalition-building and managing stakeholder relationships
o Experience
in fundraising, including building funder relationships, making
presentations, writing proposals, and drafting reports
o Knowledge of California's political and policy landscape
Compensation: Salary negotiable based on background and experience. Benefits include health, dental, vision, and 401(k).
Status: Full-time Regular Position, Overtime Exempt. This is a non-cycle position with committed multi-year funding.
To apply: Submit cover letter, resume, and at least three references to Jobs@ballot.org, with subject line: CA State Director by January 16,2015.
About BISC
Ballot-measure
campaigns affect everything progressives fight for. But for the past
forty years, conservatives have dominated the ballot-measure process,
harming our communities and forcing us to fight costly and diversionary
defensive campaigns.
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC, a 501(c)(4) organization) is changing this dynamic. BISC strengthens democracy by building a national progressive strategy for ballot measures.
We
recognize that the best defense is a good offense, and moreover that
strategic, well-crafted measures can be powerful tools for progressive
change – to advance forward-looking policies, turn out key voters,
frame the issues in elections, and build progressive infrastructure in
important states.
As the only national
progressive organization focused exclusively on ballot measures, BISC
is ideally positioned to act as a neutral and trusted third party,
providing expert guidance, facilitating collaboration, and promoting
strategic investment – for the benefit of the entire progressive
movement.