International Campaign and Research Operative
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner seeks to contract a French-speaking campaign operative to work on-the-ground and help build a campaign in a developing country.
The primary objective for this individual is to work full-time on the ground starting immediately and lasting through mid-2016. Senior GQR staff will spend significant time in the country, but this individual will be a constant presence on the ground.
An ideal candidate will perform at least four important functions for GQR and the campaign:
Senior Advisor. An ideal candidate brings his or her own political experience to help develop campaign strategies and tactics. He/she will play a key role guiding the campaign and strategic decisions and working with high-level political and government officials. Together with GQR, this person will help develop the schedule of key people, will work on daily talking points, will aid in rapid response, and will also help advise on the design and planning of campaign events.
Liaison. The principle task of this campaign operative is to serve as a daily link between GQR (based out of Washington and London) and the local team. The representative will constantly feed us information, and will be the GQR voice in decision-making and meetings (including in daily War Room meetings, once established). We envision daily conversations and constant emails to ensure our full participation in building the campaign team and the campaign itself.
Building a Research Team. Before the political campaign fully develops, GQR will look to the representative to help our team to identify, train, and oversee the staffing of a fully self-sustaining public research team. This work will entail: working to hire a core team of staff of opinion researchers and managers, helping the new organization find and furnish office space, working with GQR staff to train the core research team, and oversight of the team.
Additionally, the representative may observe, analyze, and help report on focus groups. The individual will also work with staff to develop campaign materials for research, identify proposals for testing, and work to ensure the research is plugged-in with the reality of the campaign.
Building a Campaign Team. Finally, since this operative would be one of the first full-time campaign team members, part of the position will be hiring and placing people for the campaign and for whatever research needs we or the larger team has. Beyond identifying key members, this operative would oversee key trainings and workshops (with the oversight of GQR staff) as we train and develop a research organization.
Key Qualifications
Successful applicants will have most or all of the following qualifications:
- Fully fluent in French, and a willingness to relocate
- Experience with political strategy, particularly in the context of political campaigns (ideally on a statewide campaign or larger)
- Experience with major policy issues and/or experience in some aspect of government
- A grounding in international affairs, preferably with some focus on Africa
- An ability to work diplomatically and constructively with clients & other consultants
- Strong sense of initiative and ability to structure and manage one’s own time and work
- Ability to work with others to solve problems related to building a new organization
- Flexibility to adapt to shifting circumstances
GQR and the local team will provide safe housing and amenities for the campaign operative. It is expected that our representative is based in-country, but we are willing to provide for a few return trips.
Monthly salary will be based on level of experience and expertise.
Please send statement of interest and relevant work experience to Jessica Reis at jreis@gqrr.com