NOW HIRING: Denver Program Manager
New Era Colorado Foundation & New Era Colorado Action Fund are seeking a full-time Denver Program Manager to lead our civic engagement, advocacy and leadership development work in Denver, Colorado.
We’re looking for a committed, resourceful individual who believes in the power of young people to create change and is passionate about mobilizing young people to register to vote, participate in elections, and tackle the most pressing issues facing our generation (i.e., student debt and climate change). The Denver Program Manager is a core member of our field team, and will be leading the largest component of our 2016 young voter registration and turnout program as well as our student debt campaign work. Our ideal candidate takes initiative, is highly organized, builds relationships easily, and has experience working with diverse and underrepresented communities. You’d be a good fit if you’ve got the energy to register voters while rollerskating, the determination to hit ambitious goals, and the commitment to supporting young leaders in learning to do this work. You, yes, you should throw your hat in the ring if you’re excited by this challenge and ready to work hard. This position offers tremendous opportunities for leadership, innovation, and professional development on a very supportive team that takes the work seriously, but not ourselves.
About us: We’re an innovative nonprofit organization that mobilizes young people to move Colorado forward through civic engagement, leadership development and advocacy work. We register and turn out thousands of young voters every year, work on issues like election access, economic justice and climate change, and train hundreds of young leaders to create change. Since our founding, we’ve registered more than 100,000 young voters, passed policies like online voter registration,and given out probably more than 20,000+ buttons that say “Vote, F*cker” on them (good, right?). And along the way, we got more than a million views on our Campaign for Local Power video, got named “Campaign of the Year” by New Organizing Institute in 2013, and taught ourselves how to make Where’s Waldo costumes on the cheap for voter registration. Get to know us: Website | Facebook
Job Activities:
Lead the execution of large-scale, volunteer-driven voter registration drives and turnout programs targeting young voters in Denver (including all aspects of voter registration, phone banks, canvasses, voter guide distribution, etc)
Lead execution, evaluation, and further development of all aspects of our student debt campaign with support from the Organizing Director–including campaign structure, training content, volunteer management, and grassroots lobbying
Recruit, train and manage participants in our spring, summer and fall leadership development programs, working closely with the Organizing Director to continue to develop and improve the program
Manage, support, and work in close partnership with the Denver Organizer to meet the goals of the Denver office, in particular supporting the Denver Organizer’s leadership of all aspects of our volunteer program (including goal-setting, recruitment, management and plugging volunteers into leadership opportunities)
Maintain a regular presence at college campuses, community events and festivals
Manage a small team of temporary organizers and organizing fellows to assist with the execution of a large-scale voter registration and turnout program in Denver in summer/fall 2016
Lead all grassroots lobbying activities in Denver, and engage interns and volunteers in Colorado’s legislative session
Work with coalition partners to collaborate on programs and campaigns as needed
Lend a hand to all areas of the organization–including (but not limited to!) the Boulder program, the High School program, and fundraising efforts
Here’s a list of knowledge/skills/qualities that our ideal candidate would possess. Please note: If you’ve got some of this but not all of it, we’d still encourage you to apply if this job excites you!
Deep commitment to New Era’s mission and to advancing the organization’s goals and objectives
Strong enthusiasm for voter registration, voter turnout, and election access
Highly organized (seriously), takes initiative to lead and make improvements, and able to work efficiently and effectively under tight deadlines
Passion for tackling the issues facing our generation, especially economic justice
Ability to build relationships easily, especially with young people, and commitment to developing young leaders
Enthusiasm for, experience with and ability to work within diverse and underrepresented communities
A high energy personality and enthusiasm for engaging thousands of young voters face-to-face
Demonstrated success in thoroughly managing multiple projects with many moving parts to produce great results
Relentlessness in reaching goals
Work style that is flexible, respectful and collaborative, and will maintain a supportive, empowering work culture
Positive, solutions-oriented attitude & enthusiasm for designing and implementing new initiatives
Willingness to work nontraditional hours on a regular basis & campaign hours during election season
Preferred, but not required: Fluency in Spanish, some experience working with voter registration or campaigns
Please note: we care more about your ability to get the job done than whether you have formal or informal experience. We encourage you to submit your application if this job excites you!
Position details: This is a full-time position based out of New Era’s Denver office (which is actually a cozy little house), reporting to the Organizing Director. New Era provides a comprehensive benefits package, including medical and dental coverage (with 75% of the premium covered by the employer), an annual RTD Ecopass (free public transit!), paid sick and vacation time, and lots of pizza during election times.
Salary range is $30,000 to $35,000, commensurate with experience. Interviews will take place in November & December (avoiding holidays), with an ideal start date in January 2016.
New Era Colorado Foundation and New Era Colorado Action Fund are equal opportunity employers. We welcome applications from all, and strongly encourage women, people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees and members of the LGBTQ community to apply.
How to apply
To apply: Please submit a resume, cover letter, and 3 references (preferably all as one PDF attachment) to the attention of Molly Fitzpatrick to DenverJob@NewEraColorado.org. In your cover letter, please describe why you want to do this job in particular at New Era. Your references should be people we can contact about you (preferably your former employers/managers), and you should include name, title, phone, and email address for each person. New Era Colorado Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.