Manager, National Research and Regional Communications - Leadership for Educational Equity (Flexible)

[LEE Talent Acquisition]

Please apply on our website. 

About Leadership for Educational Equity
Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan leadership development organization dedicated to developing its members’ potential to ensure every child has the opportunity to receive an outstanding education.

Our kids and communities need more leaders who believe that educational inequity is a solvable problem.  We believe that when our members are organized and reach positions of leadership, they’ll serve as a transformative force for students, communities and the broader movement for educational equity.

LEE is a diverse team of passionate and talented individuals committed to making a difference.  We are a high-growth, results-oriented organization that operates in an entrepreneurial environment deeply invested in continuous improvement.  If you would like to become part of our team and join the fight for educational equity, or if you would simply like to learn more about what we do, please visit educationalequity.org.

Team Overview
The Elected Leadership team is responsible for inspiring, developing and supporting our members to effectively pursue elected office as a path to help kids and their community. This position reports to the Senior Director of Candidate Development.

Position Summary
The Manager of National Research and Regional Communications will serve on LEE’s Elected Leadership team.  This person will specialize in thorough research techniques to generate research and information, and by providing detailed research books and memos, will help team members understand and utilize research to build LEE member campaign plans. 

This role will have significant communications responsibilities. The Manager will work in a regional team as the communications lead to develop and coach candidates around research based communication plans and campaign materials. They will produce training materials and best practice guides as well as lead coaching sessions and group trainings for members and candidates around campaign communications tactics and skills. This person will also be responsible for designing and implementing campaign communications strategies as well as training campaign staff to execute the strategy. 

Position Location: Washington DC, Los Angeles or Denver Strongly Preferred 

The statements in this description represent typical elements, criteria, and general work performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for the job.

Responsibilities:​

• Manage all political research requests across the Elected Leadership department and other departments as requested
• Perform landscape, self, and opposition research for candidates to help inform fact-based decisions for a variety of electoral races
• Train internal LEE staff, candidates and their campaign staff on best practices to conduct and utilize research
• Take the lead on both individual long-term research projects, as well as timely response projects
• Use issue-based facts and current events to develop strategic communications plans 
• Thoroughly gather and utilize information from a variety of sources including Lexis-Nexis, various government entities and web sites
• Quickly read, analyze and format news clips, local, state and federal votes, campaign finance reports, corporate filings, public government records, legal records and related items
• Monitor and extract key points from local and national news
• Simplify very complex issues into factual and concise narratives

Minimum Qualifications

• 5 years of related work experience or any equivalent combination of education and experience 
• Effective political analysis skills
• Extensive experience in research techniques 
• A strong commitment to the educational equity movement
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills including the ability to extrapolate information from a variety of sources and condense it for a number of audiences  
• Ability to manage several tasks/projects concurrently and prioritize work effectively with competing deadlines
• Exceptional attention to detail and strong organizational skills
• Ability to take direction, ask questions, and quickly learn new tasks and databases
• Ability to keep up with the 24-hour news cycle
• Creative thinking and desire to explore new avenues
• Ability to travel up to 25%

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct candidate campaign experience 
• Past work in a virtual environment 
• Experience training candidates and campaign staff in research skills and/or communications
• Experience writing and executing communications plans
• High proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel
• Political training or background to understand and explain significance of events and findings
• Specific knowledge of campaign finance databases, local, federal and state-level vote analysis, statistical data gathering, and primary source materials
• Graduation from an accredited four-year college with coursework in political science, government, or a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience

Benefits and Salary
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience.  In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included. 

An Equal-Opportunity Employer with a Commitment to Diversity
Leadership for Educational Equity is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and as an organization committed to diversity and the perspective of all voices, we consider applicants equally of race, gender, color, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability, political affiliation and national origin. We reasonably accommodate staff members and/or applicants with disabilities, provided they are otherwise able to perform the essential functions of the job.