Organizing Manager (Boston, MA) Families for Excellent Schools
kitaro....@familiesforexcellentschools.org
Families for Excellent Schools seeks an energetic and motivated individual who will develop and direct our Massachusetts organizing program. Working closely with and reporting to the Massachusetts Organizing Director, the Massachusetts Organizing Manager will directly oversee organizers and manage our field efforts. This is a great opportunity to have a chance to grow a relational organizing program with strong institutional support, access to philanthropic support, and an existing membership base as Families for Excellent Schools grows statewide.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
Manage Organizers and Lead Professional Development
The Massachusetts Organizing Manager will manage a team of organizers and support their growth by modeling, observing and providing comprehensive feedback on how to:
- Build powerful public relationships with parents and community allies
- Develop leadership capacity of parents
- Lead parent meetings, workshops, and trainings
- Grow and manage neighborhood chapters, advocacy committees, and town hall meetings
- Manage data and systems
Drive and Manage Organizing Campaigns
The Massachusetts Organizing Manager will:
- Lead and support campaign planning sessions with Massachusetts parent leaders, allies and organizers
- Build consensus from multiple stakeholders, including parents and community groups on campaign plans, and ensure implementation and execution of plans. Document and support best practices for drafting and ongoing maintenance of campaign plans
- Drive strategic decision-making throughout campaign implementation by offering strong advice and counsel and reviewing performance to date
- With state-level leadership, guide organizers through check-ins, performance assessment, and field observations
Lead and Manage Stakeholder Relationships
The Massachusetts Organizing Manager will:
- In coordination with state-level leadership, develop partnerships with community based organizations
- Identify key prospective community allies and develop long term plan for building powerful partnerships
- Organize coalitions of parents, community based organizations, schools, and various stakeholders to win campaigns
QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS
Candidates should enjoy working in a dynamic, results-oriented environment in which expectations are high for both the quality and speed of work. In addition, they should have the following:
- Bachelor’s degree or sufficient relevant work experience in lieu of education requirement;
- Three to five years of experience working in a senior organizing role, and at least one year of experience managing organizers;
- A deep understanding of and appreciation for relational organizing, with a strong track record of managing organizers within similar organizing programs;
- An understanding of or experience working in schools and/or charter management organizations and/or advocacy organizations is a plus;
- Fluency in Spanish is a plus;
- Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills;
- An exceptional coach, with a proven track record of staff management, support, and development within a culture of accountability, metrics and regular feedback; A track record of leadership and change management in a scaling organization;
- Successful experience working in entrepreneurial environments, with the capacity to be flexible, collaborative, and solutions-oriented;
- Demonstrated commitment to education, low income communities, and communities of color;
- Ability to effectively build relationships with senior management, employees, and external partners.
In keeping with the work, candidates must be able to travel and work off site often, particularly to different neighborhoods in Boston and other cities in Massachusetts, and work moderately irregular hours when needed.