Talent Associate - Arena
Heather Schmucker
Arena convenes, trains, and supports the next generation of candidates and campaign staff. We need leaders from all walks of life to enter the arena, but too often the leaders we need find politics inaccessible. We’re trying to change that in four ways:
- We invest in the next generation of political talent through Arena Academy, which equips them with the skills, knowledge, and tools they need to build winning campaigns and movements.
- We build and share free guides and tutorials for progressive campaigns and staffers with Arena Toolbox.
- We tackle traditional hiring challenges within the progressive community with Arena Careers, an accessible, inclusive network for job-seekers and employers to search, connect, and make change together.
- We help talented candidates enter the arena and run for office, by forming deep partnerships early in the cycle with Arena Candidates.
About the position
Arena’s Talent team empowers a diverse group of current and potential staffers to find their highest and best use in the progressive space. Through our Arena Careers platform (think: LinkedIn for the progressive community) we empower people to share and search job opportunities and build their networks. Through our professional development trainings and one-to-one coaching program, we work directly with prospective staffers to plan their job searches, build their skills, and connect with employers to land their next job in progressive politics.
As the Talent Associate, you will coordinate the day-to-day operations of Arena’s professional development work, partner with the Director of Talent on coachings & job search support, and contribute creative ways to build community. This is not an entry level position: you will own elements of our talent work, and we trust you to make good decisions and seek out help when you need it.
What You’ll Do
Coaching & Job Placement
- Coach progressive staffers to write strong resumes, prepare for interviews, build their networks, and plan their job searches
- Deliver virtual professional development trainings
- Own the creation of content for Arena’s “Hot Jobs” listserv
- Own tracking, assignment and follow-up for all internal and external next steps that are identified in our coaching conversations with staffers
- Assist in recruiting, developing and maintaining relationships with employers who post jobs on Arena Careers
- Assist in making recommendations for staff hires to Arena’s partner employers
Community Building & Communications
- Create digital content to help tell the story of our community and our alumni
- Own our Arena Community Slack workspace and its integration with Arena Careers to help build and sustain our virtual community
- Manage Slack community moderators
- Assist in the creation of events and experiences to engage our community of Arena alumni, jobseekers, and employers
- Assist in the drafting of email content for ongoing communication with community members
Operations
- Coordinate day-to-day operations of the Arena Careers platform, including job postings & new user approvals
- Assist with tracking data updates and ongoing data maintenance in our CRM (we use Airtable & Action Network)
- Coordinate day-to-day operations of professional development coaching and trainings including comms, scheduling, trainer & coach prep, and follow-ups
Who You Are
- A political staffer who has worked on at least two cycles, ideally with a campaign
- A creative self-starter with an impeccable work ethic
- A relationship builder and active listener
- A systems thinker who loves checklists, spreadsheets, and a good project management system (we use Asana)
- A project manager who can create and follow a detailed plan while also thinking and working on the fly to respond to unpredictable and time-sensitive political hiring processes
- A person who understands, or has had direct experience with, the dynamics facing BIPOC staffers in the progressive space
- A storyteller with a knack for hearing and leveraging a good story into engaging content
- Someone who is comfortable adapting to new technologies online
- A utility player willing to jump in where needed
- A person who can travel to support in-person events, when it’s safe to do so
Highly desirable (but not essential) qualifications include:
- Experience with Airtable, Action Network, Asana, Google Suite
- Experience managing virtual events on Zoom
- Experience with digital content creation or social media management
- Professional development coaching experience (think: formal or informal)
- P2P admin experience (we use ThruText)
- Experience with Canva, Photoshop, or other graphic design software
A Few More Details
This is a remote, full-time position with an annual salary of $70,000. Arena offers a robust benefits package, including health, dental, vision, and life insurance, 401k, vacation, and holiday time off.
We are committed to racial and socioeconomic diversity among our staff. Arena is an equal opportunity employer and it is Arena’s policy to recruit, hire, train, promote and administer any and all personnel actions without regard to sex, race, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic identity or physical disability, or any other legally protected basis.
I’m interested. How do I apply?
Apply via Arena Careers or submit your resume and a 90-second selfie video with your elevator pitch directly here. Your video should not be highly produced or edited; treat it like you’re talking to us on Zoom.