About Us

Empower Project is the national leader in both paid and volunteer relational organizing (RO). 

Empower Project organizes to improve people’s lives using the power of relational organizing. Together with our partners, we’ve helped boost voter turnout, especially for BIPOC communities, through our approach of tapping into personal networks of friends and family. We provide the software and expertise to help communities, progressive organizations, and nonprofits leverage their personal relationships to build power and dramatically expand the electorate. Our cutting-edge technology, Empower, stands at the forefront of the industry and is trusted by over 1,500 organizations nationwide.

It’s effective. Empower has been studied in 12 different independently-run, randomly controlled trials which all found that its usage led to large and statistically significant increases in voter turnout — far more effective than phone-banking, text-banking, or door-to-door canvassing.

It’s growing fast. The number of conversations Empower facilitated grew by over 10x between the 2016 and 2018 election cycles, grew by 10x again in the 2020 election cycle, and then grew by 30x for the 2024 election cycle. In order to keep up that pace going forward, we need to grow our team!

Job Description

The Political Director is a senior leadership role responsible for unifying and advancing the strategic communications, partner engagement, and public relations of Empower Project and its affiliated entities. This position will oversee a team that leads movement-building communications, and partnerships to elevate the voice, visibility, and impact of the organization.

The Political Director will work closely with the Executive Director and leadership team to ensure that Empower Project is recognized as a trusted voice in civic engagement and relational organizing, and will be instrumental in developing relationships with allies, funders, media outlets, and policy influencers.

This is a full-time position, interacting in a remote team environment. Because of the nature of this work, strong preference will be given to candidates in the Washington DC area. Occasional additional travel to team retreats, conferences, or partner meetings is required.  Empower Project is a remote office environment; you will collaborate with colleagues who are based across multiple time zones. You should be prepared to work from home at least half-time.

This position requires the ability to work core hours, Monday through Friday. This position may require some nights and weekends work during the peak season, as well as attending networking activities and events.

Job Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

• Develop and implement a comprehensive external affairs strategy aligning communications, partnerships, and development goals
• Serve as a thought partner to the Executive Director and leadership team to align messaging and positioning across all external channels
• Lead and manage the Campaigns, Partner Success and Communications departments, all while closely coordinating with the Development team.
• Manage 2-5 political consultants, engaging in work on Empower’s behalf.
   

Partnerships & Movement Engagement

• Cultivate and deepen strategic partnerships with peer organizations, advocacy coalitions, and aligned networks.
• Identify collaborative opportunities to amplify Empower’s work in the broader movement for civic engagement. 
• Represent Empower Project at national events, on advisory groups, and in public forums.

Communications & Brand Management

• Oversee all public messaging and digital engagement strategies to raise our profile within the movement.
• Provide weekly talking points to leadership to engage with stakeholders.
• Lead brand development and storytelling to ensure consistency and resonance across channels.

• Extremely strong writing skills and mastery of formats for talking points, memos and decks
• Experience building and maintaining relationships with non-profit and community organizations, political candidates, and organized labor.
• Strong cultural competency — able to build relationships and collaborate with diverse colleagues and organization partners and across lines of difference.
• 4+ cycles of experience in political and/or nonprofit political work.
• Able to work in a varied work environment with multiple projects in progress at once.
• Ability to work remotely and manage staff across time zones.
• Experience collaborating across departments as well as with external partners
• Demonstrated ability to work in and contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment 
• Ability to work independently for extended periods of time in a remote environment 

Additional consideration will be given to candidates with any of the following backgrounds:

• Experience with and commitment to people-centered and ethical storytelling
• Ability to think creatively, identify barriers and roadblocks, and propose solutions and recommendations
• Previous background working in diverse communities or cultures. 
• Have existing relationships with national or state partners.
• Previous background with use of NGP.
• Be fluent in a second language, including: Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Hmong, or Navajo.

Compensation

$144,000 a year plus benefits. In order to counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, salaries are non-negotiable for new staff. Benefits include health insurance, dental insurance, and paid time off. Paid time off includes vacation, sick leave, personal days, and federal holidays.

Empower Project is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate based on age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion or sexual preference. Women, persons of color, and individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community are strongly encouraged to apply.