Outreach & Organizing Manager

Please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@350pdx.org with the subject line ‘Outreach and Organizing Manager position’ to apply! Priority deadline is Friday, February 2nd, 2024.

Overview

Organizational Overview:

350PDX’s mission is to build a diverse grassroots movement to address the causes of climate disruption through justice-based solutions by inspiring, training and mobilizing people to act. We are a relatively young, dynamic, volunteer-driven grassroots organization with thousands of supporters. We regularly engage hundreds of people to volunteer and/or take action. Our work is significant — the nation and world need compelling examples of communities that are addressing climate disruption head-on through bold and creative measures that bring diverse people together at a time of divisiveness and insufficient state and federal action.

Position Summary:

The Outreach and Organizing Manager is a key member of the Staff Collective and is responsible for recruiting more people into the movement, bottomlining trainings, overseeing the volunteer-based Organizing Team, and developing a 350PDX Organizing Manual to strengthen the climate justice movement over time. This position is a member of the campaign staff and is tasked with advancing the nascent campaign to support more 350PDX Neighborhood Teams. The Outreach and Organizing Manager builds fundraising into their events and organizing, and oversees development with local businesses. This position weaves JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion) into all aspects of their work.

Oversight:

350PDX is a peer-managed collective. This means we have no executive director or hierarchy within staff, and all staff members contribute to maintaining the ongoing functions of the organization. Each member of the collective manages, and is managed by, one other collective member. 

Location:

Living in or relocating to the Portland area is a requirement for this position. 350PDX has an office in N. Portland and staff have the choice whether to work from home or the office, with most staff doing a mix of the two. We are very flexible with work location but expect that staff will attend at least some meetings and events in person.

Compensation:

This is a full-time position (350PDX considers full-time as 30 hours/week) starting on or after March 4th, 2024, with an annual salary of $56,887. Benefits include generous PTO (3+ weeks/year) as well as an organization-wide 2-week vacation in the summer, flexible work hours, professional development funds, and $300/month toward company health insurance.

General Responsibilities (15% of your time)

• Work within peer management accountability structure to cultivate and maintain a culture of feedback, continuous improvement, and performance correction, as needed. Collaborate with peer manager, and managee, to set clear expectations and correct performance issues as needed by providing and receiving timely, clear, candid, actionable feedback in the moment and in regular peer management meetings.
• Support the recruitment and selection of staff and volunteers. Maintain familiarity with equitable hiring practices and targeted recruitment.
• Support the implementation of an organization-wide strategic plan based in justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Weave JEDI focus into all aspects of position, including trainings, outreach, event planning, event accessibility, etc.
• Support organization-wide grassroots fundraising efforts including project-specific grants; uphold a culture that celebrates and elevates fundraising.
• Maintain a working knowledge of climate change issues and related social, political, legislative, regulatory and economic frameworks. Stay up to date on recent developments.
• General organizational upkeep, including: respond to organizational opportunities and threats, network with community leaders and organizations, facilitate internal and external communications, have fun with other collective members, etc.

Specific Responsibilities (85% of your time)

Movement Building (40%, approximately 12 hours/week)

• Develop an organizing plan that results in bringing in many more people into the climate justice movement in a variety of ways, as well as leading to increased diversity and understanding of systemic oppression in the movement.
• Bottomline the Organizing Team, which oversees trainings, outreach, and events, and supports the growth of new Neighborhood Teams. Example trainings include: organizing and leadership skills, political education, Indigenous solidarity, resilience planning, etc. 
• Work with the appropriate staff and volunteers to build volunteers’ skills in organizing their neighbors and community.
• Lead and engage volunteers in public outreach activities, including tabling, house parties, flyering, canvassing, wheatpasting, community presentations, candidate forums, community listening sessions, etc. 
• Co-lead monthly public Action Night with the Volunteer & Engagement Manager.
• Support campaign staff on planning and turnout for in-person and virtual actions/events, e.g. hearings, meetings with public officials, public testimony, rallies, marches, protests, phonebanks, etc. 

Neighborhood Teams Campaign (25%, approximately 7.5 hours/week)

• Expand the breadth and capacity of the Neighborhood Teams campaign with the Organizing Team and Volunteer & Engagement Manager. 
• Develop active volunteers into neighborhood organizers
• Seek input from neighborhood teams to inform our campaigns and policy priorities
• Compose campaign communication materials for Communications Manager to put into Salsa emails, action alert pages, webpages, social media posts, and toolkits.

Fundraising (15%, approximately 4.5 hours/week)

• Take part in planning annual fundraising with Volunteer Manager and Grants Manager
• Lead on local business development, reaching out to businesses and building relationships, for money and in-kind donations, use of their space, and other support for our campaigns, etc. 
• Lead on strategic fundraising events, e.g. art show, dance parties, etc. with support from staff collective and volunteers 
• Integrate fundraising asks (and merchandise sales) into outreach and events (e.g. doing pitches for new sustaining donors at Action Nights)
  

Professional Development and Accountability (5%, average 1.5 hours/week)

• Participate in study groups, courses, workshops, and/or conferences to continue developing 350PDX’s organizing knowledge and political ideology to be able to adequately inform others. 
• Attend neighborhood meetings, events from frontline organizations, etc. to ensure accountability to the communities we work with.

Required Qualifications

• Experience with grassroots community organizing in climate justice, social justice, and/or labor movements, preferably in the greater Portland area
• Experience with strategic movement building
• Experience or demonstrated interest in doing outreach, which could include tabling, flyering, door knocking, phonebanking, working in sales and marketing, or other extroverted activities
• Experience or demonstrated interest in leading trainings
• Experience creating and managing volunteer-run events
• Self-driven, able to work autonomously and move forward projects independently
• Experience with justice and equity planning, policies, and practices. Commitment to dismantling systems of oppression that fuel the climate crisis and to understanding one’s own role as an individual in systems of privilege and power
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends, as much as 3–5 times per month during busy periods. Schedules can be flexed for an average of 30 hours per week. 
• Commitment to self and community care, including practices of stress management
• Detail-oriented, with strong organization and project management skills. Ability to plan effectively, meet deadlines and coordinate others’ involvement within a dynamic and fast-paced setting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience or interest in collaborative decision-making models and consensus-based decision-making
• Demonstrated capability to exercise sound judgment and conduct one’s self in opposition to white supremacy and settler colonialism, including when dealing with the public and with difficult situations. Commitment to centering, uplifting, and holding oneself accountable to the leadership of frontline communities, understanding that those most impacted by climate crises and environmental injustice must lead the transition

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with nonprofit management
• Experience or interest in making fundraising asks to prospective donors and businesses
• Experience working with businesses for sponsorship or partnership
• Demonstrated digital literacy including basic understanding of database management, maintenance, and digital filing standards. Experience utilizing and/or managing volunteer databases 
• Understanding of basic financial management including budgeting, funding sources, expenditures, and practices for maintaining financial solvency
• Experience working in a worker collective or other non-hierarchical structure
• Speaks language(s) other than English

Please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@350pdx.org with the subject line ‘Outreach and Organizing Manager position’ to apply! Priority deadline is Friday, February 2nd, 2024.