Position Title: Field Director, Encore Campaign for Children and Youth (E4Y)

Reports to: Vice President and Campaign Director, E4Y

Full Time / Exempt

Location: New York City preferred, San Francisco possible

About Encore.org

Encore.org is a national nonprofit building a movement to tap the skills and experience of those in midlife and beyond to improve communities and the world. Originally called Civic Ventures, Encore.org was founded in 1997 by social entrepreneur Marc Freedman and grew out of a desire to transform the aging of America—one of the most significant demographic shifts of the 21st century—into a powerful, positive source of individual and social renewal. Our ultimate goal is to create a better future for young people and future generations.

About the Encore Campaign for Children and Youth (E4Y)

Encore.org is launching a five-year campaign to mobilize a million adults 50+ to dedicate their time, talent and experience to help children thrive.

While the United States is among the world’s richest countries, millions of children in this country live in poverty and lack the resources and support they need to live fulfilling, successful lives. Reversing this trend must become a national priority—and a key resource for this effort is hidden in plain sight: The millions of Americans moving into their 50s and beyond who want to leave a positive legacy for future generations. Encore’s latest research indicates that 29 percent of adults 50+ are very/extremely interested in participating in the E4Y campaign, translating to a receptive target audience in excess of 30 million people.

These two groups—children in need of supportive adult relationships and adults with the time and inclination to fill those roles—fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The Encore Campaign for Children and Youth will bring them together through three complementary strategies:

1. We’ll mobilize the million.
2. We’ll build a cross-sector network of organizations, to help us mobilize the million, and to serve as thought partners in identifying and solving the big obstacles that stand in our way.
3. We’ll change the narrative around aging in this country, so that service to children and youth is embraced as a compelling—and highly accessible—pathway for adults 50+.

About the Position

Reporting to the VP/Campaign Director, the Field Director will be responsible for designing and implementing a strategy to engage a million adults age 50+ to take meaningful action to help children thrive. Meaningful actions that adults age 50+ might take include:

• Advocating with elected officials in support of pro-child legislation;
• Donating to youth-serving organizations or to the campaign itself;
• Writing and submitting letters to the editor or Op-Eds to media outlets on issues relevant to the campaign;
• Engaging in self-directed mentoring of a young person; and/or
• Taking volunteer or paid roles with child- or youth-serving organizations.

In fulfillment of this aim, the Field Director will launch an agreed-upon number of campaign-related actions every quarter. These actions will provide an outlet for existing members to express themselves—deepening their commitment to the campaign, supporting recruitment of new people into the campaign, and building momentum for culture change in support of the campaign vision.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a ladder of engagement and a range of strategies to grow the number of campaign members, deepen their engagement over time and change public narratives.
• Test campaign engagement “actions” for members and, in partnership with the Director of Learning and Innovation, measure their impact with participating communities and partner organizations.
• Lead campaign execution, including developing campaign content (e.g., writing email and social media copy) and executing on- and offline tactics.
• Develop approaches to engage new audiences in important issues through creative campaign concepts and content that are underpinned by sophisticated strategic and analytical thinking.
• Translate relevant current events, media attention, etc., into timely and engaging campaign engagement actions.
• In partnership with the Director of the Partner Network, identify and cultivate partner organizations willing to drive their members to the campaign.
• Recruit, hire and manage field staff, as needed.
• In partnership with the Communications Director, develop and implement a robust social media strategy and support a vibrant and active online community.
• In partnership with the Director of Learning and Innovation and the Communications Director, design and run experiments to test mobilization tactics (e.g., A/B email subject line tests), monitor metrics, share data-driven results and engage in continuous program improvement.
• Partner with fellow directors and the VP/Campaign Director to help guide and contribute to campaign-wide strategy and activities.

About You

You’re passionate about the aims of the E4Y campaign. You’re a tech-savvy community organizer (or have the chops to become one). You’re eager to help people tap into their sense of passion and purpose and channel it into action, and you look to DoSomething, AllOut, Meetup.com, Blue State Digital and the It Gets Better project for strategic and tactical inspiration. You’re a meme enthusiast. You’ve spent hours trying to reverse-engineer the Ice Bucket challenge. And you’re inspired by the prospect of building intergenerational social capital in this country.

Key Qualifications

• Experience leading campaigns (e.g., political advocacy, electoral, community organizing, digital activism, media, etc.) that mobilize people and make change in the world.
• Proven ability to develop and deploy diverse tactics that move people to action.
• Demonstrable strong strategic thinking and campaign planning skills.
• Strong writing skills for a mainstream audience.
• Knowledge of best practices in social media strategy, from creative content to influencer engagement to paid media.
• Experience developing and using metrics to measure the success of a campaign and improve/refine it over time.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a high-energy, outgoing personality; demonstrated negotiation, mediation and listening skills; a good sense of humor; and experience building strong professional relationships with diverse colleagues.
• Track record of demonstrating sound judgment by making appropriate decisions, knowing when to take the initiative to anticipate problems and innovate creative solutions, managing complex situations with discretion and tact, and prioritizing and completing tasks in a skillful and timely fashion.
• Strong project-management skills, including being detail-oriented and managing toward aggressive timelines.
• Prior experience in one or more of the fields in which the E4Y campaign will operate (e.g., early childhood, K-12 education, youth development, aging, etc.) a plus.
• Working knowledge of (or ability to quickly learn) Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Webex, Salesforce, and familiarity with online collaboration tools (e.g., Google Docs, Google Hangout, Box).
• Willingness to travel domestically approximately once per month.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent and minimum five years of professional experience.

How To Apply

Please submit your resume in Word or PDF format, along with a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, by June 17, 2016. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please respond to these two questions in your cover letter:

• What excites you about the E4Y campaign?
• What excites you about the role of Field Director, and what specific expertise and experiences will you draw on to do the job?

Please note: Cover letters will be judged as writing samples; no application will be considered without a cover letter. Please send your resume and letter as one document to [email protected]. Name your attachment with the format: “LastName E4Y FD 2016 Application” (for instance, “Madison E4Y FD 2016 Application”). Applications that do not follow this format may not be reviewed. 

It is Encore.org’s policy to employ, compensate and advance personnel without regard to race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, height and weight, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, partnership status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, military status, arrest record and any other characteristic protected by law. We are an Employer of National Service: AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and other national service alumni are encouraged to apply and to tell us how your service experience has shaped your career.

We are seeking to develop a multigenerational and diverse team. Qualified people of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Open until filled.

A Note on Encore.org’s Culture

Our staff members are part of a social movement that challenges old norms and seeks to establish a new definition of success in later life. We are a small, geographically distributed team, committed to making a significant impact. We attract people who think about how small investments can yield big results in the service of Encore.org’s mission.

We work hard, and we value our colleagues and the causes we dedicate time to outside of working hours. We understand the importance of commitments—family and otherwise—beyond Encore.org. Vacation time is meant to be used.

As an organization focused on deploying human talent in innovative ways, we try to walk the talk. We strive to have an intergenerational team. We also encourage and sometimes require flexible work; results matter more than face time. Many Encore.org positions require some or a great deal of travel; all require the use and mastery of a growing array of virtual tools.

Perhaps most important, Encore.org is in a period of transition and growth. We work in a dynamic environment that values mutual respect, rapid response to changing conditions or new opportunities, flexibility and intelligence, as well as a sense of humor and humility. Those who thrive tend to be creative, entrepreneurial types who are dedicated to our mission and who know how to execute ambitious plans in a lean environment.