Director of Organizing

Who We Are

Kairos is working for liberation at the intersection of technology, racial justice, and democracy. We believe we can both bring organizing into the 21st century while transforming technology and the internet into a place where everyone can thrive. To be successful, we challenge ourselves to live our values and vision as we build the world we want. Joy, laughter, fun, and rigor are the ingredients we include as we work toward our vision together.

Kairos is a small, nimble, and growing team. Our team consists of ten full-time staff persons and a few contractors, with collaborative input and clear decision-makers. While we are still growing, we have built a solid foundation as an organization, and are looking for someone who will dive in and help build on the work we have done.

Role Information

The Director of Organizing sets the vision and strategy for Kairos movement organizing and helps build our growing base of aligned state partner organizations through our training, capacity building, and political education around tech and its intersections. This is a full-time, leadership position with Kairos, reporting to the Deputy Director of Programs and Strategy.

Responsibilities

Specific Duties

• Design and execute capacity building programs for state and local movement partners, like the State Capacity Fellowship and Learning Lab series.

• Work within Kairos and the broader movement ecosystem to create integrated digital organizing strategies that build power. 

  • Work deeply with partners and the Director of Learning and Analysis to develop methodologies and approaches for digital organizing and campaigning that builds power at the state and local level. 

  • Identify gaps and opportunities to advance digital organizing strategies across the movement.

  • Organize the broader ecosystem to identify and deploy digital strategies in service of winning on their campaigns.

• Work with the Director of Campaigns to organize movement partners to incorporate tech governance into their organizing agendas, drawing connections between the problems with internet governance and how it impacts partners’ work and organizing across all issues.

  • Seek out and identify state and local campaigning opportunities to advance Kairos’ analysis of tech governance and to advance the campaign priorities of state partners in coordination with Kairos’ campaigns team.

• Develop strong relationships with movement leaders and partners, including clear feedback loops that shape Kairos’ organizing work toward greater impact and leverage. 

• Provide a strong strategic vision and ability to lead and direct the organizing team, ensuring that Kairos’ theory of change is embedded and reflected throughout all of our organizing work. 

• Excellently manage the organizing team , supporting them in developing high impact strategies through strong leadership development and healthy feedback loops. 

• Provide strategic thought partnership and collaborative visioning as a member of the Kairos leadership team.

• Lead by example in building the Kairos culture, team spirit, ethos, and organizational strategy, including quarterly and yearly planning.

General Duties

As a member of the Kairos staff, the Director of Organizing performs certain functions that are not specific to their job, but support the organization as a whole. This includes:

• Act as backup to other team members as needed

• Submitting expense reports, time tracking, and other necessary compliance requirements by stated deadlines

• Attending and preparing as necessary for  all staff meetings, team meetings, 1:1 meetings  and required trainings and events

• Participating in organizational development and change processes, including providing input or participating in special working groups as needed 

• Support culture and values; align outcomes, practices, and communications within organizational culture.

• Manage work independently and collaboratively as needed, and manage others (up, down, and laterally) in order to be successful 

• Assist with special projects and other duties as assigned

Skills & Experience

• A movement builder with deep ties to communities of color, and committed for the long-term to build winning power for marginalized communities.

• A strong orientation toward movement building that centers relationships while striving for maximum impact and how we can add up to more than the sum of our parts.

• 5-7 years of digital organizing, union, and/or community organizing experience.An exceptional listener; a strategic, collaborative, and imaginative problem-solver.

• Skilled at managing multiple projects simultaneously; able to remain poised and effective while juggling competing priorities under pressure.

• Direct and collaboration-oriented communicator, able to manage group dynamics in order to move discussions toward decisions and action.

• A manager with a minimum of 4 years experience and a proven track record of developing junior staff to become excellent organizers and strategists.

• Self-reflective, able to receive and implement feedback, self-motivated, disciplined, and rigorous.

• Ability to keep focus on the horizon while ensuring we have a clear path toward achieving impact with poise, humor, and humility under pressure.

• Experience and proficiencies with digital tools to be able to organize both broadly and deeply.

• Impeccable personal boundaries.

• A person who is curious, unafraid to share their thoughts, prioritizes collective impact over personal ego, and has a big appetite for seeking opportunity and being resourceful.

• Demonstrated ability to work remotely and ability to work in a fast paced environment with humility, grace, and flexibility.

Salary and Benefits

Kairos staff work roughly 40 hours a week, understanding that the schedule must flex to accommodate the necessary ebbs and flows of the work and everyday life, such as multi-day trainings, breaking news moments that are crucial for our communities, and personal matters that may require a shift in regular working hours. The starting salary for this position is $117,000, and increases by $1,000 from there based on years of relevant experience. Basing compensation on someone’s willingness and ability to negotiate or on their prior pay rates leads to vast inequities and bias in how people are paid, particularly for groups experiencing historical oppression. Therefore, we do not ask for prior pay history from our candidates, and our offer-making process is negotiation-free. We also have a progressive compensation philosophy that guides salary increases and role promotions for our staff.

Our salary and benefits are an extension of our organizational values, and we endeavor to remain competitive while centering the humanity and needs of our people. To that end, our benefits package includes generous vacation (including three weeks of office closures each year); full health, dental, vision, and flex benefits; 403b retirement plan; ongoing training opportunities; funds for setting up home office and professional development; and incidentals related to the role.

Location & Travel

Your primary residence may be located anywhere in the United States; current staff are based in Illinois, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Occasional organization-sponsored travel for conferences, Kairos trainings, partner meetings, and face-to-face staff gatherings is required.

COVID Policy

Kairos is a remote organization but participation in in-person gatherings are integral to the success of all roles. Therefore all staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to maximize collective safety when staff gatherings occur. Medical and religious exemptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

EEO Statement

Kairos is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, religion, HIV serostatus, disability, height, weight, veteran status or marital status.