Vice President, Leadership & Organizing

ABOUT A MORE PERFECT UNION

A More Perfect Union is a nonpartisan social-impact organization that mobilizes the American Jewish community to protect and strengthen American democracy. We educate American Jews, equip Jewish institutions, and activate Jewish leaders to respond to the growing threat of authoritarianism and be engines for civic renewal in their communities. Rooted in the enduring American Jewish experience and powered by evidence-based strategies, we help communities meet this moment with clarity, courage, and collective action. Through research, messaging, training, and partnership, we’re building a future where democracy works for all of us.

A More Perfect Union is fiscally sponsored by Goodnation Foundation and guided by our 2025-2028 Strategic Plan and our Strategic Advisors.

ABOUT THE POSITION

A More Perfect Union seeks a full-time, entrepreneurial Vice President, Leadership & Organizing. This is a new role with primary responsibility for developing and strengthening our emergent strategy to activate Jewish leaders to counter threats to American democracy, the newest body of work in our strategic plan. The VP will work closely with the Executive Director to scale and execute a coherent “grasstops” organizing strategy (i.e., engaging influential community leaders) to persuade, train, galvanize, and support influential Jewish leaders to recognize and respond to threats to democracy. The VP will build on the learnings from our initial pilots, identify which tactics and relationships to prioritize for maximum impact, and build and maintain relationships with allies in the pro-democracy community to inform how and where Jewish leadership can be deployed to greatest effect. The ideal candidate is an experienced relational organizer, social-change strategist, skilled trainer and facilitator, and diplomatic leader with a demonstrated track record of training, organizing, and deploying leaders to achieve ambitious goals. The incumbent will bring extensive experience, expertise, and literacy working with leaders and institutions across the breadth of the American Jewish community.

This is a full-time, remote position reporting to the Executive Director.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the activation (grasstops organizing) strategy 

• Monitor the democratic threat landscape to identify emerging moments, priority geographies, and issue areas that call for leader engagement
• Design, implement, evaluate, and iterate strategic and annual work plans to achieve our desired outcomes for Strategic Priority 3: Activate Jewish leaders to counter threats to American democracy
• Represent A More Perfect Union and coordinate our strategic participation in ideologically diverse networks and emerging coalitions of pro-democracy partners focused on countering threats to democracy
• Develop and maintain the systems, tools, and processes to implement, measure, and evaluate this new workstream, supported by the Operations team  
• Identify, hire, and supervise external vendors to supplement capacity as needed

Manage key relationships and serve as a powerful ambassador

• Conduct regular, diplomatic outreach to influential Jewish leaders to build awareness of the threat landscape
• Develop tailored approaches for engaging different types of Jewish leaders on democracy issues and motivate and recruit them to lead courageously and strategically in the face of democratic backsliding
• Build and maintain relationships across the broader pro-democracy, rule-of-law, and civil society ecosystem to ensure Jewish leaders are meaningfully connected into wider efforts and coalitions
• Support the Communications and Fundraising teams to tell the story of the impact of this work by collecting and curating stories from leaders 
• Support the Executive Director’s stewardship of key leadership relationships

Develop experiences and resources to activate leaders

• Design and facilitate high-impact experiences including trainings, briefings, and scenario-planning exercises for key leaders that deepen knowledge, commitment, and preparedness to recognize and respond to democratic backsliding
• Develop and test action pathways — including scenario-planning tools, mutual support networks, and solidarity infrastructure — for Jewish leaders to counter threats to American democracy that are meaningful and effective, and strike an optimal risk-reward balance
• Oversee the logistical details of delivering virtual and in-person experiences for key Jewish leaders

ABOUT YOU

You believe deeply in the promise of American democracy, the role of faith-based leadership in supporting it, and the potential for the Jewish community to play a part in protecting and strengthening it. You value building genuine partnerships and see every interaction as an opportunity for relationship-building and cooperation. You’ve worked in and with a broad cross-section of the American Jewish community, and you can effectively “codeswitch” with diverse members of that community. You’re fiercely committed to pluralism, and while you may hold strong convictions about a range of issues, you’re eager to work with people who might disagree with you on those issues in service of protecting and strengthening American democracy. You’re comfortable operating in an ever-evolving environment, and you thrive when presented with opportunities to wrestle with questions that might not have clear-cut answers. You bring a “no job too small” mentality to your work. You approach this moment with the clarity and courage it demands.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCES, AND SKILLS

Experience

• 7+ years of experience in community organizing, grasstops organizing, or similar relevant experience 
• Deep familiarity with the American Jewish communal landscape
• Experience navigating sensitive political dynamics within faith-based or communal settings
• Meaningful relationships with and/or fluency in the broader pro-democracy ecosystem, a plus
• Experience working at an early- or mezzanine-stage, entrepreneurial nonprofit, or leading a start-up initiative within an established organization, a plus  

Competencies & Skills

• Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and adapt strategic plans or campaigns
• Demonstrated ability to develop rapport and build trust with leaders across ideological and religious divides, including those with competing policy priorities and concerns 
• Outstanding communication and analysis skills, especially the ability to break down and communicate ideas in ways that inspire others to action 
• Demonstrated expertise in developing and facilitating trainings, scenario-planning exercises, and other high-impact leader experiences as tools for awareness-raising and capacity-building; experience design and human-centered-design expertise a plus
• Strong project management skills with a track record of leading complex, multi-workstream projects from conception to completion while managing both strategic vision and logistical details
• Tech-savvy, particularly with Google Workplace, CRMs (we use Zoho), Zoom, Slack, and Asana

Mindsets & Values

• Passion for A More Perfect Union’s vision and approach, and ability to represent it powerfully 
• Collaborative spirit and ability to work effectively with colleagues across all organizational functions and levels on a virtual team
• Commitment to experimentation, learning, and continuous improvement

• Commitment to A More Perfect Union’s Core Values. We are:
• ACTION-ORIENTED - We prioritize action, both because our work demands urgency and because the best learning comes from experimentation, hypothesis testing, and adaptation.
• COLLABORATIVE - We know that none of us is as smart as all of us, so we are always looking for new people to learn from and dream and build with. And because we know that each of us only sees one part of the elephant, we seek to build a community rich with diverse identities, perspectives, and experiences.
• TRUSTWORTHY - We know that organizations and networks move at the speed of trust. We work hard to earn and maintain the trust of our colleagues and our partners by prioritizing respect, empathy, reliability, and accountability. 
• CURIOUS - We are voracious learners, eager to deepen our understanding of the communities and fields in which we operate, and we approach complex problems with a healthy skepticism about simplistic answers.
• RESOLUTE - We believe that – with commitment and hard work – things can get better, and we resist succumbing to cynicism, complacency, or armchair outrage.
• JOYFUL - We believe that our team and our work are more effective when we infuse them with playfulness, celebration, and a sense of humor.

WORK ENVIRONMENT, SALARY, AND BENEFITS

A More Perfect Union currently has team members in multiple states. While team members primarily work remotely, we travel to gather in person regularly (4-6 times per year), and this role may involve other travel 2-4 times a year to conferences and related events. We offer a generous benefits package via our fiscal sponsor, which includes comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance, paid time off, life insurance, short- and long-term disability insurances, retirement plan with 4.5% match, 100% paid family leave (12 weeks), and employee resources designed to support the passion and commitment that is vital to our team members. The starting salary range for this position is $145,000 - $160,000 per year. Team members who stay with A More Perfect Union can expect their salary to increase over time. 

Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that men apply for jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, while women and other people who are systematically marginalized tend to only apply if they meet every requirement. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We are dedicated to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you're new to this field, returning to work after a gap in employment, looking to transition, or take the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar.

Note: On our team, we often say we are “tight on ends, loose on means.” We believe there are multiple potential pathways to achieving our goal of activating Jewish leaders to counter threats to American democracy. If you are interested in working with us, but have a different vision than the one outlined in this job description, please feel free to reach out. We’d love to talk to you about it.