California Campaign Manager

Free Press and Free Press Action work to amplify the voices of people and communities in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what’s actually happening in their communities. We work at the intersection of media and technology to strengthen our democracy.

The California campaign manager anchors Free Press’ organizing, network building and policymaking efforts in California in support of a robust civic media environment. With more state policymakers searching for solutions to ensure that the public has access to quality news and information, there is a huge opportunity to create real changes to local media systems. As a member of the Journalism and Civic Media program, the campaign manager will help design and oversee implementation of our California campaign to strengthen local news, community and ethnic media, and the information needs of residents across the state. This work will involve advocating across several of Free Press’ issue areas, including our efforts to build a new future of journalism, protect digital civil rights, and engage communities in the fight for equity in traditional and social media. 

In collaboration with our national field director, campaign, communication, programmatic and policy staff, the California campaign manager mobilizes members and allies, coordinates around rapid-response opportunities and leverages coalitions, online organizing and mobilization efforts to achieve our campaign goals. The campaign manager is responsible for fostering collaboration and communication internally and externally and represents Free Press in public. 

Our field and campaign work occur both online and on the ground; this position builds local ally relationships, executes creative tactics, and develops engagement strategies to advance our campaigns. The campaign manager will mobilize our network of more than 30,000 active members in California, coordinating and activating coalitions around our short- and long-term campaigns. The campaign manager must bring an intersectional approach to our work that includes a race, class and gender analysis  in orde  to elevate the relevance of technology justice to people in California.

The campaign manager reports to the national field director. This job requires flexibility in work schedule, generally aligning to Pacific Time hours but including overlap with colleagues primarily working on Eastern Time. This position requires evening and weekend work during peak campaign cycles or in the lead up to special events. Local, regional and national domestic travel is required, including to events or meetings hosted by others. 

This is a fixed term two-year position with continuance dependent on funding and other strategic considerations.

Free Press is composed of two separate organizations, Free Press and Free Press Action Fund. Both entities share the same overall mission and employees will have time assigned to one or both entities. This job description refers collectively to the two organizations under the name “Free Press.”

Primary Responsibilities:

• State strategy implementation: Develop and anchor our California-based campaign and organizing strategy to strengthen local news and advance civic media, with an eye on working across Free Press’ media and tech reform issues that are advancing within the California legislature. Cultivate local relationships and manage coalitions which advance this strategy alongside allies. Organize public pressure campaigns that capture media attention, advance the narrative and achieve our campaign goals and priorities, targeting major California-based tech platforms, media companies, policymakers and regulators. 
• Policy tracking, grassroots education and advocacy: Track California technology, media justice, and journalism policy in the state legislature and help coordinate grassroots and advocacy campaigns to pass legislation to improve our information ecosystem. Engage with partners in the field to monitor local concerns and priorities, elevating these local priorities in state policymaking.
• Communicate policy positions — from highly technical to very general — to a wide range of audiences, including staff and allies, government decision-makers, press, and the general public. Participate in press briefings and assist with press releases and other public communications. Promote Free Press’ mission and policy positions through correspondence and meetings with policymakers and staff at the local and state level.  
• Coalition management and engagement: Manage coalitions to execute advocacy initiatives and other campaigns. Engage with allied organizations to cultivate strong relationships and partnerships with allies. Represent Free Press in coalition meetings, strategy sessions, actions and listservs.
• Content creation: Contribute to the creation of compelling public narratives and public-education materials for a variety of audiences to advance campaign objectives.

• Public speaking: Serve as a Free Press spokesperson for the media, as well as at events such as rallies, protests or panels and in lobbying opportunities with policymakers.  

• Advancing race equity: Clearly and consistently articulate an understanding of racial equity and structural racism and the centrality of this analysis to the work Free Press does and how we operate. Integrate that knowledge into work projects and interactions by addressing structural implications and disproportionate impacts of policies, activities and decisions on race, class, gender and other group identities within the context of job responsibilities and projects. 
• Cross-team collaboration: Engage, through a consultative approach primarily with policy and program staff, to address media and technology policy interventions; contribute to formulation of campaign and field organizing strategy. 

Desired Skills and Attributes:

• Must have a commitment to racial equity and experience working with communities of color
• Must be a creative self-starter, able to work independently and with limited oversight to accomplish agreed upon objectives and to evaluate results
• Must be able to work under tight deadlines, navigate competing priorities and effectively adjust work plans to respond to emergent challenges or opportunities.
• Must be able to remain positive, tactful and composed under pressure
• Must have a personal approach that values the individual and respects differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability and socioeconomic circumstance
• Must be a team player with a low-ego approach to collaboration with both internal and external colleagues.
• Must be able to develop and maintain relationships with a wide range of external organizations.
• Must demonstrate excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills
• Fluency in Spanish is highly preferred 
• Must value and respect differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability and socioeconomic circumstance
• Dedication to Free Press’ mission of fighting for everyone’s rights to connect and communicate, in addition to the overall success of the organization 

Experience and Qualifications:

• Must live in California, or have previous organizing work experience in California and be willing to relocate.
• No minimum education is required; a bachelor's degree may be an indicator of capacity for this position
• 3 years of directly relevant experience advocating for policy change as part of a nonprofit public interest organization or similar setting is required
• Experience working with, building and leading diverse winning coalitions
• Experience working with and knowledge of local and state level organizations in California
• Strong interest in media, technology and journalism issues and demonstrated experience working on those or similar issues
• Demonstrated ability to effectively navigate competing priorities and will be adept at working to deadlines 
• Demonstrated capacity for full-charge “ownership” of successful and impactful programs or campaigns that are integral to achieving an organizational mission
• Experience supervising volunteers or interns
• Experience liaising with colleagues in allied organizations
• Attention to detail, flexibility and demonstrated capacity to operate in a fast-paced environment
• Must have ability to succeed in a predominately telework/remote office  environment, including working with an off-site manager, adopting and maintaining strong digital security practices, and fostering connection and community with colleagues located throughout the U.S.

Covid - 19 Safety Vaccination:

All Free Press employees must be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or have an approved medical or religious/ethical/moral accommodation.  

Compensation:

Free Press is committed to offering competitive pay and generous benefits, including

• Annual paid time off is a total of ten weeks, including vacation, health-care leave, holidays, and two organization-wide week-long closures.  
• Group medical, dental and vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Employer contribution to retirement plans (no matching required)
• Flexible health, commuter and dependent care spending accounts
• Paid family leave
• Stipends for business use of personal phones and for home office locations 
• All employees receive computers and equipment necessary for the job
• A flexible, supportive work culture

This position is categorized as a “career level 2 manager” position, in the context of five classifications at Free Press, ranging from coordinator to executive. 

The starting salary at Free Press for a production manager who meets the above qualifications is $67,000 - $80,000. Starting salary is based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience. To counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, we use a nonnegotiable starting salary system, while benchmarking our pay to competitive markets in the nonprofit sector. 

Free Press is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We value excellence and diversity in our workforce. People of color, women, people with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, gender-nonconforming and formerly incarcerated individuals are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you meet some of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply or to reach out for more information. We know groups subjected to systemic oppression– including people of color, women, people from working class backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTQ – are less likely to apply unless and until they meet every requirement for a job. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other communities who are marginalized.

How to apply:

Complete our online application.  Fully answering the application questions is an important part of the application process; 4-5 sentences in response to each question will help us understand your thinking.

Our hiring process includes an initial 20-30 minute interview with one staff person, one or two hour-long interviews with 3-4 staff members, and reference checks after the final interview.  

We provide reasonable accommodations for the application, interview, or any other aspect of the employee selection process to applicants with disabilities. Please email amartyn@freepress.net to request an accommodation.

Key dates:

Applications submitted by February 5, 2024 will be reviewed with priority; applications submitted after that date will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This search will remain open until the position is filled. The ideal candidate will be available to begin work in March 2024.

Salary : $67,000 - $80,000