Independent Expenditure (IE) Director

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the sole organization dedicated to electing Democrats to statehouses. Since 2016, the DLCC and state partners have built eight new majorities and flipped seats from red to blue across the country – paving the way for progress. State legislatures pass the policies that most affect Americans’ day-to-day lives, and flipping chambers from red to blue has an outsized impact on governing and public policy.

 

Taking back power starts at the local level. The DLCC recruits, trains, and supports local Democrats running for their state legislatures. We provide our candidates with the resources, field support, and data necessary to run smart, winning campaigns. By gaining a foothold in state legislatures, Democrats can engage supporters across the country and prepare for victories in statewide and national elections.

 

We’re powered by more than 200,000 supporters from all 50 states. Over 98% of our contributions come from grassroots donors (giving an average of $29), who fuel thousands of local Democratic candidates across the country.

 

Building up Democratic majorities in the states is more important than ever. With right-wing radicals proliferating state legislatures across the country and redistricting happening this year, our democracy is on the line. We’re counting on our supporters to get educated, involved, and take action in their communities.

The DLCC compensates employees competitively and provides a very generous benefits package. We believe in work-life balance and understand that every employee has unique circumstances at home. We offer employees significant amounts of time off as well as flexible work options. We’re dedicated to treating one another with respect in the workplace and prioritize racial equity and inclusion (REI) in our work with one another as well as with our stakeholders.

Independent Expenditure Director

The Independent Expenditure Director owns all aspects of the DLCC’s independent spending efforts, collaborates with state and Washington-based national partners interested in winning or defending state legislative majorities through independent spending, and serves as a proactive advocate for the organization and its work with targeted public audiences.

The Independent Expenditure Director also manages programming for the 501c4 organization affiliated with the DLCC, State Democracy Action Fund. This includes social welfare and accountability programming, in collaboration with the 501c4’s Interim Executive Director.

The Independent Expenditure Director reports to the Vice President of Political and Strategic Initiatives. The DLCC is located in Washington, DC, and our office has taken on a hybrid model for staff effective January 2022. The role requires the employee to be in DC regularly for meetings with stakeholders, and as a result, our preference is that the employee is located in DC, but we will consider a remote employee as well.

The Independent Expenditure Director is expected to model the values of the DLCC:

CREDIBILITY: We are respected and trusted in words and actions.
INCLUSIVE: The DLCC values the unique experience and perspective of all who work here. We strive to make all contributors feel welcomed, valued, and respected. We focus on outcomes, recognizing different people approach opportunities and challenges differently.
INITIATIVE: We exhibit high levels of creativity in our work and need all team members to proactively contribute ideas to move our work forward.
RESULTS DRIVEN: Our team undertakes projects professionally and executes them fully and to completion.
RISK: We identify opportunities to employ new ideas and tactics, and execute these ideas when we believe the potential reward outweighs the risk. We evaluate, learn, and improve our strategy, both when the risks pay off and when they do not.
TEAMWORK: We work collaboratively, additively, and in sync with our colleagues. Our individual work considers the needs, capacity, and expertise of those we work alongside.

Responsibilities

Independent Expenditure and Accountability Strategy and Management

• Develop and align the IE strategy with the DLCC’s overall political and organizational strategy and establish the IE interests, as permitted by law, with various audiences including staff and donors.
• Collaborate, as permitted by law, with internal and external partners to ensure there is a shared understanding of the best paths to victory in target states and position the DLCC as a strategic leader in the national IE space.
• Understand and abide by firewall policies on a state-by-state basis.
• Manage and analyze data and political intelligence to identify targets.
• Manage IE staff and consultant teams.
• Collect and disseminate, as permitted by law, political information and intelligence throughout the election cycle.
• Create and align IE and accountability fundraising strategy in collaboration with Vice President of Finance and maintain accurate, actionable knowledge of state campaign finance laws and DLCC fundraising and expenditure options.
• Implement a strategic budget, in collaboration with Vice President of
• Political and Strategic Initiatives, to win chambers, ensure all IE spending is aligned and not duplicative of other in-state or national efforts, and operate programs within the approved budget.
• Work with operations, legal, and consultant teams to ensure communications are factually accurate and meet all legal requirements, including payment and filing deadlines.

Relationship & Partner Management

• Establish priorities and practices for maintaining strong, mutually beneficial relationships with current and prospective partners and allies, and drive partner priorities and ensure information needs are met through timely updates on DLCC’s IE plan and priorities.
• Conduct or facilitate partner/ally meetings and call time to inform partners about evolving legislative IE landscape.
• Shape targeted in-state tables to operate with best practices.
• Represent the DLCC at national and in-state tables and with key targeted audiences.
• Track allied group IE engagement in state-based political and accountability work.
• Support alignment of progressive groups, allies, and legislators around state legislative IE priorities and programs.

Team Management:

• Supervised employees: IE Regional Political Director(s) and IE Political Coordinator. We anticipate hiring these roles in Q4 2023 for the 2024 elections.
• Regularly attend training and pursue continued education in supervision skills.
• Uphold DLCC expectations for supervisors.
• Act with integrity and awareness of one’s power as a leader.
• Maintain a harassment-free and inclusive workplace for team members.
• Cultivate and guide the professional growth of the team by establishing and maintaining thoughtful opportunities to learn, grow, and receive constructive feedback.

Outcomes

• The DLCC has a set of national and in-state legislative IE table best practices.
• The DLCC has increased influence with national IE partners.
• The DLCC has increased access to donors who typically engage on independent side.
• The DLCC and its IE program work is recognized as influential and innovative.
• Staff perform to high standard, continuously improve, and have high levels of satisfaction.
• Direct reports are efficiently managed and well mentored in career.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 6 years of political experience, including but not limited to: managing political campaigns, developing political strategy, leading progressive organization engagement in political activity, fundraising to support program, and engaging in collaborating with other organizations to effect political change
• Experience with state legislative politics is preferred but not required and sharing our commitment to electing state legislative Democrats is required.
• Knowledgeable about institutions and groups engaged in state legislative politics is highly desirable.
• Authentic relationship builder able to build trust and deliver on mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Clear and persuasive communicator, able to distill challenging topics and engage attention and move people to action.
• Strong collaborator capable of getting the best results with a senior team of research, data, operations, legal, and political peers.
• Thoughtful, innovative political strategist able to learn quickly, challenge one’s own and other’s thinking to get the best results.
• Experience managing both staff and consultants.

Physical Requirements

The DLCC is committed to supporting employees of varying abilities and to providing reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to thrive at the DLCC.

The requirements of this role, related to its physical demands, described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

All DLCC employees must be able to operate a computer and use a cell phone. For roles at the DLCC that include frequent business travel expectations, we can discuss reasonable alternatives to travel in some instances. Most roles also require communicating with key external stakeholders of the organization in person, via the telephone, or via email. Applicants with questions about accommodations may request to speak with our ADA liaison, John Skic.

 

Essential functions of the role include:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to communicate using the telephone, email, and in person with stakeholders.
• Specific vision requirements for this job include editorial review of digital and designed work products as well as data analytics in various proprietary software platforms.
• This position will require the employee to frequently travel across the country to meet with stakeholders as well as attend meetings and conferences offsite.

How to Apply

The salary for the Independent Expenditure Director is $150,000 – $170,000 on an annualized basis, commensurate with experience and qualifications. The DLCC offers a generous benefits package, including:

• More than 25 days of paid time off, including for Federal holidays, time off around Federal holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Years, vacation, sick, and personal days.
• Fully paid health/vision/dental insurance for the employee + spouse/partner + dependents.
• Up to 6% retirement employer contribution.
• Employer contribution of $500 to employee’s Flexible Spending Account and opportunity to withhold pre-tax income for Dependent Care Account.
• Up to $5,000 employer-paid Health Reimbursement Account for IVF-related costs or Adoption Assistance, and up to $2,500 for employer-paid Health Reimbursement Account for out-of-pocket dental and orthodontic expenses.
• Up to $2,500 in reimbursement for travel costs to access medical care.
• Monthly $100 student loan payment benefit.
• Monthly $100 mobile phone reimbursement.
• and more.

To apply for this position, please complete an electronic application at https://www.dlcc.org/careers by February 3, 2023. The DLCC may review applications after this deadline in limited circumstances, but this is not a guarantee that your application will be considered if it is not submitted by February 3, 2023. Only complete applications through the application portal will be accepted. You must also include a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to be considered for this position. When an applicant with a disability needs accommodation to have an equal opportunity to compete for this position, they may request it in writing by emailing jobs(at)dlcc.org. No calls, please. Applicants will be screened on a rolling basis.

The DLCC is committed to an inclusive and equitable environment and diversity among its staff and recognizes that its continued success requires the highest commitment to obtaining and retaining a diverse staff that provides the best quality services to supporters and constituents. The DLCC is an equal opportunity employer, and it is our policy to recruit, hire, train, promote and administer any and all personnel actions without regard to sex, race, age, color, creed, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability, personal appearance, marital status, family responsibilities, genetic information, or any other legally protected basis. The DLCC will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination, and any such conduct is strictly prohibited.