The Opportunity
Down Home North Carolina is creating and instituting a Deep Canvass Academy this year. In 2023 Down Home North Carolina plans to offer large-scale training sessions on the methodology of deep canvass and the skills associated with deep canvass organizing. In addition, Down Home will anchor large-scale education Deep Canvass in conjunction with partners state and nationwide. The Deputy Deep Canvass Manager will assist with writing and iterating the script, training, coaching, and supporting the canvassers during the three-month project. After the project, Down Home will provide a comprehensive report on the findings to be presented to the project partners. This report will inform the subsequent deep canvasses in the future.
Down Home North Carolina seeks a temporary, full-time Deputy Deep Canvass Manager. The Deputy Deep Canvass Manager will work directly with the Deep Canvass Manager. In addition, they will help build a curriculum for the team and volunteers, create data reports, manage the paid and volunteer deep canvassers, and ensure the team has the support they need to create a strong and positive culture. This role will also work with other Down Home departments to develop and deliver excellent training for staff, chapter members, and volunteers.
Who We Are:
Down Home North Carolina is a growing statewide organization of rural and small-town communities advocating for economic, gender, and racial justice. We will move North Carolina toward the values of dignity, safety, and inclusion through leadership development, strategic campaigning, multiracial movement-building, and civic engagement that advances positive, life-changing reforms for rural communities.
We are unique in our focus on building permanent, statewide organizing infrastructure in North Carolina’s rural places. Through our growing network of member-led, county-based chapters, we are engaged in year-round organizing. Our member-leaders, deeply rooted in their communities, are the heart and soul of We are Down Home’s work. Our organizational mission includes a deep commitment to building multiracial and working-class member leadership, and our chapter culture inspires the deep and necessary commitment required to transform small towns and rural places.
Founded in 2017, Down Home has built a solid organizational track record, including:
- Electing Diamond Staton-Williams in House District 73, the first black woman to represent Cabarrus County in the General Assembly as well as temporarily preventing a Republican Supermajority
- Led a years-long statewide campaign to Expand Medicaid, which was passed by the General Assembly in 2023
- Helping to elect the first Latinx state legislator in NC history
- Growing a statewide membership base that includes all 100 counties of North Carolina
- Anchoring the first southern, rural deep canvass and race-class narrative tests
- Driving statewide coalitions to fight for a just COVID-19 recovery and Medicaid expansion
Keys to Success (the must-haves) and Responsibilities:
- Project management skills: Can build systems and projects and accomplish goals under tight deadlines and high-stress environments. Can inspire a team, build deep relationships, coach/agitate team members, and hold them accountable for their goals—proven ability to manage complex schedules and responsibilities with minimal support or oversight.
- Demonstrated ability to train/teach others and build curriculum: You have experience training or teaching others a new skill, requiring people to come out of their comfort zone or do something for the first time. You can take a complex task or project and communicate its parts in plain language. You have experience creating and delivering presentations/discussions/training that reach various audiences. You can develop others through coaching, training, and feedback. You listen closely to understand needs or concerns and take steps based on that input. You get back to people on time. You take pride in providing clear, helpful information.
- Knowledge of race equity and inclusion: You recognize how race and other identities intersect in our work, especially in rural, multiracial communities. You are comfortable talking about identities such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, ability, or gender in plain, specific terms. You understand the historical context for racial inequity and its present-day implications. You recognize how your identities show up in work and welcome, reflect on, and act on feedback with an eye toward continuous learning about race, ability, and other lines of difference.
- Highly organized, motivated, and detail-oriented: Strong sense of ownership over goals and metrics, ensuring data integrity is a priority. Able to juggle competing demands and prioritize what’s most important. Holds a high bar, providing thoughtful solutions to problems with a proven track record of improving things.
- Experienced organizer: Has shown the ability to organize groups of people for a cause or a campaign; has an understanding of organizing skills, including having effective one-to-ones, making hard asks, base building, propositions, and building trust and credibility with communities. Has experience working in elections, either through campaigns or other entities.
- Aligned with the mission and values of Down Home NC: Committed to the vision of a powerful, inclusive, rural, multiracial, working-class movement-building as a path towards liberation for all people, aligned with the idea that building power takes both election programs and long-term base building and community investment.
Responsibilities:
- Support Deep Canvass Academy Program
- Write and deliver effective onboarding and ongoing skills training for paid deep canvassers staff, volunteers, members, and organizers, including Deep Canvassing 101 and more advanced skills training, for example, Compassionate Listening and Curiosity, Assertiveness and Rapport Building, Redirects, Processing Concerns, and Cognitive Dissonance
- Develop training schedule for the academy and coordinate ongoing training curriculum in close partnership with Deep Canvass Manager
- Create a leadership development arch to ensure academy participants can advance their skill set in close collaboration with Deep Canvass Manager
- Participate in script iterations, deep canvass measurements, maintenance of data, and reporting
- Knowledge of NGP VAN, ThruTalk, and Spoke is a plus.
- Assist with recruitment, training, and supervising academy participants
- Recruit, coach, and manage academy deep canvassers
- Build a team culture that is inclusive, cooperative, and emotionally supportive of the work
- Lead call shifts to include check-in, monitoring data systems, facilitating debriefs, and call shift reporting
- Hold academy members accountable for metrics and goal achievement through one-to-ones, training, and coaching
- Support the overall development and execution of our deep canvass academy program in close partnership with the Deep Canvass Manager
- Meet metric goals and deadlines, ensuring data integrity
- Troubleshooting issues within the program and providing solutions to problems as they arise
- Knowledge of NGP VAN, ThruTalk, and Spoke is a plus.
Compensation
The compensation for this temporary, full-time position is equivalent to $59,876 to $70,655 per year ending December 2023 with the possibility of an extension to December 2024 . In addition, the position includes best-in-class healthcare after one month of employment. This role is a hybrid role and will require some travel within the state of North Carolina. Irregular remote and in-person hours are required.
How to Apply
Down Home NC is committed to creating a dynamic, multicultural, diverse working environment. Candidates of color and diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Down Home NC is an equal opportunity employer.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, prioritizing applications received by June 1st. We are still accepting applications if this job description is posted on Down Home’s website (www.downhomenc.org).
Please send a resume and a short cover letter that includes your experience to: [email protected]