Associate Director of Membership Engagement

Remote - New York City, NY

About The Right To The City Alliance (RTTC) 

Right to the City Alliance (RTTC) emerged in 2007 with a strong and powerful vision to 1) halt the displacement of low-income people, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, LGBTQ communities, and youth of color, and 2) protect and expand affordable housing in tandem with a broader movement to build democratic and just healthy communities for the 21st century. 

Since its inception, RTTC has quickly grown to encompass over 90 community-based racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice organizations located in 26 states and 45 cities. Representing true grassroots power and leadership of the most impacted, RTTC’s member organizations weave together local on-the-ground organizing, policy, and advocacy campaigns to build a robust and unstoppable national movement for inclusive, healthy housing and community development. 

Organizational Work Culture

We take the work seriously, but not ourselves: Right to the City is committed to a work culture of care and balance. We understand that rigor and rest are compatible and both are necessary to reach our movement building goals. We actively work to audit our policy and culture in service of our commitment to racial justice and feminist praxis. Principled struggle and generative conflict are core commitments and we take a transformative approach to resolving harm. While we take our commitments seriously, our work environment commonly includes jokes, laughter, celebration and all other manner of enjoyable human experiences. 

Position Summary

The RTTC Associate Director of Membership Engagement will oversee alliance wide membership engagement, assembly planning and support campaign strategy and implementation as part of the organizing department leadership. 

The Associate Director will guide and supervise national organizing staff to implement the alliance's membership programming. Specifically, monthly member calls and training, RTTCs all-member assembly (held every 3 years), and our annual RTTC Governance Assembly. This position will also lead the RTTC Membership Team to implement on-going engagement activities with member organizations to support, grow and prepare our national campaign, Homes For All.

We are looking for someone to join our energetic, visionary and solutions-oriented national staff team to help build the powerful movement we need to win the right to the city and liberation for our people.  The ideal candidate will be someone who is multifaceted, able to adapt to changing conditions, believes deeply in self-determination and community power, and who embodies a commitment to both personal and systemic transformation.  

This position Reports to: Director of Membership Engagement, participates in the Organizing Department, the Leadership Team and leads the Membership Engagement Team. 

Job Responsibilities

1. Political and Organizational Leadership (approx 20%)

  • Strategic and Political Alignment
  • Provide leadership in developing politically grounded assessments, proposals, and strategic priorities
  • Build alliance-wide coherence and alignment with both staff and members around strategy and priorities
  • Reflect a commitment to praxis
  • Cross-Department Integration
  • Integrate departments through cross dept/team discussion
  • Clarify work plans for departments and teams

2. Department and Team Management (approx. 25%)

  • Cross-Team Department Alignment
  • Align the work of the Membership Team with the alliance’s long-term strategy, mid-term strategic objectives, and short-term campaign goals
  • Finalize department & team work plans
  • Plan for Dept Meetings with department leadership
  • Plan & Monitor Program Implementation
  • Share reports directly from team & supervision meetings
  • Surface cross-department issues to bring to the leadership and/or directors teams
  • Development & Support of Dept Staff
  • Assess supervision & staff development needs
  • Orient to supervision as an ongoing practice, identifying areas for growth and development
  • Be an accessible resource for staff with grounded solutions and organizational context
  • Participate as needed in supporting staff with supervision challenges and any support and accountability measures

3. Tripartite Governance Structure (TGS) Coordination (approx. 20%)

  • Manage the overall coordination and planning of Governance & Membership Assemblies
  • Manage the planning and implementation of member elections (c3/c4)
  • Direct and support the development and implementation of trainings on member governance & assembly model

4. Member Recruitment & Retention (approx. 20%)

  • Direct and support the development and implementation of New member orientations & onboarding to alliance bodies
  • Direct and support the development and implementation of Monthly all-member calls
  • Direct and support the development and implementation of Quarterly 1-1s with member organizations
  • Direct and support the development and implementation of outreach and turnout for member events
  • Direct and support the development and maintenance of membership list and database
  • Direct and support the production of timely & relevant reports and assessments on RTTC membership status, campaigns and base-building

5. RTTC- Action Member Recruitment & Retention (approx. 15%)

  • Support outreach to & recruitment of organizational & individual c4 members
  • Support the development and management of the c4 membership database
  • Oversee c4 membership engagement
  • Oversee c4 new member orientations & onboarding

RTTC intentionally builds collaborative and transformative culture through:

  • Organizational participation: (Approx. 10% of time)  team planning, staff meetings and trainings, national convenings, collaborative projects across teams, and HR/administrative tasks common to all positions.   
  • Evolution of the work: Areas of work may change over time based on organization and movement needs, and always in consultation with the organizer.
  • Transformative Praxis: Participate in RTTC’s transformative justice program to align our practice with our values and principles. Build staff unity and cohesion, and principled struggle amongst all team/staff members.  
  • Location & Travel: Location is negotiable. RTTC has concentrations of staff in the following areas: Philly, Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn (physical office), and the SF Bay Area. Travel is required; frequency and duration of travel is negotiable. On average, this position will be expected to travel [1-2 times per month for a total of 5-10 days per month, year round].
  • Travel is generally required for all RTTC staff; frequency and duration of travel is negotiable. On average, this position will be expected to travel [1-2 times per month for a total of 5-10 days per month, year round]. 

Qualities We Are Looking For 

  • Bold Vision. You bring fierce imagination and deep commitment that we can and will create the world our communities need. You can share that vision in ways that inspire and compel.
  • Swiss Army Knife. You are resourceful and creative, willing to do what it takes to make a project succeed. You can handle a lot in a fast-paced, multi-faceted work environment.
  • Interdependent. You are able to work independently, self-managing your time, while maintaining close communication with remote teams . You are flexible and know that changing the world doesn't always happen between 9am and 5pm.
  • Low ego, high impact. You are disciplined, rigorous, and more group-centered than self-centered. You have an excellent attention to detail and keep your eyes on the big picture.
  • Required Experience & Qualifications
  • At least 8-10 years experience and demonstrated ability to lead campaign plans and successfully coordinate teams around organizing and mobilization of a base.
  • Experience and knowledge of trends in housing justice policy and organizing in local and regional areas
  • 8 - 10 years of base building & organizing experience working on local or statewide campaigns 
  • At least 4 years of leading local and statewide advocacy campaigns (developing plan and leading implementation of campaigns)
  • At least 4 years of experience on leading on all aspects of campaign development and implementation for local or statewide campaigns - overall strategy and vision, narrative/comms, fundraising, coalition building, political education, etc  
  • At least 4 years of experience building and leading multi-sector,  multi regional / geographic coalitions
  • 4 years of direct supervision experience; demonstrated ability to support and guide other staff to effectively contribute to the work of an organization 

Preferred Qualifications

  • Ability to write and speak a second language, preferably Spanish
  • Familiarity with CRM systems and Database management (Every Action)
  • Familiarity with Airtable functions and maintenance (or equivalent platform)
  • General Requirements
  • Support the mission, vision and goals of the Right To The City Alliance
  • Experience and familiarity with housing justice, gentrification, displacement and anti-eviction work and/or grassroots base-building organizations and transformative organizing
  • Experience in multi-racial, multicultural settings
  • Knowledge of common computer applications: MS Office, Google docs, Adobe Acrobat, Dropbox, Mac environment, and Zoom video tele-conferencing systems
  • Access to reliable internet, phone and remote office arrangements. RTTC provides for costs of home offices.
  • Salary and Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt position. The salary range starts at $119K  Compensation commensurate with experience and competitive with our sector.  RTTC offers a generous and comprehensive benefits package including 100% medical, dental and life insurance, employer contribution towards employees’ 401k retirement plan, wellness benefits, staff development resources, and ample sick and vacation paid time off. 

How To Apply

Interested candidates should submit a resume, cover letter, and writing sample or work sample through our hiring portal at: https://righttothecityalliance.rippling-ats.com/.   References will be asked for candidates who advance in the process.  Applicants for this position will be required to submit to a background check. Candidates will only be contacted if our hiring team chooses to pursue an interview.

Right To The City Alliance is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  Applicants from communities heavily impacted by gentrification, displacement and housing insecurity are strongly encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, familial status, sexual orientation, national origin, ability, age, or veteran status.