Membership Director

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

Description
An exciting opportunity exists at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the leading membership organization dedicated to serving our nation's heroes and their families. IAVA is seeking a Membership Director to grow, develop and actively engage veterans and supporters.

Reporting to the Chief Program Officer, the Membership Director will be responsible for the planning, execution and successful implementation of a vital membership engagement campaign; the first phase will kickoff on April and continue through November. The campaign focus will be expanding our reach in the veteran population and growing our member leadership team. The Membership Director will be located in IAVA's national headquarters in New York City and report to the Chief Program Officer.

Let's be clear: this is an all hand-on deck environment working on an urgent campaign with an ambitious timeline, so you're going to be doing everything from finding and training leaders, to monitoring a 24-hour news cycle, to getting banners printed at 10:30pm at the only open print shop in San Antonio the night before an event.

But if you've got ideas for how to build a membership army with a limited budget, an eager community of veterans, and a robust database; if you know how to turn a roomful (or a chat room) full of members into a team of leaders; if you want a chance to be part of something world-changing at a pivotal moment in our nation's history - you could be the perfect candidate.

The ideal candidate will be an energetic self-starter who:

Has the drive to build the veteran movement into an unstoppable force that can change lives, impact policy, and ensure veterans have access to best-in-class resources; Has led successful labor, community, political, or other member organizing campaigns; Has successfully managed staff and volunteers; can hold paid and un-paid organizers to high standards of accountability and productivity; while keeping them happy; Is a stickler for precision in real-time tracking and assessing of campaign development; can create or adapt to a system that provides a 360 degree perspective of numerous simultaneous campaign activities; Has a track record of integrating online and offline strategies to grow membership Is proactive and forward thinking, has creative vision, intellectual quickness, curiosity, discipline, and resourcefulness; Is candid and forthright about flagging problems or mistakes; Is an experienced organizer at home in a fast-paced campaign environment Has top-flight planning skills; is comfortable coordinating numerous time-sensitive projects; skilled in risk analysis and mitigation; able to develop and abide by clear goals, timelines, and priorities; Is an excellent communicator; writes efficiently, speaks persuasively, and is comfortable making presentations to a diverse range of audiences; Is voraciously multi-talented and willing to learn and do anything to see the job through; Has demonstrated people & project management skills; Is skilled in the subtleties of motivating, directing and working with diverse, strong, independent personalities and work styles; Can provide strategic guidance and support to create an ambitious, high impact, and well-researched campaign; Can create a culture of innovation in which people are allowed to try things and even fail—but fail fast--and win big; Has a positive attitude and great sense of humor; Has commitment and passion for IAVA's mission; Is available to travel frequently.

ABOUT IAVA

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation's first and largest organization dedicated to serving the 2.5 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from their first day home to the rest of their lives. IAVA strives to build an empowered generation of veterans through programs in four key impact areas: Health, Education, Employment and Community.

Health - IAVA makes it a priority to ensure that both mental and physical health needs are being effectively addressed in our community, and has provided support to over 20,000 returning veterans nationwide.

Education - With nearly a million new veterans headed back to school under the New GI Bill, IAVA has provided over 500,000 with the tools and support needed to make informed decisions about their education.

Employment - No veteran should come home from Iraq or Afghanistan to an unemployment check. To fight shockingly high joblessness rates, IAVA's Combat to Career initiative helped over 270,000 veterans in their transition to civilian careers in 2011.

Community - Less than 1% of the country served in Iraq and Afghanistan - a stark contrast to the 12% that served during WWII. Building community, both online and on the ground, is a critical factor in fulfilling IAVA's mission, which means bridging geographical divides to create a united, supported and proud movement of new veterans.

Responsibilities:
The Membership Director will be responsible for the planning, execution and successful implementation of a comprehensive outreach and recruiting strategy, crafting a member engagement pathway that welcomes and encourages new members and creates opportunities for increasing engagement and responsibilities.

Plan and execute an eight-month campaign, our first phase in a drive to radically increase our membership and fully engage existing members. This is an unprecedented and time-sensitive effort to rally IAVA’s membership around the country; Can prepare and communicate the various elements and importance of a tightly integrated campaign arc and narrative; Write a membership campaign plan that identifies and builds upon existing staff capacity and other resources, and enumerates specific roles for staff and member engagement; Beta test innovative strategies for membership growth and engagement; create systems to constantly track progress toward goals, and recommend plan adjustments in response to qualitative and quantitative measures of success; Design a comprehensive leadership development program that empowers our strongest members to organize within their own networks and the larger veteran community; Support member-led initiatives and events; and ensure all IAVA events meet expectations, build membership, increase community and advance campaign goals; Create an effective system for benchmarking and measuring the quality and consistency of member engagement between IAVA staff and members; Effectively facilitate and participate in regular status meetings with key stakeholders within IAVA, provide regular, timely and comprehensive updates; Craft systems for meticulous, efficient record-keeping, and seamless coordination with our CRM management team.

Qualifications:
The Membership Director must be an innovative, compassionate leader, manager and team player with a commitment to engaging and developing IAVA’s membership.

Significant campaign leadership experience in a membership- focused and driven organization; A team builder who’s able to delegate and prioritize multiple activities and responsibilities, who inspires collaboration, functions decisively, and treats people fairly; Ability to engage diverse audiences collaboratively internally and externally; Comfort working in a fast-paced environment that demands rapid execution and experimentation. Bonus Qualities: Familiarity with the full range of new social and digital campaign tools Experience with story-centered organizing; Experience with new media applications, especially creative use of video and other story-telling media; Knowledge of engagement and/or network organizing; especially the work of Ori Branfman, Marshall Ganz, Clay Shirky, Rick Warren, and/or Seth Gordin; Experience working within the limits of grant or partner-led projects; Experience managing remotely.

How TO APPLY:
Start Date: Immediate

Application deadline: Rolling

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

Benefits: IAVA provides comprehensive health and dental coverage, access to vision benefits and a 403(b) retirement plan, in addition to three weeks paid vacation per year.

To Apply: Please send a resume, cover letter, salary history and three professional references to hiring@iava.org, with “Membership Director” in the subject line. Include a cover letter that concisely explains how your campaign experience could be applied to IAVA. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. No phone calls, please.

IAVA is an equal opportunity employer. VETERANS OF THE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN CONFLICTS ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

About Organization:
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the first and largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for new veterans, with over 200,000 Member Veterans and supporters nationwide. IAVA is a 21st Century veterans’ organization dedicated to standing with the 2.4 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan from their first day home through the rest of their lives. Founded in 2004 by an Iraq veteran, our mission is to improve the lives of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families.

IAVA strives to build an empowered generation of veterans who provide sustainable leadership for our country and their local communities. We work toward this vision through programs in four key impact areas: supporting new veterans in Health, Education, Employment and building a lasting Community for vets and their families (HEEC).

We create impact in these critical areas through assistance to vets and their families, raising awareness about issues facing our community and advocating for supportive policy from the federal to the local level.

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