USAS is Hiring a Full-Time National Organizer!

Job Announcement:

USAS National Organizer:
United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) is currently hiring one full-time National Organizer to be based out of Washington, DC.  Last month we decided to postpone hiring for organizational reasons, but are excited to announce that we are reopening hiring in order to welcome a new full-time National Organizer in the fall.

The position requires a willingness to work flexible hours including nights and weekends. The position offers a competitive non-profit salary, a comprehensive health benefits package, and a union contract including flexible vacation time and a cost of living adjustment. Applications are due July 15, 2013. Please see attached document for application instructions. The position will start in late August or early September with some flexibility. The incoming organizer will be trained by the three current national organizers. USAS National Organizers are overseen by a National Coordinating Committee of student organizers.

For more information on USAS, please visit www.usas.org

Job Description:
Formed in 1997, USAS is a grassroots membership organization run entirely by youth and students. USAS uses the strategic leverage of students to support the formation and continued strength of unions in the U.S. and around the world, particularly unions representing campus workers and garment workers who manufacture collegiate licensed apparel.

National staff work closely with students to support ongoing campus organizing; coordinate the activities of local organizations into international actions and campaigns; put together meetings, trainings, and conferences; maintain communication and coordination with domestic and international allies; and facilitate the infrastructure development of a dynamic movement.

Responsibilities of National Organizers will include:
NOTE: Responsibilities will be divided among the four staff, (one incoming and three current), based on strengths, interests and experience.

1. Coordinating and supporting national campaigns, including:

• campaign support and guidance
• materials development
• maintaining and developing relationships with ally organizations
• development and guidance of nationally-coordinated campaigns
• development of policy related to national campaigns

2. Leadership development, including:

• travel and campus visits
• outreach to new schools
• training and supporting students and youth
• supervision of student regional organizers
• facilitating spaces in which student leaders are able to take on increased responsibilities for national campaign coordination and organizing work
• leadership development of students from marginalized communities and identities

3. Organizational development, including:

• communications and media work (including traditional press and new media/social networking platforms)
• grassroots fundraising, including online strategies
• maintaining relationships with national funders (foundations, international unions, etc.), including providing written proposals and reports
• arranging logistics for national and regional conferences and gatherings

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• Organizing experience as or with students, workers, and/or community members
• Ability to work independently and in groups
• Ability to manage and direct one’s own work
• Willingness to work nontraditional hours, including nights and weekends
• Experience and/or willingness to work in a non-hierarchical staff team
• Strong commitment to developing leadership of people from marginalized communities and identities (working class, people of color, women, mixed-race, trans/genderqueer, queer, differently-abled people, etc.)

Strongly Preferred Qualifications and Experience:

• Experience as a member of USAS
• Strategic campaigning skills
• Corporate research skills
• Knowledge of/experience with the labor movement/global justice movement
• Knowledge of/experience with liberation movements (black liberation, queer, etc)
• Bookkeeping and database general skills
• Financial management skills and fundraising experience
• Experience and skills with new media and web design
• Experience with group facilitation and public speaking
• Experience training direct action philosophy and tactics
• Spanish and other foreign language skills

USAS is an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer. Students who identify as working class, people of color, mixed-race, women, genderqueer, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and differentlyabled are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Instructions:

In addition to answering the questions below, please submit a resume and cover letter. E-mail completed applications in a single PDF file to register@usas.org with 'Staff Application-[your last name]' in Subject Line by July 15, 2013 . Feel free to include letters of recommendation from employers, people you have worked with, mentors, campus workers, etc. if desired.

Please send us a resume that highlights desired qualifications and experience and includes:
a. Organizing experience
b. Positions of responsibility or leadership that you have held
c. Past internship experiences
d. Volunteer work
e. Relevant academic coursework or research
f. Anything else that you think we should know about you
g. Two professional references, and two additional references who you’ve organized with (i.e. from your student group, union, community organization, etc).

Please provide SHORT answers to the questions below. Answers to the questions should total no more than five single-spaced pages.

Organizing and Organizational Development
1. What do you think USAS National's priorities should be in the following areas? Please explain. Alternatively, if you do not have experience with USAS nationally, describe an experience you have had building and/or sustaining a social justice organization.
a. Campaign strategy (can include garment workers, campus workers, student debt/tuition increases/funding higher ed, unionization, etc.)

b. Leadership development (can include outreach, training, support, collective liberation, etc. either on local or national level)

c. Organizational development (can include fundraising, national structure, staffing, etc.)

2. How do you define organizing, and what, concretely, does an organizer do? Drawing from your own experiences, what lessons have you learned that you would like to pass onto future organizers?

3. Describe a local social justice campaign you have worked on. Define your role and provide an overview of your strategy and the tactics you employed. Describe any challenges in the campaign and how you overcame them.

Collective Liberation
1. How have you made it a priority in your organizing to develop the leadership of students of color, working class students, or women, transgender, queer or differently-abled students?

Personal Development
1. Describe an experience you had with working with a team. How did you deal with any disagreements that may have arisen?

2. Describe an experience you had with building a coalition and/or working closely with an organization of which you are not a member. Focus specifically on the development of those relationships, and how you dealt with any difficulties that may have arisen.

3. Describe a time you faced a situation in your organizing work that you didn’t know how to deal with or struggled with. What was most challenging and how did you learn what to do?

Skills and Misc.
1. What languages do you speak? Are you fair, proficient, or fluent in speaking, listening, reading, and writing?
2. What computer/web skills to you possess?
3. Attach one or more samples of your creative work on a campaign. This could include, but is not limited to, a writing sample (op-ed, info sheet, blog post, etc), a flier you designed, photos of a prop or creative action you worked on, video, meme, etc. [OPTIONAL]
4. Do you identify as a person of color, mixed-race, working class, a woman, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or differently abled? [OPTIONAL]
5. When are you available to start working for USAS?