Civic Media Campaign Manager - Wisconsin

Free Press and Free Press Action work to amplify the voices of people and communities in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what’s actually happening in their communities. We work at the intersection of media and technology to strengthen our democracy, while creating the way to a just and abundant media future.

The Campaign Manager will anchor Free Press' organizing, network building and policy making efforts in Wisconsin and the broader Great Lakes region in support of a robust civic media environment. With more state policy makers searching for solutions to ensure that the public has access to quality news and information, there is a huge opportunity to create real change to local media systems. As a member of the Journalism and Civic Media program at Free Press, the Campaign Manager will help design and oversee implementation of our Wisconsin campaign to strengthen local news, community and ethnic media, and the information needs of residents across the region. The Campaign Manager will also work closely with our Illinois Campaign Manager to share learnings and support between state campaigns.

In collaboration with our National Field Director, campaign, communication, programmatic and policy staff, the Campaign Manager will mobilize members and allies, coordinates around rapid-response opportunities and leverages coalitions, online organizing and mobilization efforts to achieve our campaign goals. The Campaign Manager is responsible for fostering collaboration and communication internally and externally and represents Free Press in public.

Our field and campaign work occur both online and on the ground; this position builds local ally relationships, executes creative tactics, and develops engagement strategies to advance our campaigns. The Campaign Manager will mobilize our network of more than 27,000 active members in the region, coordinating and activating coalitions around our short- and long-term campaigns. The Campaign Manager must bring an intersectional approach to our work that includes a race, class and gender analysis in order to elevate the relevance of media justice and journalism policy to people in the region.

This is a two-year fixed-term position with continuance dependent on funding and other strategic considerations.

This position may be done from a home office anywhere in Wisconsin.

The Campaign Manager reports to the National Field Director. This job requires flexibility in work schedule, generally aligning to Central Time hours but including overlap with colleagues primarily working in the Eastern Time zone, and evening and weekend work during peak campaign cycles or in the lead up to special events. Local, regional and national domestic travel is required, as is a drivers license and vehicle.

Free Press is composed of two separate organizations, Free Press and Free Press Action Fund. Both entities share the same overall mission and employees will have time assigned to one or both entities. This job description refers collectively to the two organizations under the name “Free Press.”

Primary Responsibilities:

Regional/state strategy implementation: Co-develop and anchor our Wisconsin campaign and organizing strategy to strengthen local news and advance civic media in the state and the Great Lakes region. Cultivate local relationships and manage coalitions which advance this strategy alongside allies. Organize public pressure campaigns that capture media attention, advance policies to support community information needs, and achieve our campaign goals and priorities.

Policy tracking, grassroots education and advocacy: Track media justice and journalism policies in the state legislatures of Wisconsin and other states in the Great Lakes region, and help coordinate grassroots and advocacy campaigns to pass legislation to improve our information ecosystem. Engage with partners in the field to monitor local concerns and priorities, elevating these local priorities in state policymaking.

Communicate policy positions — from highly technical to very general — to a wide range of audiences, including staff and allies, government decision-makers, press, and the general public. Participate in press briefings and assist with press releases and other public communications. Promote Free Press’ mission and policy positions through correspondence and meetings with policymakers and staff at the local and state level.

Coalition management and engagement: Manage coalitions to execute advocacy initiatives and other campaigns. Engage with allied organizations to cultivate relationships and partnerships with allies with an emphasis on allies in the media justice, civil and human rights, pro-democracy and digital organizing spaces. Work in coalition with allies to execute campaigns. Engage in and represent Free Press in coalition meetings, strategy sessions, actions and listservs. Anchor coalition discussions and strategy calls as needed.

Content creation: Contribute to the creation of compelling public narratives and public-education materials for a variety of audiences to advance campaign objectives. Draft compelling email alerts, social media posts, op-eds and other outreach materials to inspire people to take action on our campaigns.

Spokesperson: Serve as a Free Press spokesperson for the media, as well as at events such as rallies, protests or panels and in lobbying opportunities with policymakers.

Advancing race equity: Clearly and consistently articulate an understanding of racial equity, structural racism and the centrality of this analysis to the work Free Press does and how we operate. Integrate that knowledge into work projects and interactions by addressing structural implications and disproportionate impacts of policies, activities and decisions on race, class, gender and other group identities within the context of job responsibilities and projects.

Cross-team collaboration: Engage, through a consultative approach primarily with policy, communications, and program staff, to address media and technology policy interventions; contribute to formulation of campaign and field organizing strategy.

Evaluation and learning: Stay up to date on the latest advocacy and organizing strategies and trends that are impacting policy change to benefit public interests. Attend conferences and trainings as needed and report back to Free Press program staff.

You will thrive at Free Press if you bring

• Dedication to Free Press’ mission of fighting for everyone’s rights to connect and communicate, in addition to the overall success of the organization
• A commitment to racial equity and experience working with communities of color
• Value and respect for differences of race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability and socioeconomic circumstance
• Creative self-starter energy and you thrive at working independently, with limited oversight to accomplish agreed upon objectives and evaluate results
• You’re also a team player with a low-ego approach to developing and maintaining collaborative relationships with both internal and external colleagues
• The ability to work under tight deadlines, navigate competing priorities, and effectively adjust work plans to respond to emergent challenges or opportunities
• Flexibility in work hours to meet work demands (i.e, after hours when appropriate)
• Creativity, strategic thinking, and a commitment to excellence in your work while managing multiple projects and understanding that long hours are occasionally required to meet deadlines
• You’re a problem solver that remains positive, tactful and composed under pressure
• You have excellent interpersonal communication skills
• You thrive in a predominately remote office environment, including working with an off-site manager, and you actively foster connection and community with colleagues located throughout the U.S.
• You adopt and maintain strong digital security practices
• And finally, you have great attention to detail

Experience and qualifications required to succeed in this position:

• A home office in Wisconsin
• A driver's license and vehicle
• No minimum education is required; a bachelor's degree may be an indicator of capacity for this position
• 4+ years of directly relevant experience advocating for policy change as part of a nonprofit public interest organization or similar setting is required
• Experience working with, building and leading diverse winning coalitions
• Experience working with and knowledge of local and state level organizations in Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states
• Strong interest in media, technology and journalism issues and demonstrated experience working on those or similar issues
• Experience supervising volunteers or interns
• Experience leading successful organizing efforts with a combination of online and/or offline organizing, rapid-response work, volunteer engagement, political advocacy, training and reporting
• Must have strong communications skills including writing, editing, and public speaking

Compensation:

Free Press is committed to offering competitive pay and generous benefits, including

• Annual paid time off is a total of eleven weeks, including vacation, health-care leave, holidays, and two organization-wide week-long closures
• Group medical, dental and vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Employer contribution to retirement plans (no matching required)
• Flexible health, commuter and dependent care spending accounts
• Paid family leave
• Stipends for business use of personal phones and for home office locations
• All employees receive computers and equipment necessary for the job
• A flexible, supportive work culture

This position is categorized as a “career level 2 manager” position, in the context of five classifications at Free Press, ranging from coordinator to executive.

The starting salary at Free Press for a Campaign Manager who meets the above qualifications is $75,000 - $82,500. Starting salary is based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience. To counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, we use a nonnegotiable starting salary system, while benchmarking our pay to competitive markets in the nonprofit sector.

Covid - 19 Safety Vaccination:

All Free Press employees must be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus or have an approved medical or religious/ethical/moral accommodation.

Free Press is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We value excellence and diversity in our workforce. People of color, women, people with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, gender-nonconforming and formerly incarcerated individuals are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you meet some of the qualifications above, we encourage you to apply or to reach out for more information. We know groups subjected to systemic oppression– including people of color, women, people from working class backgrounds, and people who identify as LGBTQ – are less likely to apply unless and until they meet every requirement for a job. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other communities who are marginalized.

How to apply:

Complete our online application.  Fully answering the application questions is an important part of the application process; 4-5 sentences in response to each question will help us understand your thinking.

Our hiring process includes an initial 20-30 minute interview with one staff person, one or two hour-long interviews with 3-4 staff members, and reference checks after the final interview.

We provide reasonable accommodations for the application, interview, or any other aspect of the employee selection process to applicants with disabilities. Please email amartyn@freepress.net to request an accommodation.

Key dates:

Applications submitted by March 28, 2025 will be reviewed with priority; applications submitted after that date will be reviewed on a rolling basis. This search will remain open until the position is filled. The ideal candidate will be available to begin work in May, 2025.