Base Building Director

Posted: 07-25-2024

Applications Due By: 

Open until filled. Initial review begins 08-19-2024

Salary: $70,000-$73,000  

Location: Rogue Valley or South Coast, Oregon

Rogue Climate – Base Building Director 

Rogue Climate is seeking a Base Building Director to grow community support and build collective power for a Just Transition in Southern Oregon. This role will be responsible for ensuring the implementation of Rogue Climate’s base building model in the Rogue Valley and South Coast of Oregon in connection with strategic campaigns. Collaborating with the Campaigns Director and Regional Coordinators, the Base Building Director will build out structures to grow community engagement, manage outreach systems, develop plans to connect grassroots support to priority campaigns, and guide staff and volunteers with tools, training, and resources to grow the movement for climate justice. Come join an incredible team! 

About Rogue Climate

Since 2013, Rogue Climate has been building a climate movement in Southern Oregon and the South Coast to achieve solutions to climate change that will result in cleaner energy, sustainable jobs, and a healthy climate. We are a team of 10 staff and dozens of volunteers. Our work is focused on four major programs:

• Energy Justice & Just Transition – Pass climate policy at the state and local level that ensures everyone in our communities have affordable, reliable and healthy energy sources while also supporting job creation in rural communities, low-income communities, and communities of color in Oregon. Ensure a just and equitable transition to the renewable energy economy, such as navigating proposals for offshore wind energy along the South Coast. 
• Stopping Fossil Fuels – Rogue Climate recently completed a successful 9-year campaign to stop the proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline and is now focused on supporting local policy campaigns to make new homes fully electric.

• Resiliency - Support our communities to weather the challenges of climate change in ways that also makes them better places to live today. We are supporting the development of resilience hubs and networks in our region. We are launching a program this fall in the Rogue Valley to install ductless heat pumps in environmental justice neighborhoods. 

• Youth Leadership – Inspire and develop the next generation of climate leaders and community organizers through our biannual internship programs for youth. We support youth led action teams to run local campaigns for climate justice. 

Our primary strategic goals guiding our work are: 

1. Build the power of youth, low income, and BIPOC communities in Jackson, Coos, and Klamath Counties to envision and lead a movement for Climate Justice.
2. Build a strong movement of aligned organizations and partners that can accelerate a just transition across the region.
3. Resist the development of new fossil fuel infrastructure in Oregon
4. Support a just transition to renewable energy and greater energy justice locally and statewide (Building the New)
5. Support our communities to be better prepared for the impacts of climate change.

A core tenet of our internal operations and our programs is our commitment to working for climate solutions that result in a just transition to clean energy that benefits rural communities, low-income communities, Latino/a/x, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. You can learn more about our mission and campaigns at rogueclimate.org. 

 What you will do:

Support Rogue Valley and South Coast teams to implement the Rogue Climate Base Building Model to grow the collective power of community members towards local and state-wide climate justice wins. This will include, but is not limited to: 

• Base Building & Community Engagement: Grow Rogue Climate’s community base by recruiting, training, and absorbing community members, moving them into deeper engagement in volunteer roles and campaign working groups. Work with both regional teams to support regular community gatherings, volunteer team development, phone/text banking, and outreach events. Train staff and volunteers to grow leadership and organizing skills. Develop and ensure our youth organizing model is implemented. 
• Campaign Support: Work closely with the Campaigns Director to ensure campaigns have strategic, culturally relevant outreach and field work plans that support goals. Collaborate with Coordinators and Organizers to mobilize community members to action during key campaign moments and move leaders into campaign working groups. Lead strategic field work programs, such as in-depth door-to-door canvassing, by developing plans, managing data, and hiring any needed support staff. 

• Systems Management: Manage systems related to base building and outreach (Powerbase CRM, GetThru, phonebanking, and canvassing tools). Ensure all base building systems are running smoothly, data is regularly cleaned up and properly entered, and staff and volunteers are trained to properly use systems. 

• Project Management: Lead teams to achieve their goals by ensuring complex projects move forward with clear delegation. Responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the completion of specific projects while ensuring these projects are on time, on budget, and within scope.

• Strategic Direction: Work alongside the Executive Director along with the staff, board, and key community members to develop organizational strategic direction, grounded in the priorities of communities on the South Coast and Rogue Valley. Participate in the Directors team and implement strategy through base-building.  

• Supervision: We estimate about a third of time is doing field work side by side with Organizers and Coordinators, supporting them to meet base-building goals. You will likely supervise 2-3 staff and 1-2 contractors. 

 Who you are, and keys to success:

To be successful in this job, you will be skilled in these areas.

• Commitment to racial equity and climate justice: You recognize the role of race, income, age, gender, immigration status, and other identities in climate justice, and you consistently look for ways to embed equity and justice in all aspects of the organization - especially our policies and practices. You recognize how your own identities show up in the work, and welcome, reflect on, and act on feedback with an eye toward continuous learning about race, ability, and other lines of difference. You are comfortable supporting others in their learning processes as well. Fluency or proficiency in Spanish is a plus. 

• Organizing & campaign background: You have 4+ years of experience with grassroots organizing campaigns. You have a passion for growing the movement for climate justice through creative and strategic field work. You can translate that experience into managing staff, growing the leadership of organizers, and supporting the implementation of strategic goals. 

• Love of field work & community engagement: You have in-depth experience designing organizing programs to reach strategic goals. You are skilled at engaging with community members through one-on-one organizing meetings, door-to-door canvassing, tabling, text and phone-banking, and other creative outreach methods. You are comfortable managing databases/CRM’s and tech platforms to lead outreach. You are skilled at training others to grow their confidence and capacity for field work. 

• Volunteer & team development experience: You have demonstrated experience moving community members into active volunteer roles and growing their leadership over time. You have 3+ years of experience developing volunteer teams to support priority campaigns and programs, creating spaces that are fun, accessible, culturally relevant, and impactful. 

• Facilitation experience: You are a skilled meeting facilitator and trainer, with practice engaging with a variety of learning styles using experiential and popular education models to guide team meetings and trainings.  

• Inclusive leadership and experience managing people: You approach leadership with a mindset of “power with” rather than “power over” and regularly include others in decision-making. You listen closely to understand the needs or concerns of others and work collaboratively to provide clarity and devise solutions. You have 3+ years of experience as a supervisor and are comfortable supporting others with problem-solving. 
• Outstanding communication skills: You are a skilled communicator. You have worked with a wide range of individuals, all with different personality quirks, and have helped them communicate with you and with each other. You can actively listen, know when and how to speak on behalf of the organization, and keep an open line of communication with the board, staff, and key stakeholders. 

If you were here right now, you would be:

• Designing base building plans in collaboration with Rogue Valley and South Coast staff to actualize the base building model.
• Improving outreach systems and approach for regular field work and supporting Coordinators and Organizers to maximize outreach opportunities that align with strategic goals. 
• Working with the Ashland Youth for Electrification Campaign to implement door-to-door canvassing as a tactic for growing the base of supporters. 
• Working with the South Coast team to recruit community members to engage in the Oregon Offshore Wind Roadmap process. 
• Facilitating monthly staff Organizing Team meetings to build skills and share lessons across regions. 
• Establishing volunteer team structures in both of these regions. 
• Managing the Powerbase (CRM) database, and ensuring organizing staff members are proficient in data entry and cleanup related to field work. 

Location and Benefits

This position will be based out of the Rogue Climate office in Phoenix, Oregon, or Coos Bay, Oregon and will require frequent travel to our office in the other region. The salary for this position is $70,000-$73,000 depending on experience, with a $3,000 Spanish Language Enhancement, and a $2,400 student loan repayment stipend available. Benefits include health and dental care, robust vacation, paid family medical leave, paid sick time, and flexible holidays. For 2024, we have a platinum level Regence health care plan with a $500 deductible. Rogue Climate pays 100% of the premium.

 

How to Apply

Please apply here with your resume and a brief cover letter detailing your relevant experience and interest in the position. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, with an initial review on August 19th. Interviews are anticipated to occur in late August for an anticipated start date of mid-September.

Black, Latino/a/x, Indigenous, and People of Color, trans and gender nonconforming people, people from poor and working-class backgrounds, and women are encouraged to apply. Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and People of Color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace—if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles.