Jobs

Position Summary

The Vice President of Communications and External Affairs will oversee our organization’s growing communications and culture team. This new role will be responsible for developing and implementing comprehensive communications strategies, key message development and narrative interventions, events, and content production for both Economic Security Project and our sister organization, Economic Security Project Action.

We are looking for someone with an enterprising spirit who is interested in helping build economic power for all Americans. The right candidate will be able to both help us map out high-level, long-term objectives while at the same time guide the team on quality execution. They will lead on identifying and developing creative plans to advance our issues, expand our reach, strengthen our brand as a leader in the field, and build relationships to promote our priorities with target audiences.

The Vice President of Communications and External Affairs will be a key member of the organization’s Executive Team and report to the Executive Director. In a typical day, the Vice President of Communications and External Affairs can expect to strategize with other leaders on days of action in multiple states launching antimonopoly campaigns, develop plans for stakeholder engagement, launch a new report on the impacts of a guaranteed income, manage and help their team prioritize and land complex projects, coordinate approaches to pitch top-tier journalists, and lead on the development of new messaging guidance on our issues ahead of a general election.

About Us

We believe in an America where everyone has the freedom and stability required to thrive.

We are strongest when people are the authors of their own lives. But the inequalities in wealth and power created by bad actors, structural racism, and outdated ideas on how the economy should work have left us all more insecure and less resilient. We can make a different set of choices.

The Economic Security Project advocates for ideas that build economic power for all Americans. We legitimize bold ideas by supporting cutting edge research and elevating champions, win concrete policy victories for the communities that need to see change now, and provoke the conventional wisdom to shift what’s considered possible. Our team of academics, organizers, practitioners and culture makers disburse grants, run issue campaigns, develop creative interventions and research products, and convene to encourage investment and action from others.

We pick our fights based on our analysis of where strategic mobilization of people and resources could turn emerging trends into concrete policies. Our current efforts include putting cash into people’s pockets with a guaranteed income and policies like the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit; and keeping corporations out of them by checking the unprecedented concentration of economic power with antimonopoly action. We believe these fights will get us closer to a world where families can pay the heating bills and make the rent, where consumers have choices and small businesses, a fighting chance. A future where we all have a chance not to just survive, but thrive with dignity.

Our Track Record

We’ve convened thousands in briefings, workshops, and marquee events to strategize and set the agenda for a more just political economy. We passed policies in over seven states to modernize the tax code, won over $1 trillion in checks for families in response to the pandemic, and spearheaded the federal fight for a guaranteed income for kids in the form of the expanded Child Tax Credit. These cash-based policies reduced poverty in the middle of a recession, in the words of one observer, “defying gravity”.

And we’ve built the field by investing over $25 million directly into groundbreaking research; pilots and task forces; coalitions and campaigns; new initiatives and organizations; and trend-setting narrative and cultural interventions to advance racial and economic justice and reset the conversation. As a result, ideas that were once considered impossible are now at the center of a vision for an economy where people are the authors of their own lives.

We’ve worked alongside thousands across the country exercising political muscle, moral imagination, and on-the-ground experimentation. It’ll take this and so much more in the years ahead; we are in a broader fight for a multiracial democracy and an economy that works for all. Our task is to deliver and we’re looking for talent to join us in the fight.

Our Team and Culture

Our successes are due in large part to the diverse team we’ve assembled from a wide range of fields – from campaigners to policymakers to activists to academics. We’re building an organization that supports and resources our staff to drive forward work that is critical to our mission.

We are committed to creating a best-in-class staff experience that promotes growth and performance, which requires a culture of active problem-solving, feedback, communication, and accountability. As a fully remote organization, ESP staff can work from anywhere in the country. We actively support and encourage people taking time away from work, including two weeks of full office closures and a six-week sabbatical at 5 years of service, in addition to our standard PTO. You can find more information on our full benefits offerings below.

Our internal work is deeply rooted in our values around diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring that our policies and processes are equitable and informed by a wide range of lived experiences. We invest in our people’s professional development and promote regular conversations about career goals and growth opportunities. We provide opportunities to come together in person for both strategic planning and relationship-building, and we’re always up to take a game of trivia a little too seriously.

Work Environment

The Economic Security Project is a virtual office with staff across the country. Preference will be given to candidates working or willing to work within Eastern Time Zone hours.

Salary

The starting salary for this position is $175k-$230k, with the potential for an additional geographic stipend for candidates based in high cost-of-living areas. The final salary will depend on experience and location. This role includes a comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

ESP provides a robust benefits package which includes the following:

• Medical, vision, dental insurance with premiums fully covered for employees and their dependents

• Worker’s Compensation

• Long and short term disability insurance

• Basic Life Insurance with a 50K maximum

• 401K with up to a 3% match

• Full office closures for Summer & Winter breaks

• PTO – 136 vacation hours, 80 sick leave hours, 9 standard holidays, 2 floating holidays, and 20 hours of volunteer leave

• 6-week paid sabbatical after 5 years of full-time service

• Connectivity and home office stipends, and wellness use bonuses (taxable)

• Annual professional development budget

• Organization-provided computer or $50/month bonus for employees who choose to use their own

• Access to commuter and flexible spending accounts

Because the Economic Security Project values a diverse and representative workplace, people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and people of all gender identities are strongly encouraged to apply. ESP is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding, and enables each of us to realize our potential. Our work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.