Political Director

Overview

The Political Director is a senior member of the campaign leadership team responsible for building and managing the grassroots and institutional coalition necessary to win a citywide mayoral race in Los Angeles.

This role prioritizes engagement with labor unions, community-based organizations, neighborhood councils, faith institutions, and civic groups across Los Angeles’ diverse neighborhoods. While relationships with elected officials remain important, this position is focused first on building authentic, durable support from the organizations and communities that shape voter behavior and turnout in a municipal election.

The Political Director must understand the unique complexity of Los Angeles politics — including labor dynamics, independent expenditures, geographic diversity, coalition fragmentation, and the influence of faith and neighborhood leadership structures.

Key Responsibilities

1. Coalition-First Endorsement Strategy

Develop and execute a comprehensive endorsement strategy with clear prioritization of:

• Major public- and private-sector labor unions
• Community-based organizations
• Neighborhood councils and neighborhood leaders
• Faith institutions, clergy networks, and interfaith coalitions
• Civic and issue-based advocacy groups
• Business and professional associations
• Elected officials (City, County, State, Federal)

Ensure endorsement efforts reflect geographic diversity across the San Fernando Valley, South LA, East LA, Westside, Harbor, and Central City communities.

Responsibilities include:

• Managing questionnaires and endorsement interviews
• Preparing candidate briefing materials
• Staffing endorsement meetings
• Coordinating rollout strategy with Communications
• Tracking commitments and maintaining coalition engagement

2. Labor & Institutional Engagement

• Lead strategy and relationship management with municipal, public safety, education, service-sector, and building trades unions
• Maintain consistent communication with union political directors and leadership
• Assess and navigate multi-faction labor dynamics
• Monitor independent expenditure (IE) activity and broader institutional alignment
• Coordinate with legal counsel to ensure compliance with campaign finance law

3. Faith & Community Outreach

• Develop relationships with clergy, pastors, rabbis, imams, and interfaith leaders
• Build faith-based advisory groups where appropriate
• Engage with community development corporations, tenant groups, public safety advocates, and local nonprofits
• Attend key cultural, religious, and neighborhood events across the city
• Ensure consistent presence in diverse communities beyond traditional political spaces

4. Neighborhood Council & Grassroots Infrastructure

• Establish direct relationships with neighborhood council leaders across Los Angeles
• Identify influential neighborhood stakeholders outside formal political structures
• Develop localized coalition networks in priority turnout areas
• Coordinate with Field to translate relationships into volunteer and GOTV infrastructure

5. Political Intelligence & Risk Management

• Map political and institutional relationships across Los Angeles
• Track endorsement movement and opposition coalition building
• Provide weekly political briefings to senior leadership
• Anticipate and proactively manage potential conflicts or institutional resistance
• Advise on political implications of major policy positions

6. Cross-Department Coordination

• Work closely with the Field Director to convert institutional support into voter contact power
• Partner with the Finance Director to align political relationships with fundraising strategy
• Coordinate with Communications on endorsement announcements and validator strategy
• Support debate preparation and stakeholder positioning
• Ensure coalition strategy aligns with overall path to victory

Qualifications

• 7+ years of political campaign, public affairs, government, labor, or community organizing experience
• Demonstrated success building broad coalitions in complex political environments
• Strong relationships within Los Angeles labor, faith, and community networks
• Deep understanding of LA’s political geography and neighborhood dynamics
• Experience navigating independent expenditure environments
• Strong political judgment and discretion

Preferred Experience

• Experience in Los Angeles municipal politics
• Direct labor or faith-based organizing experience
• Experience supervising political or coalition staff
• Familiarity with neighborhood council structures

Core Competencies

• Coalition-builder
• High emotional intelligence
• Skilled negotiator across diverse constituencies
• Strategic and disciplined
• Calm under pressure
• Deeply relationship-driven with measurable outcomes

What Success Looks Like

• A geographically and demographically broad coalition anchored in labor, community organizations, faith institutions, and neighborhood leadership
• Institutional support that translates into volunteer energy, validators, earned media, and turnout strength
• Reduced institutional opposition and minimized public conflict
• A governing coalition that extends beyond Election Day