Director of Advocacy : Washington

Director of Advocacy

Federal Way, WA
 

Post Date: May 2, 2017

The Washington Education Association is seeking applicants for the position noted below.  A job description is included on the following pages.  This position is available to internal and external applicants.

The Washington Education Association is an equal employment opportunity employer.  It is the desire of the Washington Education Association to interview applicants from an applicant/interview pool that reflects the diversity of the greater community for each vacancy as it occurs.

To be considered for this position the following documents are required:

• Letter of Interest/Cover Letter
• A current résumé reflecting qualifications for this position
• A signed WEA application form
• Three (3) professional references

Washington Education Association application forms are required and may be obtained by selecting Online Application located at the end of this document, or at the Washington Education Association located at 32032 Weyerhaeuser Way South, Federal Way, WA., or by calling Human Resources at 1-800-622-3393 extension 7002.

The deadline for receipt of cover letter, résumé, signed application and references is on or before May 31, 2017.

If you have questions or difficulties accessing the online application, please contact:

Washington Education Association
Karen Knight, Human Resource Generalist
(253) 765-7002 (direct)
PO Box 9100
Federal Way, WA 98063-9100
FAX: (253) 946-4726
kknight@washingtonea.org

Job Description: Director of Advocacy – Federal Way, WA

The Washington Education Association is the voice of public educators in Washington – the voice calling for quality public education, reasonable class sizes, and professional pay and respect for those responsible for our children.

With more than 92,000 members, WEA is the largest representative of public school employees in the state.  Since its founding in 1889 as the Washington State Teachers’ Association with 124 members, WEA members today continue to fight for adequate education funding, reasonable class sizes, professional pay and common sense approaches to standardized testing and teacher evaluations.

The WEA Director of Advocacy is responsible for strategic leadership and direction of the Department of Advocacy within the Washington Education Association, managing and supervising programs and staff in the Center as well as within remote field offices.
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Specific duties and responsibilities

• Ability to provide strategic direction for the Department of Advocacy in areas including, but not limited to, traditional advocacy on behalf of WEA members, bargaining, contract maintenance and, in conjunction with other departments, workforce development and training, leadership and organizational development, political action and coalition building.
• Ability to effectively inspire, manage, and lead staff – both centrally and from a distance as it relates to field operations; the ability to establish credibility among staff, governance, and the management team is critical to the success of the position.
• Ability to develop and effectively manage the Advocacy budget.
• Ability to successfully integrate key program areas within the larger work of the department including, but not limited to, work within Student WEA (SWEA), Educational Support Personnel, Higher Education, and other program areas as directed by the organization. Cross-center collaboration is critical to the success of Advocacy and other program centers.
• Ability to identify and seize upon opportunities to strengthen the WEA as a Union – its programs and service delivery – on behalf of our members.
• Ability to identify and assess challenges and opportunities facing the WEA and develop appropriate options and/or proposals to meet both department and WEA goals and objectives.
• Relationship management with external stakeholders including the development and maintenance of collaborative working relationships with other unions and other education-related entities.  This includes demonstrating a high degree of respect, working in a collaborative manner where appropriate, and honoring external commitments related to work products.
• Ability to effectively implement a high degree of diplomacy within a complex and unique parallel governance and staff structure, to resolve problems.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate in both verbal and written form, including the ability to develop appropriate messaging related to Advocacy operations; develop and make presentations and/or proposals to the Executive Committee, the WEA Board, the Management Team, and other entities as required.
• Ability to assist with planning and developing association programs and training designed to maintain and strengthen Locals and UniServ Councils.
• Ability to maintain effective communication between and among councils and departments to assure their program and staffing needs are met; coordinate shared staffing from other departments when appropriate.
• Ability to provide assistance as needed to those facing internal organizational problems in conjunction with the Director of Human Resources and other key stakeholders.
• Assist with the growth and development of professional staff from a variety of classification levels, Council and Local leadership; request specialized and/or tailored training for staff as appropriate.
• Work with staff and affiliates in local bargaining disputes, representational issues and crisis situations; determine appropriate levels and timing of resources brought to bear involving crises and/or other emergent issues.
• Support and advance the WEA mission, goal, core values and priorities.
• Conduct performance evaluations of identified Advocacy Center and UniServ staff as required.
• Perform other duties as assigned. WEA believes each employee makes a significant contribution to the success of the Washington Education Association. This job description is designed to outline primary duties and qualifications, but not limit the employee or the WEA to just the work identified. It is our expectation that every employee will offer his/her services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of meeting the WEA mission, goal and priorities.
• Frequent travel is expected given the broad geographical area covered by the Advocacy department and its field offices.

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Minimum job requirements and essential functions

• Demonstrated history of and/or experience working with communities of color and/or with historically underrepresented groups to enhance civil rights; experience with union activism and/or political engagement on behalf of civil rights issues.
• Seven years’ experience managing, leading staff, and performing strategic management functions.
• Union experience is strongly preferred.
• Minimally, a bachelor’s degree; a master’s degree strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead, inspire, manage, supervise and direct employees; ability to identify and implement employee training that assists the organization in meeting the needs of its members.
• Possess a strong understanding of and broad field experience in traditional advocacy, negotiations (both traditional and interest-based bargaining), bargaining crises, dispute resolution processes (including mediation and fact-finding), grievance adjudication, representation elections, leadership development, organizational development, organizing, as well as public relations and political organizing.
• Possess a working knowledge of organizational development concepts and change management strategies.
• Experience in confronting problematic situations which may generate conflict, and possess the skills to initiate problem-solving in seeking resolution; experience in facilitating/mediating difficult and sometimes controversial situations.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a valid Washington State driver’s license, possess a satisfactory driving record and a dependable automobile for Association travel (automobile insurance with liability limits of at least $100,000/$300,000 required).
• Possess initiative, a high degree of self-motivation and competency in the performance of complex work.
• Ability to develop and maintain cooperative workplace relationships.
• Ability to initiate, organize and implement a comprehensive and multi-faceted plan using effective project management skills.
• Ability to successfully work, communicate with, and support diverse individuals and groups who often have competing priorities or interests.
• Ability to work with WEA elected leaders, managers, staff and members – including an understanding of sound human relations practices.

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Salary and benefits

The Washington Education Association offers a highly competitive salary and benefit package which includes:

• Salary range up to: $151,533/yr.
• Fully paid medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Long-term disability plan
• Generous sick and vacation leaves (PTO)
• Defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans

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Application procedure and references

In order to be considered for this position, a completed and signed WEA application form including resume, cover letter and three letters of reference from associates who have professional knowledge of the applicant’s background and work experience must be submitted to WEA Human Resources on or before May 31, 2017.  Use of the online application process is recommended.

Important note:  When submitting your application materials online, select “Save as Draft” until you have all materials together and ready to be attached and uploaded – i.e., cover letter, resume, application and three professional reference letters.  This will ensure your application materials remain together as a single submission.

CLICK HERE FOR Online application.

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