Movement Labs - Managing Director

The Organization

Movement Labs is a program incubator and consulting firm that uses technology, data, and randomized controlled trials to win elections and build progressive power. Since 2017 we have run more than 250 RCTs on voter behavior.

We operate the largest evidence-based political texting programs in the country, and incubate new electoral tactics — from Contest Every Race, which recruits Democratic candidates and supports 400+ local Democratic parties, to neighborhood captains, comedy persuasion, and organic social media.

We are 110 staff in the 2026 cycle, fully remote, and aiming to grow ~2x for the 2027–28 cycle, during which we aim to generate 1 point of vote share in the presidential election’s key states.

Position Overview

You are exceptionally sharp, with deep-won experience managing managers in a high-performance culture, and you earn trust fast. You are obsessed with having the most impact you can in your career and especially in the 2027–28 cycle. You bring just the right amount of order to informal or chaotic environments. You are risk-neutral.

The Managing Director is the CEO's true number two: a generalist problem-solver, organization designer, and culture steward who runs the leadership team day to day so the CEO can spend his time on fundraising, strategy, and new programs. You will manage a portfolio of vice presidents and directors, own the organization's planning and decision cadence, and be the person the team goes to when something is stuck.

The core is leading the leadership team, managing managers, designing how the organization works across departments and in between leaders. Depending on who you are, you might also be managing people and finance, certain new program lines, core programs, sales, small dollar work, tech, or some combination of those departments. We are hiring for excellence at the core and we’ll finalize the org chart around you.

What Success Looks Like in Year One

• By Q2 2027, the 2027–28 plan and budget have a strong default with buy-in from the leadership team, as well as clarity on flexibility/options.
• By November, we sprinted with existing and new staff to execute a handful of the most promising tests ahead of ’28.
• The organization is structured to be able to execute the ’28 plan and net 1 point of presidential vote share in key states. Every VP knows what they own and what they can decide.
• Communications and culture work runs beautifully, cascading the most crucial program, business and organizational information down to all employees. 90% of staff are using simple best practices like prepped meetings and after actions to manage the work.
• The leadership team runs on a predictable planning and decision cadence, and problems reach you before they reach the CEO.
• The CEO spends more of his time on strategy, new programs and potential big swings because you run the organization.

What You’ll Own

The core

• Leadership team. Run the weekly leadership cadence, quarterly goal-setting, and the organization's decision-making process. Clarify owners, timelines, and budgets.
• Managing managers. Directly manage several VPs or directors, develop them, and set an example for how great management works to grow a thriving team.
• Org design and culture. You are the chief organizer at a fast-growing, fully remote, 110-person organization, shaping the structures, roles and rituals to steward the culture.
• Chief problem-solver. Act as the CEO's proxy on hard internal problems: unstick decisions, mediate between teams, land execution.
• Strategy partner to the CEO. Help evaluate major investments on both business and mission terms.

Flexibly, shaped around you

Roughly rank-ordered in terms of likelihood, you’ll own some of the below, based on your background.

• People and operations. Our VP of People and her team: hiring, onboarding, performance and growth systems, HR, and labor relations with our staff union.
• Finance. Budgeting, projections, cash and margin across our entities (LLC, PAC, c4, c3), working with our finance consultants — or partnering closely with a standalone CFO.
• Legal. Primary point of engagement with our General Counsel on contracts, compliance, entity structure, and labor matters.
• Core programs & technology. The teams that design and send our most baked programs, mostly SMS turnout work.
• Consulting and partnerships. The team that sells and delivers electoral and advocacy programs for campaigns, PACs, and partner organizations.
• Small dollar fundraising. A small email and SMS operation could be expanded using our related capacities under the right person.
• New program lines. Vice presidents building our newest programs — organic social media, field, warmed audiences, volunteer organizing, paid advertising.

The Leader

Required

• 10+ years of experience, including 5+ years managing managers. You've structured and hired roles to create leverage, not just supervised individuals.
• You've been the number one or two operating leader at an entity that doubled or more in headcount during your tenure.
• You are passionate about strengthening democracy and creating measurable impact; you combine intense curiosity and an innovative growth mindset.

Preferred

• Political campaign or tech experience strongly preferred; advocacy or other social sector experience somewhat helpful.
• Strategy consulting or similar analytical training, followed by an operating role.
• Work in an evidence-driven setting where results were measured rigorously.
• Experience with marketing, via SMS ideally, but other performance-marketing modes are also relevant.
• Experience with a unionized workforce.

Three leadership profiles that could be great in this role at Movement Labs — is this you?

• The operator. You have run people, finance, and operations as the number one or two of a growing start-up or organization, perhaps starting off first in a consulting or quant role.
• The builder. You have built and scaled ambitious new programs and led the teams that ran them in a high-evidence context. You may not have raised the money, but you understand the feedback loop between impact measurement and finances.
• The political executive. You have run a major campaign, a consulting firm, or a committee, and you manage as well as you strategize.

Location

Fully remote, with travel for leadership retreats and key meetings.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $200,000–$250,000, depending on experience and location, with additional incentive compensation tied to successfully achieving Movement Labs' growth and impact goals.
• Benefits: Health, dental, and vision; 401(k); work-from-home stipend; unlimited PTO.

Start Date

Target January 2027; flexible for the right candidate.