Tools and Training Specialist
Unemployed Workers United (UWU) works in multiple states in the South and Southwest to respond to our current economic and health crisis with solutions that will allow all of us to thrive—anchored by five partnered national progressive organizations: People’s Action, United for Respect, Mijente, the National Black Worker Center, and Working Families Party. Our focus is to organize with local grassroots organizations to engage unemployed, underemployed, and workers facing precarious employment in building power to change their living conditions in their cities and change the working conditions in their workplaces.
The Tools and Training Specialist’s primary responsibility is to develop and manage strategic vendor relations supporting the organization's internal and external technology and data projects, and to assist in training internal staff and external partners of tools and technology usage.
Reports to: Technology Director
Key Relationships: Data & Analytics Coordinator, Data & Tools Coordinator, Digital Organizing Director, National Digital Organizers
Location: Remote
Responsibilities:
- Identify, onboard, and manage relationships with technology vendors, ensuring they align with the organization's goals and values.
- Evaluate and recommend technology tools and software solutions that enhance the organization's efficiency, effectiveness, and impact.
- Collaborate with relevant teams to ensure successful implementation and training of selected tools.
- Foster strong working relationships with vendors, maintaining open communication channels and addressing any concerns or issues that arise.
- Act as a liaison between internal stakeholders and vendors to ensure smooth collaboration.
- Monitor contract timelines and support with negotiating changes as needed.
- Continuously assess the organization's existing technology infrastructure and tools, identifying opportunities for optimization and upgrades.
- Stay updated on emerging technologies and trends relevant to movement, labor, and electoral work.
- Ensure that all tools and technologies the organization uses meet data security and privacy standards.
- Collaborate with the legal department to address any potential security vulnerabilities or privacy concerns.
- Collaborate with all internal departments to understand their technological needs and ensure alignment with vendor partnerships.
- Assist in tool cost tracking.
- Provide training to staff members and external partners on the use of new tools and technologies, ensuring that they can effectively leverage these resources.
- Offer technical support and troubleshooting assistance when needed.
- Solicit feedback from internal teams about the effectiveness of tools and vendor relationships and make adjustments as necessary.
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications and Skills:
- Minimum of 2-4 years of experience in movement, labor, or electoral work.
- Administrative experience with peer-to-peer texting tools, CRMs, and VAN.
- Ability to build strong partnerships and collaborate effectively with external vendors.
- Strong project management skills to oversee the implementation of technology solutions from assessment to rollout.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills to effectively present findings and insights to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Proficiency in evaluating, selecting, and implementing technology tools and software solutions.
- Understanding of data security and privacy standards and their application in non-profit settings.
- Demonstrated experience in managing vendor relationships, including contract negotiation and performance evaluation.
- Ability to manage timelines, budgets, and resources to ensure successful project completion.
- Capacity to identify challenges, analyze potential solutions, and make informed decisions in a dynamic environment.
- Strong analytical mindset for evaluating technology needs, assessing vendor performance, and optimizing tools.
- A goal-driven, detail-oriented self-starter and part of a collaborative team.
- Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures and challenge people to take risks in order to make change.
- Passion for social justice, building power in multi-racial working-class communities, decolonizing political organizing spaces, empowering grassroots leaders, and enacting impactful socio-economic policies towards long-term systemic changes
- Proven ability to handle projects, set priorities, manage details, and follow through independently.
- Flexibility and a willingness to take on an array of competing tasks.
