Programs Assistant

T’ruah is seeking a full-time Programs Assistant to provide logistical support across the programming department and help advance our Jewish human rights work.

The ideal candidate is a highly organized, self-motivated, detail-oriented communicator with a commitment both to racial equity and learning, and to data-driven advocacy.

This is an exciting time to join T’ruah at an unprecedented moment of growth. We are entering the third year of an ambitious five-year plan to grow our organization and budget substantially. This position is an incredible opportunity for someone who is excited about being part of an organization making social change and protecting human rights.

Who We Are

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Canada, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.

To learn more about our work, visit www.truah.org or find us @truahrabbis on Twitter and Facebook.

What You’ll Do

The Programs Assistant reports to the Chief Strategy Officer and is responsible for the following:

Provide logistical support for T’ruah and Emor’s in-person and virtual programs (discrete events). This includes:

• Communicate with participants and presenters so everyone’s needs are met and payment is processed promptly.
• Help plan and staff immersive programs (e.g., trips to the US border); take a strong lead role on logistical support including coordinating, ordering, and setting up materials and food; research and communicate with vendors; run errands; answer participant questions; support the trip leader; anticipate and solve problems.
• Take responsibility for the logistical aspects of webinars; set up Zoom; run tech – including security protocols; write and send follow-up emails; ensure participant data is logged in Salesforce.
• Create feedback forms for events; collate data and report back to program stakeholders.

Provide logistical support for ongoing internal work, including:

• Manage workflow for (M)oral Torah, our weekly Torah commentary; remind writers before a due date, thank writers after publication, proofread each (M)oral Torah, set up eblast and website versions; follow the T’ruah style guide for all proofreading and editing work. This does not require Jewish content knowledge.
• Take notes at meetings as assigned and input next steps/tasks in Asana.
• Coordinate sales with printer/direct mail vendor for Fragments, Emor’s seasonal publication, as well as other printed resources as needed.
• Website content updates, on both truah.org and emorinstitute.org.
• Occasionally write first drafts of other emails, action alerts, tweets, etc., to support program team activities. 
• Set up and send email mail merges.

Support the program team’s use of Salesforce:

• Serve as “in-house” team expert, understanding that data is a key component of a strong, successful program team.
• Liaise with the Data Manager.
• Create registration forms for all events through our registration system, Click & Pledge.
• Maintain accurate member contact information in the database.
• Create new Salesforce campaigns for merchandise and events.
• Log participant attendance from Zoom events in Salesforce.

If you were in the role right now, you would be: 

• Preparing a distribution system for the next issue of our journal Fragments, due out in late Fall
• Creating a registration page for an upcoming community of practice
• Researching printers (vendors) and preparing a memo summarizing that research for the Emor Program Manager to review
• Researching the contact information of newly ordained rabbis and cantors, entering the data into Salesforce, and working with the Director of Organizing to invite them to become members of T’ruah

Who You Are & Keys to Success

You will be a team player and collaborate with many colleagues in addition to your supervisor.

To be successful in this job, you will be, are, or have:

• At least 1-2 years of work experience.

• Highly organized, motivated, and detail-oriented.
  • Manages a high volume of work with efficiency. Has, or can create, a system for keeping tasks from slipping through the cracks. Able to juggle competing demands from a variety of teammates and prioritize without sacrificing quality. Plans backwards to make deadlines. Asks for help when needed. 
  • Attention to detail. Notices and fixes errors that others might overlook. Acknowledges mistakes and turns them into learning opportunities. Has a track record of leaving things better than you found them.
  • Strong sense of ownership and resilience. Plans ahead and finds alternative paths, when needed, to get to the finish line. Bounces back from setbacks and rejections. Holds a high bar even when things are hectic.
  • Keeps key stakeholders updated across the organization, while maintaining self-directed ownership of a project.

• Committed to accurate and updated data as a driver for effective action.
  • Demonstrated capacity to learn new digital tools. Able to take ownership of clergy Salesforce records and to collaborate with other staff in improving those systems.
  • Able to organize data, extract meaningful patterns, and turn it into stories and directions for action.
  • Patience and ability to teach other teammates how to use data as best as possible.

• Connects details to the big picture.
  • Systems thinker. Sees how different parts of the work fit together, rather than dealing with them as isolated tasks, and proactive about managing cascade effects.
  • Enjoys the details for the sake of the big picture. This role is very micro-scale, and the most successful candidates will derive job satisfaction from knowing how the small pieces add up to fulfilling T’ruah and Emor’s missions.

• Racial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) experience, skills, and values.
  • Knowledge and familiarity with DEI principles. Recognizes ways that race and other identities intersect in the work, both with communities we serve and with fellow colleagues. Comfortable talking about identities such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, ability, or gender in plain, specific terms. Understands the historical context for racial inequity and its present-day implications.
  • Proactively advances equity outcomes. Identifies decisions, policies, or practices that have disparate impacts based on identity. Is driven to make changes in systems and practices to operationalize equity. 
  • Self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Able to reflect on and describe the impact of one’s own identities—and those of others—in a given situation, decision, or process. Demonstrates awareness of growing edges. Able to hear, reflect, act on, and learn from feedback re: identity and equity. 

• Strong written and oral communication skills.
  • Writes clearly without errors for different contexts (e.g., email drafts, website content).
  • Proofreads your own and others’ work.
  • Communicates well with teammates and external partners, orally and in email/text/chat, including sharing context and asking questions to understand others’ perspectives. Does not get overwhelmed with lots of email. Brings a customer service mindset to interactions with members, donors, and general audience, especially those who pay for services related to Emor and T’ruah.

The following skills and experiences are a plus, but not a requirement:

• Experience with Salesforce
• Event-planning experience
• Experience with EveryAction, Quorum/KnowWho, Salsa Engage
• Jewish literacy/Jewish communal literacy
• Experience running Zoom meetings
• Experience with community organizing and/or social justice advocacy

Systemic inequities in hiring have caused many women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If you don’t have all of the qualifications listed above but are extremely organized, passionate about our mission, and believe you have applicable and transferable skills from other industries, we encourage you to apply for this job. We’d love to hear from you. In your cover letter, be sure to explicitly highlight how your experience, skills, and personal qualities have set you up to succeed in the role.

What Else You Should Know 

Status

This position is full-time. 

Salary

This position is in T’ruah’s $51,000 – $60,000 salary band. We set salary within this range through a collaborative process using a standard rubric based on years of experience.  

Location

The job location depends on where you reside: If you live anywhere other than the New York Metropolitan Area, the position is remote. We would prefer the position be filled by someone living on the East Coast. Those living in the New York Metro Area will have our New York City office at their disposal if and when they choose to work from the office, and some amount of in-office work may be required in the future.

Travel

We expect you to have the ability to travel to occasional in-person meetings in various U.S. locations.

Benefits include:

• T’ruah pays for 100% of the employee’s premium and 50% of one dependent’s premium on our recommended medical insurance plan
• Employer-covered basic life and AD&D insurance valued at $10,000
• Optional benefit plans available at employee expense: dental, vision, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, supplemental life insurance, and supplemental AD&D insurance
• Automatic employer contributions of an amount equal to 3% of your salary to your 403(b) retirement account beginning one year after the date of hire – whether or not you make elective deferral contributions
• 15 vacation days a year in your first year of employment, increasing to 20 days a year at the start of your second year of employment
• 34 holidays a year, which includes Jewish and most Federal holidays, Summer Fridays, and a floating holiday
• Paid leave of up to 12 weeks for the birth or adoption of a child

Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

T’ruah is committed to DEI at every level of our organization, including our Board of Directors. For the past several years we have been actively working on becoming an antiracist organization. We have a set of organizational values reflecting this commitment.

Equal opportunity employer

T’ruah isn’t just an equal opportunity employer. We are actively seeking to build a diverse and inclusive team with a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. T’ruah does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, personal appearance, family responsibility, political affiliation or any other status protected by applicable law. Women, transgender people, veterans and people of color are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

• Complete the informational form located here.

AND:

• Send a cover letter and resume to jobs@truah.org. Please write “Programs Assistant” in the subject line. Cover letters will be assessed as a writing sample; resumes without a cover letter will not be considered. No phone calls, please. 

Our Timeline

Applications will be accepted and interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis. Our ideal start date for this position is as soon as possible.