Before kickstarting your campaign, take the time to build the correct team!
Having the correct team surrounding you when running a campaign is of the utmost importance, and a key step to ensuring that happens is putting together the right job descriptions for finding those folks and making sure you are asking for someone to apply for the role you actually need for your campaign. For example, say you need help raising money—you may think you need a treasurer, but what you are really looking for is a fundraising director. Below, you’ll find a complete list of campaign job descriptions that you might find in a moderately-sized race.
Campaign Manager
This is your on-the-ground, day-to-day manager. Your go-to person, so to speak. This is the person you will count on to manage your staff, general strategies, and to keep you updated on everything you need to know. You can check out our post on how to hire an effective campaign manager here.
Pollster
A pollster is someone you count on to build or interpret polling for your campaign. They will be able to advise you on how to properly message based on the results of polls. For a larger campaign, this might be someone on permanent staff, but for a smaller campaign, you may hire a pollster to conduct and interpret one or two polls.
Treasurer
This individual is responsible for the campaign's bank account. Here at TCW, we advise that only three people should have the ability to manage funds: The candidate, the treasurer, and the assistant treasurer. If you follow this suggestion, make sure that your treasurer is someone whom you trust. It's also helpful if this person is a lawyer— treasurers for campaigns often have to interpret election law and make sure they are following reporting regulations for your funds.
Assistant Treasurer
Most of the time, depending on which state you’re running for office in and what that office is, many forms will require an assistant treasurer. We recommend someone you trust as a candidate, such as a former high school teacher or a successful old friend. This person is an extra set of eyes on the finance operation, but doesn't necessarily need to have the same experience with managing campaign funds as your treasurer. But make sure they're good at math!
Fundraising Director
A fundraising director should be your right-hand person when it comes to raising money. This individual is responsible for your fundraising operation in its entirety. Depending on how you set up your campaign, this person could be making large asks of donors with you, managing the day-to-day operation of your fundraising team, or sitting with you while you complete call time to your personal list.
Call-Time Manager
Call sheets, call sheets, and more call sheets. This person is responsible for managing the call-time efforts of the candidate and any other folks who will be helping with that task. The most important job of this individual is not just the organization of call sheets, but managing your fundraising database. They'll keep track of who gives what, and when they give it.
Compliance Manager
Whether a volunteer or full-time staffer, a compliance manager is an absolute must for a campaign team, especially on larger races. Working as a team with your treasurer, this person is responsible for making sure you follow all laws and regulations when running your campaign. As with the treasurer, a law degree (or at least some experience interpreting election law) is a big bonus when hiring a compliance manager.
Finance Assistant
Think of the finance assistant as an organizer who only does fundraising. This person is responsible for growing your web of donors, setting up fundraisers, and managing your database. For smaller races, you may not have a finance assistant. However, as you'll realize as your campaign progresses, the more help you have with fundraising, the better. This person should be outgoing and organized.
Scheduler
Schedulers have one of the most important jobs we'll discuss in this blog post. Scheduling is truly an art form. This person is responsible for scheduling all events for the candidate and, unfortunately, declining invitations as well (politely!). This person controls the candidate’s life, so make sure it’s someone who can handle some pressure and is incredibly organized.
Field Director
The field director is responsible for your field program. They will organize knocking on doors, volunteers, your phone program, and anything involving talking to voters about the election. They will be the person making sure that your message reaches voters and that those voters can have conversations about the candidate and their positions.
Field Organizer
Arguably the backbone of most campaigns, field organizers are there to organize scores of volunteers to speak with voters. They report to the field director and may be responsible for specific portions of the larger field program. As a rule, it's important they are outgoing!
Press Secretary
The press secretary has an important job. They communicate with the press about your messaging and help get your name in front of voters, reaching them where they are. They can also get you interviews, field questions, and manage your general image.
General Consultant
Unlike a campaign manager, a general consultant oversees much of the campaign's operation but isn’t responsible for the day-to-day goals. Typically, a general consultant is someone who has been working in politics for a long time and is familiar with the lay of the land in your district or state. Most of the time, this individual will manage the consultant team and have the constant ear of the candidate.
Media Consultant
The media consultant is responsible for advising on and producing television and terrestrial radio ads. They will help put together your message in a way that makes sense for the medium, and typically have connections to help things run as smoothly as possible.
Mail Consultant
The mail consultant advises on and produces all of your direct mail, as well as palm cards, yard signs, or any other printed material for your campaign. They can write copy, help with design, and advise on messaging
Digital Consultant
The digital consultant is responsible for producing, advising on, and placing all digital ads. Similarly to the media and mail consultants, they will have experience running digital ads and will be able to advise on best practices and delivery strategies efficiently.
Finance Consultant
The finance consultant is much like the general consultant. In most cases, it’s someone who knows the lay of the land in your district or state and has a lot of experience and time working on campaigns. They will advise the campaign on how to operate an effective fundraising strategy, as well as provide the campaign with useful insight on the players you could be targeting.
Of course, these jobs are simply starting points—you may discover, as you build your team, that there is an additional role that would fill a need for you. However, these are our favorite places to start.
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