Activist & Proxy Voting Sr. Manager (Remote)

Full-Time, Remote, Exempt Position

THE ORGANIZATION

MISSION

As You Sow seeks to promote environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies.

VISION

Our vision is a safe, just, and sustainable world in which protecting the environment and human rights is central to corporate decision-making.

OVERVIEW

As You Sow is a Berkeley-based non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1992 that promotes corporate environmental and social responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. We believe that the path to a safe, just, and sustainable world for all, can be achieved by compelling corporations to take greater responsibility for the impacts of their environmental, social, and governance policies and practices. We achieve this goal through direct engagement, shareholder advocacy, research, publishing scorecards, and other innovative and legal actions.

COMMITMENT TO JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion)

As You Sow actively seeks to recruit and retain a diverse staff in all areas of operations. As You Sow will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, sex, or sexual orientation.

THE POSITION

This is a full-time non-exempt position. The job has two interwoven parts: 1) Managing Board Escalation Campaigns; 2) Managing the As You Vote proxy voting service on multiple platforms.

As You Sow conducts engagements with major corporations on a range of issues including climate change, toxins in the food system, ocean plastics, racial justice, diversity, and excessive executive compensation. Engagements may escalate to Board campaigns under Universal Proxy rules.

The Senior Manager will be responsible for managing the escalation process from beginning to end. This will require work across a range of issues areas – from economics to deep dives into organizational campaign issues; knowledge of boards; the ability to identify qualified board candidates; the ability to identify and manage consulting teams, experts, academics, and specialists; proven track record in meeting deadlines; familiarity with using media and marketing to communicate stories and make the case for change.

The second part of this job includes managing As You Vote, the ESG-aligned proxy voting service that has been operational for the past two proxy seasons on the Broadridge ProxyEdge platform. The ideal candidate will also oversee the integration of our proxy voting guidelines with third party start-up platforms for pass-thru and retail voting. This portion of the position will include working with software development teams to maintain and upgrade or our proxy voting service. The ideal candidate will oversee daily case-by-case voting, work with content experts to update our proxy voting guidelines, and direct software engineers as we expand this service for pass-thru voting and retail. You will also be involved in potential SEC discussions and filing of petitions to improve proxy voting rules for retail investors.

Position Type: 1.0 FTE. Exempt

Start date: Position will be open until filled

Reports to: CEO

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Weekly planning with CEO and others to determine escalation of engagements to board action
• Research of company incumbent corporate directors
• Recruiting board candidates
• Coordination with team of experts advisors
• Coordination with specialized legal counsel
• Working with program team on company-specific planning, including making a persuasive case for board candidates to shareholders and proxy advisors
• Working with media and communications team on marketing of campaigns
• Coordination with allies running no-confidence vote campaigns
• Daily maintenance of As You Vote platform
• Coordination with start-up proxy voting services
• Developing technical specs and managing software development team(s)

QUALIFICATIONS

• 2+ years of experience with and understanding of shareholder activism
• 2+ years of experience in proxy voting mechanics and solicitation
• Experience with Broadridge ProxyEdge platform a plus
• Love of teamwork.
• Fluency with Microsoft Office, Outlook, Excel;
• Familiarity with Salesforce, Wrike, or other project management software
• Excellent comprehension skills
• Excellent interpersonal engagement and communication skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong writing skills
• Experience in marketing a plus
• Comfort writing press releases and speaking with press
• Ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to act independently, communicate frequently, and ask questions when needed
• Demonstrated commitment to progressive social and environmental change
• Strong work ethic, self-motivated, and commitment to excellence
• Openness to learning from others and developing new professional and personal skills
• Advanced Excel skills a plus
• Sense of humor appreciated

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US

• Salary: $100,000 to $105,000
• Benefits: Healthcare, dental, vision insurance, Life, Long-term disability Voluntary Life, Employee Assistance Program, 401K, parental leave, phone stipend, 18 holidays, 1 volunteer day, and 10 vacation days in first year of employment (15 vacation days each subsequent year).
• A team with passion and fun
• A low-ego, high-performance culture and flexible work environment

https://asyousow.bamboohr.com/careers/50?source=aWQ9Mjg%3D