Youth Engagement Specialist

Job Description

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD

The Campaign Finance Board is a nonpartisan, independent city agency that empowers New Yorkers to have a greater impact on their elections. Our mission is to make local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable by removing barriers to participation.

We make it easier for New Yorkers to vote, meaningfully support candidates for city office, and run for office themselves. NYC Votes, our voter engagement initiative, meets people where they are to share trustworthy election information and help New Yorkers make a plan to vote. We publish the citywide Voter Guide, which delivers information about candidates directly to voters’ doors. Our public matching funds program ensures small contributions can make a big difference, allowing regular people to run for office by relying on the support of other regular people, not just wealthy donors and special interests. And we lift the veil on how candidates raise and spend money, increasing transparency and accountability in local government.

We believe that when every New Yorker is empowered to participate meaningfully in elections, candidates will better reflect the communities they serve, elected leaders will be more accountable to the public, and New Yorkers will have a democracy they can truly trust.

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

Public Affairs Division

The Public Affairs division engages New Yorkers, informs them about elections, and boosts their participation in the democratic process. We make election information accessible and relevant, increase engagement with underrepresented communities, and cultivate a team that reflects our core values of purpose, curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.

The division includes Marketing and Digital Communications, Community Engagement, Language Access, and Public Relations. Our division’s work includes publishing the citywide Voter Guide, running the official citywide Debates Program, and managing the voter engagement initiative, NYC Votes.

Community Engagement Department

The Community Engagement unit works to build partnerships across the city to disseminate voting information, deliver accessible voter education, and conduct direct to voter outreach. Through relationships with community-based organizations as well as on-the-ground voter outreach, this team creates pathways for all New Yorkers to gain trustworthy and accessible information and education around voting and democracy.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are seeking a Youth Engagement Specialist to support our Youth Programs Team, which builds relationships with youth-serving organizations and delivers voter education and civic engagement programming to young New Yorkers. The team focuses on engaging New Yorkers ages 14–24 through community partnerships, educational workshops, trainings, and events that build civic knowledge, leadership, and capacity for sustained participation in the democratic process.

Youth voter turnout is particularly low in several neighborhoods, particularly in the South Bronx and East New York. We are especially interested in candidates with lived and or professional experience developing and implementing youth programming in these communities.

The Specialist will lead voter education and engagement efforts for young New Yorkers ages 14–24, with a focus on building civic knowledge, leadership, and long-term capacity for participation. The educational programming will cover topics such as Civic Engagement, Local History, Campaign Finance, and more. The work will include developing and facilitating workshops, planning and executing community events, developing and delivering train-the-trainer sessions for educators and youth leaders, partnering with public schools to create and implement programming, and creating other opportunities for young people to engage with the electoral process.

Given these responsibilities, we are looking for someone with strong organizational, communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills. This role will require building and maintaining relationships with a diverse range of youth-serving organizations, schools, and community partners; understanding the unique needs and experiences of young people across New York City; and managing multiple programs, events, and cross-team collaborations. The success of this work relies heavily on strong interpersonal skills, which is why we are looking for someone with demonstrated empathy, discernment, adaptability, and self-accountability. The Specialist should understand the structural barriers that can limit young people’s participation in civic and electoral life and bring an approach that centers accessibility, relationship-building, and youth leadership. Beyond the technical skills, this role requires someone who can create spaces where young people feel respected, heard, and empowered to participate, while thoughtfully navigating different perspectives, priorities, and community contexts.

We believe that a diversity of experiences and perspectives will help us build stronger teams. We strongly encourage people of color/the global majority, people that speak a language other than English, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, and people with other marginalized identities to apply.

The responsibilities and tasks to be completed in this role include, but are not limited to:

Relationship Management

- Research and identify new and existing partner organizations – including city agencies, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to expand NYC Votes’ outreach.

- Develop and implement a tailored partnership building plan specifically for organizations in assigned geographies in alignment with strategic goals.

- Develop, manage, and evaluate paid partnership opportunities with organizations serving people in priority neighborhoods that result in measurable community impact.

- Identify opportunities to deepen partnerships by creating collaborative initiatives, advisory opportunities, co-created programming, and on-going community feedback mechanisms.

- Convene partners through meetings, listening sessions, advisory groups, networking opportunities to strengthen relations, and gather feedback.

- Manage material requests and distribution to voters in priorities neighborhoods, ensuring NYC Votes printed materials and toolkits are widely available.

Trainings, Workshops, and Education Programs

- Develop relevant educational content that encourages use and understanding of accessibility tools, civic engagement, and voter contributors, and candidate participation for youth voters in priority neighborhoods

- Plan community conversations, trainings, and workshops both virtually and in-person for people in assigned geographies and audiences.

- Work closely with partner organizations to improve NYC Votes education content and delivery, providing accessible tools like print and downloadable materials.

- Deliver education based on audience needs which may include various formats depending on trust, safety, engagement-level, and other aspects of the audience (conversation circles, presentations, classroom-style activities, etc.)

- Develop paid educational programming with key partners and coordinate invoicing and purchases for education related activities in collaboration with Supervisor and Finance Department.

- Develop and implement various methods to collect and incorporate audience feedback, including real-time survey, pre and post surveys, follow up phone calls, etc.

- Create experiential engagement programming and other creative forms of community engagement.

Data Management, Project Management, and Reporting

- Collect, maintain, and regularly update data for all assigned projects, ensuring information is complete, accurate, and documented according to unit policies.

- Effectively utilize CRM, project management tools, data dashboards, and other agency tools to manage work, track progress, and support reporting and decision making.

- Maintain consistent and organized tracking of partner data, including contact information, meeting notes, organizational tags, relationship history, and other relevant data as required.

- Ensure events are accurately entered, updated, and maintained on calendars and event trackers.

- Accurately and promptly enter event details, attendance, outcomes, and other required reporting into designated trackers, CRM systems, dashboards, and reporting tools following established data standards and procedures.

- Regularly review assigned data, trackers, and records to identify and correct errors, missing information, or inconsistencies, maintaining a high standard of data quality and integrity.

- Demonstrate ownership of administrative systems and processes by proactively identifying opportunities to improve workflows, documentation, and data management practices.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & OTHER BEHAVIORS (KSAOs)

We're seeking individuals eager to make an impact, even if they don't tick every box on our job description. We believe in the power of diverse perspectives and the unique blend of lived experiences, non-traditional education pathways, practical know-how, and a variety of skills and abilities that each candidate brings to the table. If you're ready to learn and grow with us, we encourage you to apply and be part of our dynamic team.

Knowledge

- Knowledge of NYC campaign finance law, voter registration processes, and the role of the CFB in supporting elections and civic participation.

- Knowledge of best practices and safety protocols for working with minors. Child safety laws within New York City and State.

Skills

- Skill of strong public speaking

Abilities

- Ability to build trust with diverse communities, especially historically underrepresented groups

- Ability to communicate effective and respectfully across diverse ethnic, linguistic, and cultural groups, adjusting style and ton to build trust and credibility.

- Ability to break down complex civic topics into content that is appropriate for the audience.

Other Characteristics

- Understanding of best practices for building and maintaining partnerships with community-based organizations and civic institutions.

- Understanding of the high school (14-18) and college-age (18-24) youth populations, with an emphasis on NYC Public Schools and CUNY students, including history, culture, language, and barriers to access (i.e. immigration status, digital divide, trust in government, etc.)

- Relationship-Building: clearly communicate with partners and stakeholders and build authentic relationships rooted in trust and understanding.

- Basic knowledge of New York City local and state government.

- Understanding of age-appropriate learning principles and instructional formats (presentations, conversation circles, classroom style activities) appropriate for diverse audiences.

- Workshop Facilitation: deliver engaging, audience-appropriate presentations and trainings in varied formats to community members, including populations with diverse literacy levels and English proficiency.

- Basic proficiency with PowerPoint. Ability to prepare engaging and professional slide decks with clear visuals.

- Openness to learning and deepening understanding of New York City communities.

- High emotional intelligence, self and relational awareness

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

These are qualifications that would be helpful, but are not essential to being successful in the role. Candidates with these qualifications will be given preference in the selection process.

- Previous experience with elections and voting work preferred, especially in NYC

- Previous experience working in NYC Public Schools and/or building curriculum, especially around history, social studies, or civic engagement

- Language (strongly preferred): Proficient in one or more of NYC Votes’ covered languages
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APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

- While completing the application, candidates are invited to provide a cover letter via “attachment” or the “Message to the Hiring Team” field on SmartRecruiters.

ANALYST CFB AL 2&3 ONLY - 0660A

Qualifications

- A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college including or supplemented by at least twelve-semester credits (or the equivalent of twelve-semester credits) in accounting, auditing, business or public administration, computer science, economics, finance, statistics, graphic design, personnel or human resources administration, user experience design, or a closely related area of study and one year of satisfactory full-time experience in accounting, auditing (including compliance or investigative auditing), business or public administration, business analysis, computer science, database administration, economics, finance, fiscal or economic management or research, statistics, graphic design, personnel or human resources administration, user experience design, or a closely related field; or

- A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and five years of experience as described in “1” above; or

- Education and/or experience equivalent to “1” above.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.