This application is for the Chief of Staff position at OneAmerica. OneAmerica is also currently hiring for a Development Director - information about that role can be accessed here. 

OneAmerica is seeking a Chief of Staff to serve as a senior strategic partner to the Executive Director and a key member of the organization's leadership team. This is a substantial, multifaceted role for an experienced leader who wants to plant roots in an organization doing serious, sustained movement work—someone energized both by the urgency of this moment and by the long-term project of building immigrant power in Washington State and beyond.

As Chief of Staff, you'll lead OneAmerica's Policy and Campaigns Team, act as a strategic facilitator for the Senior Leadership Team, and serve as a bridge between visionary leadership and effective execution—translating big-picture thinking into actionable plans while holding external relationships across the progressive political ecosystem. It is a role that requires strategic depth, exceptional people skills, and the ability to move comfortably between policy work and grassroots organizing.

You'll be stepping into an organization in a strong position: 25 years of relationship-building and political credibility, stable and growing funding, and deeply committed leadership and staff.  But what makes this position truly exceptional is the nature of the fight itself. Immigrants are under attack nationally, and Washington State is where we push back, where we win, and where we're actively modeling for the rest of the country what it looks like to fully include immigrants as part of the fabric of our communities. This is a chance to be at the center of that fight:  to lead a resistance movement inside an organization committed to long-term power building and real wins for immigrants in Washington State. For the right person, there is no more exciting or meaningful place to work.

Organizational Overview  

OneAmerica organizes immigrant and refugee leaders and our allies in Washington State to build power in our communities and run campaigns that ensure immigrants are not only protected and can survive but that immigrants can thrive and are equal, valued and loved.  Established in 2001 by U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, we have since grown to become a locally and nationally recognized leader in advancing immigrant, civil, and human rights. 

OneAmerica envisions a peaceful world where every person’s human rights and dignity are respected, where communities appreciate differences and stand together for justice and equality, and where each person contributes to the common good. All of our work is grounded in our Theory of Change and guided by the conviction that people directly impacted should lead our movement for justice because they are best equipped to create real solutions that build lasting power. Grassroots immigrant leaders—our base—drive priorities across our organization.  

Power building means developing the collective strength, leadership, and political will to create lasting, systemic change—not just winning individual policy fights, but shifting who holds power and how decisions get made. At OneAmerica, this work takes four forms:

• Organizing: We build the leadership of immigrant and refugee grassroots leaders to organize together with our allies to co-govern with elected leaders in communities where we live and work.

• Policy & Advocacy: With our grassroots leaders driving our campaigns, we develop and advocate for policies that serve our communities at the local, state, and federal levels—building power each step of the way.

• Civic Engagement: We train and support people like us to run for office, mobilize voters and funds to elect people who represent us, and endorse and support pro-immigrant candidates to govern with us through our sister organization, OneAmerica Votes.

• Immigration Inclusion: We advocate for systems that include immigrants at every level, including the workforce, and provide English classes and U.S. citizenship support as a point of entry into our movement.

We carry out this work in Washington State through a family of four organizations, which consists of OneAmerica (501(c)3), OneAmerica Votes (501(c)4), OneAmerica Votes Justice Fund (State PAC), OneAmerica Votes Justice for All Fund (Federal PAC). With a combined budget of over $6M and 28 staff, visionary leadership, and stable funding streams, OneAmerica is well positioned to meet today’s challenges with both resilience and resolve.

Working at OneAmerica 

OneAmerica is a close-knit, high-performing team that operates at campaign pace—making decisions quickly, executing, and moving forward—while holding high expectations of ourselves and each other. Our staff reflects the communities we serve: approximately 80% are immigrants or children of immigrants, and our leadership team is entirely women of color. This is a multicultural, multigenerational workplace where no two people share the same story, and where the work is deeply personal for most of our people. While we are genuinely collaborative and cross-functional, OneAmerica operates with a clear decision-making structure that keeps us focused and moving.

Relational organizing is at the heart of how we work internally and externally. We believe in developing deep, authentic relationships that articulate clear self-interests, both inside and outside of the organization. In practice, this means staff regularly hold 1:1 conversations with coworkers, community members, partner organizations, and elected leaders to understand their values, the experiences that have shaped them, their drive to make change, and what gets in the way of acting powerfully. We see the world as it is, even as we envision a better one, which sometimes means making strategic choices grounded in our power analysis about where and how to engage, rather than fighting every battle. Comfort with that tension is part of working here—these relationships, and the hard work they require, are transformational for our team and for the people with whom we work.

OneAmerica staff work in one of our three offices in Seattle, Yakima, or Vancouver on most Tuesdays and Thursdays, and may work remotely on the other days. Willingness to accommodate community-based scheduling needs, such as occasional evening and weekend meetings or events, is required for all positions due to the nature of our work. If based outside of the Seattle region, regular travel to the Seattle office will be required for this position. 

The Chief of Staff Position

The Chief of Staff plays a pivotal leadership role at OneAmerica, turning visionary leadership into executable strategy and coordinated action. This position leads the policy and campaigns team, serves as a strategic advisor to the Executive Director, and plays a key role on the Senior Leadership Team to facilitate strategic decision-making and cohesion across programs. Taken together, these responsibilities ensure that campaign work is grounded in organizing strategy and power building,  clear priorities are reflected in actionable plans, and the entire organization is aligned toward greater impact.

Facilitating Organizational Strategy and Alignment

You'll facilitate the Senior Leadership Team's strategy development and execution, translating the Executive Director and Deputy Director's visionary thinking into actionable plans with clear ownership and accountability. This includes assessing strategies within the context of organizational capacity and resources, establishing tools to measure progress toward organizational goals, facilitating rapid response decision-making, and ensuring strategic pivots get implemented across the organization. You'll help OneAmerica clarify its unique lane in the broader ecosystem and bring cohesion across teams working toward shared priorities.

Leading Policy and Campaigns Team

You'll lead OneAmerica's efforts to shape, advance, and protect immigrant rights through legislative and administrative advocacy at congressional, state, and local levels. This includes developing annual legislative agendas, managing relationships with policymakers and lobbyists, and directly supervising a growing Policy and Campaigns Team. You'll be responsible for hiring, developing, and managing the staff who carry this work forward; the team currently includes two positions, with growth anticipated as the work expands. In addition to direct supervision of Policy and Campaigns staff, you'll provide dotted-line guidance and coordination to staff across the organization whose work intersects with policy and campaign priorities. A critical aspect of this role is tethering policy and campaign strategy to grassroots organizing and power building rather than operating as a separate agenda.

High-Level Partnership and External Leadership

You'll provide strategic partnership and staffing to the Executive Director while she engages externally with partner organizations, government leaders, funders, and other stakeholders. You'll stand in for the ED as needed and hold your own high-level relationships across the progressive political ecosystem. A particular focus will be building and facilitating the WA For All Table, which brings together labor, faith, and community leaders to fight authoritarianism and respond to the current political attacks on immigrants through the lens of power.

Building Team Capacity

You'll provide professional development and mentorship to staff on power building, strategy, and relationships, serving as an accessible bridge between staff and senior leadership. You'll participate in organizing work across OneAmerica's three regional offices to stay personally connected to the grassroots work that drives the organization.

The Leader We Seek

We ask that candidates be able to clearly articulate their self-interest in immigrant and refugee rights work. What's at stake for you personally, and what drives your commitment to power-building work? While we don't expect any single candidate to meet every criterion listed below, we are seeking the following skills and attributes in our next Chief of Staff:

Strategic Leadership That Translates Vision into Action

We seek candidates who are proven strategic thinkers able to translate high-level vision into strategic workplans with executable goals. Our ideal candidate has a minimum of 10 years working in nonprofit or public sector organizations and can partner effectively with visionary leaders to carry out operations grounded in strategy—knowing when to lead from the front and when from behind, and skilled in facilitating leadership decision-making to prioritize impact among competing demands.

Excellence in Team Building, Development and Facilitation

We seek candidates with at least 5 years experience managing people and staff teams, including managing cross-functional teams to ensure alignment to shared goals. Our ideal candidate excels at hiring, developing, and coaching teams; is skilled at giving and receiving feedback and facilitating difficult conversations to successfully navigate tensions; and can be a mentor to build leadership capacity, workload balance, and staff morale across the entire organization.

Deep Policy, Campaign, and Organizing Expertise 

We seek candidates who have managed policy campaigns or organizing work, ideally running member-driven campaigns, and are experienced working at a fast pace in sometimes chaotic environments while maintaining strategic focus. Our ideal candidate has strong state legislative policy experience and understands how to do that work in partnership with grassroots organizing and alongside other organizations, moving them to work together.

Exceptional Relationship Building and Facilitation

We seek candidates who are highly skilled at building rapport and trust quickly across races, ages, and cultures and can hold high-level relationships with diverse stakeholders. Our ideal candidate has strong facilitation skills to drive real-time decision-making with partners across differences, excellent judgment in assessing dynamics and context, and comfort managing conflict and productive tension in service of shared interests.

Maturity and Resilience for This Moment

We seek candidates who are seasoned leaders with experience navigating significant organizational or political challenges. Our ideal candidate has thick skin and high tolerance for ambiguity and vulnerability, can operate effectively when priorities shift rapidly, and maintains commitment to long-term strategy while responding to immediate crises.

Compensation and Benefits 

This is a full-time salaried position. The expected salary range is between $125,000 and $150,000, depending on qualifications and experience. 

OneAmerica has a transparent compensation philosophy and offers cost-of-living and annual merit-based raises. Our competitive compensation package includes generous benefits and PTO: 

• Five weeks of paid time off in years 0-3 with increasing accrual after that. In addition, 3 floating holidays, 7 paid federal holidays, 3 days over Thanksgiving break, and approximately a two-week closure at year's end. 

• 90% employer-paid premiums for medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as 100% employer-paid premiums for short- and long-term disability and life insurance

• Cell phone and transportation stipends and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

• A tax-advantaged 403(b) savings plan with a 4% employer match

• A paid sabbatical leave of 12 weeks as a bonus to regular, full-time employees who have completed five years of service

• OneAmerica is committed to work/life balance, encouraging meeting-free Fridays and offering "Summer Fridays" during July and August, giving staff three-day weekends for two months each summer. 

• OneAmerica is committed to employee growth and advancement, including investments in professional development.

Commitment to Equity 

OneAmerica is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity and inclusion. Our human capital is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities, and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of not only our culture, but our reputation and organization’s achievements. We embrace and encourage the differences that make our employees unique.

OneAmerica is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

How to Apply

Online applications only, please no email or paper submissions.  You will be asked to upload a cover letter and a resume. In your cover letter, please describe as specifically as you can how your experience and values are a fit with OneAmerica’s mission and goals for this position as described in this announcement. 

All applications will be acknowledged via an email receipt. Consideration will be given to applications as soon as they are received; phone and in-person interviewing is anticipated to begin at the end of March. Early applications are strongly encouraged! 

Questions regarding this opportunity are welcomed and can be directed to:

Sarah Cody Roth sarah(at)cloversearchworks.com

Clover Search Works facilitates leadership searches for nonprofit organizations whose missions strengthen communities. Clover is honored to be partnering with OneAmerica in this search.

Posting: March 4, 2026