CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities is seeking a Lead Organizer for our Astoria Chapter. The Lead Organizer is responsible for building neighborhood power in Western Queens with working class Bangali immigrants. The lead is primarily responsible for supervising organizers and developing and implementing local campaign strategy within the Astoria chapter to build our membership base, develop member leadership and win campaigns. The ideal candidate will have a proven ability to develop campaign strategy with working class members, supervise organizers to basebuild, run political education workshops and win campaigns that intervene in the gentrification of New York City. This is a leadership position at CAAAV and is also responsible, alongside the Executive Director, Managing Director, Organizing Director, and Leadership Team, for maintaining the health, well-being, and staff culture of the organization.

About CAAAV

CAAAV’s purpose is to develop the leadership of working class Asian immigrants to make a significant intervention in the gentrification of NYC by building neighborhood power in Chinatown, Sunset Park, and Queens. Chinatown, Sunset Park, and Queens are neighborhoods where Asian immigrants are the fastest growing driving force of the working class, and could potentially shift the long-term political landscape of the city. Our vision is to build neighborhood power to win universal rent control in NYC and constrict our opposition, the real estate industry.

Responsibilities

The Astoria Chapter Lead Organizer’s specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead Chapter Development & Supervise ATU Organizers

  • Lead and facilitate effective Astoria chapter team meetings and coordination

  • Provide weekly Supervision and train organizers to develop member leaders’ skills and basebuild through regular street outreach, door knocking, relationship mapping, etc.

  • Alongside the Membership Organizers, lead the process of developing trainings that increase political alignment, leadership and skills of Astoria chapter members

  • Manage local coalition relationships, develop coalition strategy, connect member leadership with coalitions, and represent in local coalitions for the Astoria chapter and CAAAV

• Strategy Development

  • Lead the process of local campaign identification and strategy development in alignment with Out to Win (CAAAV Staff’s campaign strategy team) alongside the Organizing Director, Executive Director and member leaders. This position reports to the Organizing Director to coordinate broader campaign strategies in line with CAAAV’s strategy.

• Organizational Leadership

  • Coordinate with Finance and Operations Manager, including managing the ATU team’s budget

  • Support the Organizing Director and Leadership Team in the political and skills development of organizers across CAAAV’s chapters

  • Support the ED, Managing Director and Leadership Team to assess and maintain the health, wellbeing and staff culture of the organization, including supporting organizational development and resourcing goals where relevant

  • Actively participate in and show leadership in Staff strategy planning, political development, and evaluation activities

  • Support team to ensure that organizing work is in compliance across our c3 and c4, ensure timely completion of documentation such timesheets, financial receipts, and reporting

  • Represent CAAAV’s strategy and values in all internal and external activities

This position will supervise the CAAAV Astoria Tenants Union Membership Organizers and Youth Organizer and reports to the Organizing Director.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

• 3-5 years of experience supervising organizers focused on base building and leadership development

• Experience developing and implementing campaign strategy, especially led by working class members

• Ability to speak and experience organizing in Bangla

• Experience organizing working class South Asian immigrants

• Experience developing and implementing political education and leadership development plans and curriculum

• Experience in other Left, base building, organizing and/or movement organizations

• Strong commitment to CAAAV’s strategy and values

• Ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple projects at the same time

• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends

• Demonstrates emotional intelligence in navigating interpersonal dynamics, conflict, and difference across lines of identity and power

• Ability to give and receive direct, grounded feedback with care and intention

• Strong peer‐counseling, conflict‐management and crisis management skills preferred

• Knowledge in public policy, land use, and urban planning

Note: Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single qualification listed. If you are excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Benefits and Schedule

This is a full-time, exempt position with benefits including fully paid health insurance, 20 vacation days a year, a generous sick day policy, paid sabbatical after five years of employment, professional development and work from home stipends, and more. The pay for this position is $85,000-100,000. The final salary is calculated based on a standardized salary scale and is non-negotiable. As a working class immigrant organization, we recognize that people of certain class and cultural backgrounds are often more familiar with salary negotiation practices. To ensure equity across a staff of mixed class and cultural backgrounds, we have a negotiation free salary structure.

We currently operate on a hybrid schedule, with this role working from our Astoria office a minimum of 3 days per week, with regular evening and weekend hours. We continue to encourage masking and regular testing to maintain a safe environment and to protect our disabled and immunocompromised colleagues. Please note that our office policy remains subject to change based on evolving public health guidelines.

To Apply

Please send a cover letter and resume to jobs@caaav.org with subject heading: ASTORIA LEAD ORGANIZER. We will review applications on a rolling basis, but priority will be given to applications submitted by April 3, 2026. CAAAV is an equal opportunity employer. Women, immigrants, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, and people of color from low-income communities are strongly encouraged to apply. Due to the high volume of calls, please do not call. Applicants will be notified for an interview by email.