ABOUT THE JOB The ACLU seeks applicants for the full-time position of Senior Advisor, Affiliate Strategic Planning in the Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives (ASNI) Department of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY.

Requirements

of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month. The Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives Department (ASNI) builds state capacity and strengthens and maintains the connections between the ACLU and its network of 54 state affiliates and the 1,500 staff who work out of the state offices. Their work constitutes an unparalleled bulwark in the defending and advancing of civil liberties and civil rights.

The Department staff lead efforts to share knowledge, talent, and skill across the organization, building the next generation of civil rights leaders and positioning the organization for future challenges.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Reporting to the National Director, Affiliate Support and Nationwide initiatives , the Senior Advisor, Affiliate Strategic Planning is a senior role within Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives (ASNI) responsible for strengthening the quality, rigor, and impact of strategic planning across the ACLU’s nationwide enterprise. The position exists to ensure that affiliates have the frameworks, tools, and guidance needed to define their priorities and translate them into coherent, executable strategies that build durable institutional capacity and advance the ACLU’s mission across all states. Working in partnership with affiliate leaders and national colleagues, the Senior Advisor helps steward strategic planning processes that integrate program strategy, organizational capacity, governance, financial sustainability, and power-building goals.

The role supports affiliates in navigating complex organizational environments—including rapid growth, leadership transitions, labor complexity, and heightened legal and political risk—by using strategic planning as a disciplined tool to strengthen alignment, clarify priorities, and build long-term resilience. The Senior Advisor also serves as a connective function between affiliate planning and enterprise-wide strategy, ensuring that affiliates have access to relevant national expertise and information about national priorities while preserving affiliate autonomy in setting their strategic direction. Through this work, the role helps surface patterns, opportunities, and risks across the affiliate network to inform stronger coordination and learning across the nationwide organization.

Key Responsibilities

Affiliate Strategic Planning Support Provide direct advising and facilitation to affiliates undertaking strategic planning processes. At their request, help affiliates steward their strategic planning processes, using a unified but flexible methodology grounded in organizational diagnostics, inclusive planning processes, equity considerations, and long-term sustainability. In partnership with other department teams, promote the integration of organizational capacity, governance, staffing, culture-building, program and campaign planning, power building, and financial sustainability goals in the planning process.

Help affiliates translate strategic priorities into operational plans, milestones, and accountability structures that support effective implementation. Support affiliates in establishing lightweight monitoring practices that enable leadership teams and boards to track progress and adjust strategy as conditions evolve. Track strategic plan implementation progress and support course correction as conditions evolve.

With department leadership, support executive directors in structuring board engagement in strategic planning processes, strengthening governance alignment around long-term priorities and organizational sustainability.