Overview
Education Programs Director Jobs in Portland, OR at Participatory Budgeting Oregon
Title: Education Programs Director
Company: Participatory Budgeting Oregon
Location: Portland, OR
We are hiring!
Participatory Budgeting Oregon is seeking a Education Programs Director starting November 2, 2026
Background on PB Oregon
Since 2018 Participatory Budgeting Oregon has worked for more just and participatory public budgeting in Oregon by centering the expertise and leadership of underrepresented communities. To this end, our programs take a targeted universalist approach focused on education and advocacy for more participatory public budgeting. Our current strategic focus is supporting youth– and particularly youth of color– in order to secure and advance participatory budgeting (PB) open and accessible to all. Operationally this includes education, advocacy, organizing in support of PB implementation.
PB Oregon’s accomplishments include:
- Served as the lead organization in implementing Youth Voice Youth Vote (YV2) PB between 2021 and 2024, Oregon’s first PB process. YV2 PB enlisted youth and young adults to deliberate and decide how to spend $500K in American Rescue Plan Act funds for COVID relief and recovery projects designed, proposed and selected by young people in Oregon State Senate Districts 24 and 25 (East Portland & Multnomah County).
- Launched Oregon’s first school-based PB process at Reynolds High School.
- PB Oregon co-led the 2026 Your 2 Cents PDX Ballot Measure Campaign with Next Up Action Fund and East County Rising. The campaign aims to bring voter-approved, charter-mandated PB to the City of Portland in 2026.
- Educated hundreds of youth, immigrant and refugee communities, and nonprofit and municipal staff about PB while supporting them to advocate for PB in Oregon.
- Resourced the time and expertise of dozens of youth and young adults to extend education, organizing and advocacy work.
What we seek in a Education Programs Director
We seek a passionate individual excited by and committed to our mission to join our small collaborative team. The individual should be self-motivated but able to manage the balance of collaborative work balanced with their personal life for themselves and in support of their co-workers. We desire individuals with experience leading popular education and other practices of participatory democracy with a strong preference for technical knowledge and experience implementing participatory budgeting. Experience working with youth and young adults particularly in immigrant and refugee or Black communities is desirable.
The PBO Education Programs Director is a full-time time-exempt position consisting of 32 hours a week reporting to the Executive Director. The Education Programs Director is responsible for leading and directing PB Oregon’s educational and leadership development programming and technical consulting entities implementing participatory budgeting (PB).
Primary Responsibilities
- Lead in designing, implementing, and evaluating trainings, webinars, workshops, summits/forums, and leadership cohorts related to public budgeting and participatory democracy.
- Provide PB technical consultation to entities preparing, designing and implementing PB processes.
- Oversee support staff or manage contracts related to any program responsibilities.
- Collaborate with other Director-level staff in new program or project development, especially related to technical consulting, education and leadership development.
Other Responsibilities
- Collaborates closely with Policy & Communications Director on joint development of communication materials and aligning programming needs with policy priorities.
- Support Education Program Director in curriculum development and PB education to ensure alignment with policy advocacy and communications.
- Support or share in additional tasks associated with running a small non-profit organization including some fundraising, grant reporting, hiring, onboarding, strategic planning, evaluation and administrative work.
Desired Qualifications
We recognize that experience comes in many forms. These guidelines reflect just some of the ways you might have gained the skills needed for this role. If you can demonstrate your ability to meet the job requirements—even if your path looks different—we encourage you to apply.
- Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, with diverse community members and stakeholders.
- Culturally or socially relevant experience developing relationships with diverse communities – specifically racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse communities.
- Excellent project management skills, including the ability to organize, prioritize, and effectively delegate large volumes of work.
- Experience facilitating engaging and participatory group gatherings for diverse audiences.
- Experience designing and implementing education programs.
- Experience in a supervisory role, volunteer management, or comparable experience.
- A strong grasp, and willingness to continuously learn, of race, gender, and class oppression that operate at the personal, interpersonal, organizational and societal level and how they impact our work and the people and groups with which we collaborate.
- Willingness to conduct research and literature reviews on current and past PB and participatory democracy processes.
Preferred but not required
- Experience leading or participating in a participatory budgeting process.
- Multi-lingual.
- Graphic design
- Experience with popular education framework
- Familiarity with municipal or public budgeting processes.
- Connections and relationships within the public and nonprofit sector.
- Leadership and or knowledge of non-violent communication.
Logistics & Compensation
Position Title: Education Programs Director
Position Location: Portland, Oregon. Hybrid (both virtual and in-person work required), regular travel throughout the Portland metro region and occasionally throughout Oregon will be required. Transportation expenses will be reimbursed for daily or multi-day trips over 100 miles at the current IRS rate of $0.76 per mile.
Salary and benefits: Annual salary of $71,418, health & dental insurance, remote work stipend of $25 per two-week pay period, paid vacation time consisting of 80 hours PTO (2 weeks) plus a total 144 hours (3.6 weeks) for 19 designated holidays, and paid family and sick leave. Employees may contribute to retirement savings via Oregon Saves.
Hours: Permanent full-time position consisting of 32 hours a week M-TH with occasional evening and weekend work required. The position will start November 1 unless the hiring timeline is extended.
Hiring Timeline
Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled but we will start review applications after Monday October 12 at 11:59 pm PST.
Hiring timeline:
- October 13-16 – First Round of Interviews
- October 19-23 – Second Round of Interviews
- October 30 – Preferred Deadline Candidate Selection & Confirmation
- November 2 – Position begins
How to Apply
Please email a cover letter, resume, and 2 references to [email protected]. Those missing a resume and cover letter will not be considered.
1-page cover letter that includes your responses to the following questions:
1. What excites and inspires you about Participatory Budgeting Oregon’s missions and programs?
2. What interests you most about this particular opportunity?
3. How would your skills and experiences (personal and professional) translate into success in this position?
Participatory Budgeting Oregon is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, disability, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
We believe our work is stronger when it benefits from the experience, knowledge and wisdom of people who have faced systemic barriers, and encourages applications from candidates with any of the lived experiences mentioned above. If you’re excited about this position we hope you apply – no one ever meets 100% of the qualifications.
