Campaign manager

The duty of a political campaign manager, chairman, or director is to organise the operations of a political campaign, including fundraising, advertising, polling, turning out the vote (via direct contact with members of the public), and other activities that assist the endeavour.

They are often the most visible leader of a campaign, apart from the candidate. Modern campaign managers, especially at the presidential level, are more concerned with implementing strategy than they are with developing it. Senior strategists are often hired from outside political consulting firms, with the majority of them being pollsters or media consultants.

Campaign managers, particularly those in charge of big, well-funded campaigns, often oversee a large number of workers and volunteers in a range of departments, while also working closely with the candidate and outside consultants.

Campaign management has become highly specialised in the United States. Each election cycle, the top-tier of managers will relocate around the nation to serve on a new campaign. The difficulties of establishing a successful company from the ground up in less than two years makes the services of experienced experts more desirable.

Along with their previous expertise, professional campaign managers bring with them a working understanding of campaign management tools and a network of political consultants.

The compensation scales for campaign managers vary based on the size of the political election in question.