We’re hiring a Senior Strategist to join our team at Big Duck. Senior Strategists deliver communications solutions for our most complex strategic work while deepening our team’s knowledge and helping us continually refine our processes for client work.
The Senior Strategist will be assigned to a variety of projects for our nonprofit clients, including brand development, fundraising and outreach campaigns, strategic communications plans, and coaching for communications and development teams.
Here’s some of what the job includes:
- Developing brand strategy recommendations and bringing a strategic perspective to the development of brand assets, such as messaging and visual identities, in collaboration with our writers, designers, and account managers.
- Crafting communications, marketing, and donor engagement plans that provide strategic and tactical direction and reflect an understanding of each client’s context, mission, and capacity
- Conducting research (interviews, focus groups, surveys, materials reviews, landscape scans) to inform brand and communications strategies with an emphasis on equitable and inclusive research processes
- Working with colleagues on the creative and account management team to generate campaign concepts, and writing plans for campaign communications, including capital/major donor campaigns, fundraising campaigns, and recruitment/participation campaigns
- Facilitating and presenting in client meetings and workshop sessions (virtual and in-person).
- Leading capacity-building trainings for nonprofit staff and board members via workshops, webinars, conferences, etc.
- Bringing insights and skills to inform how we approach client work, including looking for ways to strengthen processes and deliverables so that they work better for our clients and for our team.
- Contributing to Big Duck’s thought leadership and content marketing (e.g., by writing blog posts, recording podcasts, and speaking at events).
- Participating in regular team meetings and projects to advance our company goals.
- Advancing Big Duck’s DEI plan by engaging in ongoing competency-building workshops, participating in internal equity meetings, and bringing a focus on equity and inclusion to client work and with colleagues.
- Supporting Big Duck’s new business development, which includes helping develop proposals and participating in presentations with prospects.
The Senior Strategist reports to the Director of Strategy and is a member of the strategy team. They collaborate closely with all project departments, including the creative team, account management team, and marketing team.
The Senior Strategist is a full-time, exempt, salaried position. All roles on the Big Duck team are fully remote. Our standard workweek is 40 hours, though occasional evening or weekend work or travel may be required.
About Big Duck
Big Duck is a worker-owned cooperative that helps nonprofits develop their brands, campaigns, and communications teams. We’re an all-remote team made up of thoughtful, creative people dedicated to helping our clients achieve their goals and make change in their communities. We are a values-driven, democratically-run business, and we work to center diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in how we work together as a team and with our clients and partners.
Requirements
Strong candidates for the Senior Strategist role will have the equivalent of at least five years of relevant, full-time experience in some combination of branding, nonprofit management, fundraising, and communications. Successful members of our strategy team come from a range of professional backgrounds, including in-house experience in nonprofits, and agency or consulting experience.
Key competencies
- Deep knowledge of the branding and communications challenges and opportunities that nonprofits experience as they advance their missions
- Ability to develop big-picture communications strategy and detailed tactical plans and move between these levels
- Ability to conduct research to inform communications strategies with an emphasis on equitable and inclusive research processes
- Strong presentation, training, and facilitation skills
- Demonstrates excellence in collaborative work, appreciating diverse perspectives, forging strong relationships, and cultivating a positive and inclusive team environment.
- Effective communication skills—in person, by video, and in writing
- Ability to implement scopes of work pragmatically and adaptively
- Ability to meet deadlines and manage a large workload independently
- Commitment to collaborating respectfully and productively with colleagues and clients, building relationships based on trust and openness
- Commitment to fostering learning and growth in themselves and others
- Ability to share and receive feedback with candor and kindness
- Commitment to centering equity and inclusion in their day-to-day work and contributing to the goals mapped in Big Duck’s DEI plan
- Enthusiasm for participating in a democratically-run, worker-owned company, including learning about and contributing to the business’s strategy and direction
- Comfort with Google Workspace, Asana, Slack, SurveyMonkey, and Zoom—or eager to learn!
Additional requirements
Our standard work hours are Monday through Friday, 9-5 ET / 8-4 PT / 8-4 or 9-5 for folks working Central or Mountain Time. We have a flexible time policy that encourages team members to take breaks and work in ways that support their health and productivity. Workloads are based on a standard 40-hour work week.
Aside from being generally available to work and meet during our standard work hours, qualified candidates must...
- Have a permanent residence in the continental United States
- Be available and able to travel occasionally (at least twice a year for team gatherings, and as needed for client projects—likely 2-6 times/year; primarily domestic travel, but international is possible)
- Have consistent access to a work environment with a stable internet connection, suitable for participating in video calls with colleagues and clients
- Be able to participate in and facilitate video calls, including working sessions (with breaks built-in) that can run four hours or more
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable candidates or employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.