Chief Narrative Officer

Summary

Join Worth Rises as their Chief Narrative Officer to lead and execute the organization's narrative strategy, encompassing storytelling, research, arts and culture, communications, and marketing. This role demands a strong strategist with meticulous attention to detail and exceptional people and project management skills. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of leading impactful teams, be metrics-driven, and possess significant experience in narrative-shifting campaigns within the criminal justice field. Reporting to the Executive Director, this position involves overseeing the narrative department, collaborating with various staff, and contributing to the organization's strategic planning. The Chief Narrative Officer will play a key role in shaping the organization's public image and ensuring alignment across all platforms. This is a remote-first position with office options.

Requirements

• Deep commitment to the organization’s mission, a robust understanding of criminal justice, and an enthusiasm in deploying a broad range of narrative shifting strategies to support our goals
• At least seven years of professional experience working in non-profit management with significant experience managing teams and a complex narrative portfolio
• Experience should include overseeing the following functions: Arts and culture projects
• Storytelling
• Research and public education
• Traditional media
• Social media
• Digital presence (e.g. websites)
• Brand marketing
• Proven ability to innovate, develop, and iterate narrative strategies across criminal justice issue areas, employing diverse and fresh tactics toward common and measurable goals
• Proven ability to weave compelling narratives across various formats, including videos, social media posts, blog posts, and more
• Strong creative eye for static and dynamic visual and written storytelling that reflects trends while being cutting edge
• Superior writing and editing skills and demonstrated ability to defend and explain complex issues to a wide variety of audiences
• Strong relationships and a wide network within the press corps, particularly with media that covers criminal justice issues
• Demonstrated goal-orientation that includes the ability and eagerness to leverage data and analytics to assess impact and adapt strategies
• Meticulous adherence of brand standards and proven ability to clearly define and implement brand guidelines
• Mastery of Microsoft Office Suite, Canva, Unlayer, Mailchimp, Adobe, and other creative content tools, including video editing tools
• Exceptional listening, reasoning, and strategic skills with proven ability to influence, execute, and direct a wide range of diverse internal and external stakeholders
• Proven excellence in all the following: Interpersonal skills with the ability to build strong relationships at all levels
• Judgment and decision-making
• Project and time management, delivering quality work on time
• Flexibility to deal with changing circumstances
• Precise attention to detail, particularly in a fast-paced work environment
• Knack for nuance
• Pattern identification
• Proven success coaching and mentoring others, effectively working with teams across a range of functional areas to meet goals and help staff grow professionally
• History with and commitment to work for and with racially and economically diverse people, communities, and organizations
• Genuine commitment to our organizational values: act with integrity, focus on impact, deliver excellence, get it done, and operate with intellectual curiosity (visit worthrises.org/jointhefight)
• Willingness to travel and work outside normal office hours as needed, particularly in timely media cycles

Responsibilities

• Fine tune our organizational brand and voice, ensuring alignment across all digital platforms and organizational departments
• Oversee the drafting, design, and release of a report, and related multimedia content, about the impact that access to free communication has had in jurisdictions across the country
• Oversee our Artist in Residence and the execution of their arts project related to the End the Exception campaign
• Increase our visibility and appearances in broadcast with at least 3 successful pitches and placements
• Grow our number of subscribers by 25% and social media followers by 50%, with a marketing funnel that drives increased engagement in the form of actions and small donations
• In partnership with the Leadership Team, co-develop and oversee the organization’s strategic planning, staffing, and budgeting, including plans to scale
• Lead the organization’s narrative strategy, including our storytelling, research, arts and culture, communications, and marketing
• Effectively and clearly represent the organization’s narrative work, advancing our mission, to key stakeholders, including the Board, funders, press, and partners
• Partner with the Executive Director as a trusted advisor and strategist, providing guidance on public positioning and rapid-response communications
• Co-develop the organization’s narrative strategy with the Executive Director and department leads, ensuring it is in line with the organization’s broader program strategy and includes clear goals, tactics, and metrics
• Ensure the strategy is nimble, relevant, and grounded in the moment by tracking external opportunities and threats and adapting our narrative strategy as necessary
• Ensure organizational-wide understanding, alignment, and collaboration on our narrative strategy and work, most particularly within the narrative department
• Oversee the execution of the organization’s narrative strategy, ensuring timely delivery of expected narrative impact and adherence to budget
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the organization’s narrative department, providing oversight and thought partnership to staff to meet narrative goals
• Strengthen and expand relationships with media, researchers, storytellers, artists, and other narrative partners to build out our narrative infrastructure and expand our reach
• Oversee the research and communications and marketing teams, serving as the final review and approval for most publicly released materials
• Directly manage each reporting team lead, as well as other employees and contractors who fit within narrative, including our Artist in Residence, supporting their professional development as individual contributors and managers
• Design and maintain effective systems for team operations and project management, streamlining workflows, enhancing collaboration, and supporting efficiency across team members
• Ensure compliance with organizational policies and procedures within the narrative department
• Foster a positive and empowering performance culture of belonging, trust, creativity, accountability, and growth

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
• 20 days of vacation time
• Ten days of personal/sick leave
• Three days of bereavement leave
• 11 holidays and winter break
• A generous 401k contribution match
• $75 monthly technology stipend
• Monthly wellness reimbursement
• Dedicated budget for professional development
• Retention benefits every five years
• We currently operate in a remote-first environment with office options and an on-video culture