Job description
We’re looking for a Chief Narrative Officer
Worth Rises seeks a well-rounded Chief Narrative Officer (exempt) to lead and execute the organization’s narrative strategy, including our storytelling, research, arts and culture, communications, and marketing work. The Chief Narrative Officer should be an excellent strategist with meticulous attention to detail and exceptional people and project management skills. They should have a proven track record in leading teams that effectively turn vision into impact, be metrics-driven, and have significant experience in running narrative shifting campaigns, a deep knowledge of criminal justice, and excellent interpersonal skills. The Chief Narrative Officer will report to the Executive Director, be a member of the organization’s Leadership Team, oversee the narrative department, and collaborate with staff across the organization.
Worth Rises is a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it touches. We work to expose the commercialization of the criminal legal system and organize and advocate to protect the economic resources extracted from affected communities and strip the industry of its power. Through our work, we strive to remove the influence of those who profit off incarceration and clear the road to a safe and just world free of prisons.
Key Results (Year One)
- 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.
Major Responsibilities
- Leadership
- 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.
- Program Strategy and Execution
- 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.
- Team Management and Development
- 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.
Critical Factors for Success
A strong candidate would be a motivated self-starter who takes initiative unprompted, has a meticulous eye for the details, consistently delivers high-quality work, is an excellent project manager, is a proactive and innovative problem-solver, appreciates direct feedback, and has the following:
- 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.
Compensation and Benefits
The annual salary for the Chief Narrative Officer is $160,000. Worth Rises offers a generous compensation package, including comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, 20 days of vacation time, ten days of personal/sick leave, and three days of bereavement leave in addition to 11 holidays and winter break. Employees also receive a generous 401k contribution match, $75 monthly technology stipend, monthly wellness reimbursement, and dedicated budget for professional development. Finally, we offer retention benefits every five years. We currently operate in a remote-first environment with office options and an on-video culture.
Application Instructions
Interested applicants should submit a résumé and cover letter on the role page at www.worthrises.org/jointhefight.
Worth Rises is an equal opportunity employer, and strongly encourages formerly incarcerated individuals, directly impacted individuals, people of color, members of the disabled community, gender-variant and non-binary individuals, and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community to apply.
