Hiring: Senior Digital Strategist
ABOUT WE MAKE THE FUTURE
We Make The Future and We Make the Future Action (WMTF/A) is an implementation home for the Race Class Narrative (RCN) and other empirically based messaging research. We combine strategic communications and coalition building to achieve legislative, electoral, and cultural wins.
Working in partnership with researchers, content creators, and community based organizations, we help social justice organizations tell compelling empirically based stories that build a better future for all people regardless of race, ability, or gender.
We execute our work via three core pillars.
Public Opinion Research Collaboration – Commission and guide evidence-based public opinion research that builds a multiracial movement. This research centers People of Color while also motivating and persuading as many white people as possible on our solutions.
Alignment at the National, State and Local Level – Create a community of aligned movement organizations at the local, state, and national level who can be the repeaters of a shared narrative and messaging that addresses race and class.
Bridging Research and Implementation – Create a bridge between research and implementation, by working with partners to produce, distribute, and inspire content for their respective communities.
ABOUT THE ROLE
WMTF/A is looking for a Senior Digital Strategist to join our small and growing team.
The role of the Senior Digital Strategist:
Serves as a resource for WMTF/A’s partner social justice organizations across the country, providing ongoing coaching, training, and technical assistance to help partners run stronger digital campaigns that are more closely integrated with their offline work to organize and inform their base.
Manages and executes WMTF/A’s digital efforts. This includes managing our (modest) social media program and our Google Grant ads campaigns, updating content on our website, and writing and sending our other email blasts (typically 1 monthly newsletter and 2-3 other email blasts to our listservs each month).
Our partners range in size, capacity, and technical sophistication, and their individual needs will change over time. The support the Senior Digital Strategist might provide will vary from day to day and from organization to organization.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Supporting Partner Groups (~50% in election years, ~30% at other times)
Provide high-impact technical assistance, coaching and training on an ongoing basis around digital strategy and execution to WMTF/A partners. For example, this could include support around:
Big-picture digital strategy and creating digital plans.
Integrating digital campaigns with other organizing, field, and/or narrative work.
Running digital ad, email, social media, or p2p or broadcast texting campaigns.
Growing online communities, segmenting lists and reaching targeted audiences.
Creating good digital content (including both digital copywriting and scripting videos, taking good pictures, creating social media graphics, etc.).
Programmatic aspects of running a digital program (e.g. email list health and deliverability, digital tool selection, getting verified on Facebook and Instagram, structuring QA checklists and/or approval processes, etc.).
Understanding digital innovations, trends and best practices.
Provide guidance and support to WMTF/A partners (as above) that is both effective and practical given the size, capacity, budgetary constraints, technical sophistication, etc. of the particular partners who are asking for help and the timelines they are working on.
Identify creative opportunities to use digital strategies or tactics to support or improve the campaigns our partners are running on the ground.
Use WMTF/A messaging guides to create social media toolkits that can be distributed to partners.
Track changes to the digital landscape (the tools and technology available, the behavior of the platforms, etc.), and identify opportunities for WMTF/A and our partners to innovate or adopt new best practices.
Managing WMTF/A’s Digital Presence (~30% in election years, ~50% at other times)
Manage WMTF/A’s social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/Bluesky, and TikTok) to educate our audiences about our work and highlight the great work our partners are doing.
Manage WMTF/A’s email program (currently on Insightly), including maintaining an email calendar and drafting, building, and sending emails to our list.
Update the WMTF/A website (built on Squarespace) to ensure relevant, engaging, and accurate content.
Become deeply familiar with Race Class Narrative research and messaging insights and integrate them into our work.
Coordinate and work with different vendors and contractors on digital projects.
Design and implement a regular reporting process, and otherwise support the process of evaluating the results of digital campaigns and promoting data-driven decision-making.
Manage the accessibility of WMTF/A website, message guides, social media, and website resources
Organizational Collaboration/Contribution (~10%)
Work collaboratively with the WMTF/A team to develop and define our strategic initiatives to integrate digital/communications, narrative, and organizing.
Supports professional development of others by providing coaching, guidance and training as-needed around digital strategy.
Other Duties
Please note this advertisement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of required activities, duties, or responsibilities. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
The Senior Digital Strategist must have:
Broad digital strategy expertise:
You have 5+ years of experience using digital ads, social media, blast email and other digital tools in an organizational context to engage people and mobilize them to take action (preferably within the context of progressive advocacy/campaigns).
You have experience leading / creating content for a campaign or organization.
You have project management skills — experience planning, developing, launching, and managing projects (including measuring success / impact).
You have experience coaching / training on digital tools, tactics, and strategies.
You can design and lay out basic social media content using programs like Canva, InDesign, Photoshop, and/or Illustrator.
You have a basic comfort level using HTML and experience using CMS and email marketing tools like WordPress, MailChimp, and EveryAction.
You possess expertise in a range of digital tools and tactics, and have a sharp understanding about the ways they can be leveraged in different campaign contexts (e.g. supporting earned media vs. driving event attendance, rapid response vs. planned campaign arcs, audience acquisition vs. persuasion/awareness, etc.).
You have excellent communications skills and the ability to quickly draft sharp, persuasive, and well-messaged copy for a variety of audiences.
Note: While this role will require a broad understanding of digital strategy and expertise in many of the aspects of digital campaigning, the person in this role is not expected to possess deep expertise in every element of digital campaigning mentioned above.
Digital advertising experience:
You’re comfortable running paid social and Google ads campaigns, and have experience managing ad buys (i.e. both making decisions about the ad spend and doing the ad trafficking) with a budget of $1,000+ on these platforms.
You have a head for numbers and the ability to run A/B tests and draw actionable insights from digital metrics and analytics data.
Racial justice commitment and skills:
You work to acknowledge and address the impacts of anti-Black racism and other systems of oppression in your work and partnerships.
You have the ability to reflect on and describe the impact of your own identities—and those of others—in a given situation, decision, or process and are able to hear, reflect, act on, and learn from feedback re: identity and equity.
You would be excited to work on a powerful multiracial team that has POC leaders, and you have the ability to thrive in majority-POC spaces.
Other:
You have some familiarity with Google Office Suite (Slides, Sheets, Docs) and Slack.
You have field or electoral experience, or curiosity about it and a desire to learn more.
While not required, it would be nice for the Senior Digital Strategist to have:
Significant experience organizing a heavily POC constituency on racial or economic justice issues.
Experience managing a $10,000+ digital advertising budget or executing digital advertising campaigns of that size.
Experience managing graphic designers, coders and/or videographers to produce content on spec, on time, and on budget.
An eye for design, and graphic design or videography skills beyond those required to quickly make social media content.
Familiarity with key data toolsets and platforms widely used in the progressive organizing world (e.g. Catalist, TargetSmart, Civis, NGP VAN).
Familiarity with influencer, trusted messenger, or content creator campaigns; hands-on familiarity with content production (primarily vertical video).
Experience with or managing digital accessibility.
We know there are great candidates who might not check all the boxes listed above, or who possess important skills we haven’t thought of as it relates to this position and the organization writ large. If that’s you, please don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.
For this role, success by the end of 2027 looks like:
At least ten partners have improved their ability to implement WMTF/A’s messaging framework via digital platforms because of training and coaching provided by the Senior Digital Strategist.
At least three more partners are executing their own digital programs that integrate digital campaigns with their ongoing field or organizing work.
You have become deeply familiar with Race Class Narrative research and messaging insights, and are regularly integrating them into your work.
Our social media channels and our email blasts are consistently being updated/sent at the right cadence, and both our social channels and emails do a good job of educating our audiences about our own work and highlighting the great work our partners are doing.
You have built trust and developed good working relationships with the digital staff at our partner organizations and your colleagues at WMTF/A.
You are periodically finding ways to help the WMTF/A team stay up-to-date on digital innovations, best practices, digital accessibility, and significant changes to the digital landscape that affect our sector (e.g., major algorithm changes on social media platforms, new rules around Meta ad verification that could impact our work, etc.).
When reviewing the results of our partner surveys, we see that the staffers at our partner organizations who have come to you for digital support have consistently found you helpful and found the advice you provided to be both practical and effective.
You are approaching your work in a proactive way. For example, you’ve found some high-impact ways to address common problems or needs that are shared by multiple partner organizations.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Senior Digital Strategist role is a full-time salaried position with a starting annual salary range of $75,000 - $87,670.
This position can be performed remotely within the United States. However, regardless of location, the core work hours for this role will conform to business hours in either the Eastern or Central Time Zones.
In-state and national travel will be required roughly 5-7 times per year. Additional travel will be possible if the Senior Digital Strategist decides to take advantage of optional conference and training opportunities. Some weekend and evening hours will be required.
Our strong benefits package includes healthcare, dental, and vision, retirement matching, and a generous vacation allowance (including December 24 - January 1 as paid time off).
This position will report to the Narrative & Research Manager.
Note about job description: This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities are based on organizational needs and may change at any time with or without notice.
Note about salary: In order to counter pay inequality and uphold internal parity, starting salaries are non-negotiable beyond the listed range for new and current employees. Similarly, there are no title negotiations. Staff are eligible for salary increases and promotions during the annual performance evaluation process.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with applicants encouraged to apply by 11:59pm PST on January 10, 2027, for a start date in April 2027.
Please email jobs@wemakethefuture.us, attaching your resume and answers to the questions below (PDF format is preferred) in lieu of a traditional cover letter.
Note: We ask that you answer these questions in your own words, without using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot when drafting or editing your responses. Applications found to have used generative AI tools may be penalized or rejected on that basis.
In your application, please include:
What interests you about this job?
What’s something you’ve done that demonstrates your creativity and strategic sensibility in the digital realm?
Please describe your track record running digital ads (bullet points are fine).
a. What types of campaigns have you been responsible for, when, for which types of organizations, on which platforms, and at what scale (e.g., budget)?
b. Briefly describe what role you’ve played in the various parts of the campaign lifecycle: strategy and planning, audience targeting, messaging and creative development (copy, design, video), trafficking (including account setup and political/issue ad compliance), budget management and optimization, and measurement and reporting.How did you hear about this role? Please be specific.
Optional: If you have a work sample/portfolio you’d like us to review, or if there is anything else you think is especially important for us to know about you as we evaluate your application (particularly if it is not reflected elsewhere in your application), you are welcome to include it.
The hiring process itself will consist of a screening call, one 45-minute panel interview, one skills assessment, and one 60-minute final interview. The screening calls and interviews will take place via Zoom. In addition, applicants who are invited to take the skills assessment and complete it will be compensated for their time.
Questions about this position or the application process (including any requests for reasonable accommodations) can be sent to jobs@wemakethefuture.us.
We Make the Future and We Make the Future Action provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, criminal history, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.
We believe that marginalized communities must be centered in the work we do and strongly encourage people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women and LGBTQ+ people to apply.