New

Director of Editorial Strategy & Storytelling, Brand Studio

New York, New York, United States

ABOUT THE JOB

The ACLU seeks a full-time Director of Editorial Strategy & Storytelling in the Marketing & Communications Department of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month.

The ACLU Marketing & Communications Department creates, maintains, and expands message narratives to engage our supporters and other target audiences, to help protect and expand civil liberties and civil rights, and illustrate the value and impact of the ACLU’s work. Through our messaging, engagement with newsmakers, our written and social content, branding, and visual identity, we encourage support for the ACLU and help to create a more perfect union.

WHAT YOU'LL DO 

Reporting to the Head of Brand Studio, the Director of Editorial Strategy & Storytelling is a senior leader within the Brand Studio unit of the Communications & Marketing team. They are charged with aligning and advancing the organization’s storytelling and editorial strategy across teams and platforms. This role leads the development of a unified editorial vision that connects content across the ACLU’s ecosystem - through editorial planning, creative campaign building, story gathering infrastructure, ethical storytelling practices, and deep cross-functional collaboration. The Director of Editorial Strategy & Storytelling will work closely with the Head of Brand Studio to guide narrative priorities across departments, ensuring that storytelling efforts are rooted in strategy and research, aligned with advocacy goals, and designed to grow and diversify the ACLU’s audience in ways that support the needs of local, state and national ACLU entities. The ideal candidate is a strategic storyteller with exceptional writing, research and project management skills, capable of translating complex legal and policy issues into accessible narratives and sourcing powerful stories and storytellers who bring our broad civil liberties agenda to life.

Equal parts editorial architect, research translator, and creative campaign strategist, the Director of Editorial Strategy & Storytelling will partner with the Head of Brand Studio to lead a coordinated storytelling roadmap and editorial calendar that aligns with the ACLU’s legal, policy, and advocacy priorities. They will build and manage a centralized story bank to elevate impactful narratives and storytellers, and transform complex legal, policy, and research insights into clear, values-driven storytelling. The Director of Editorial Strategy & Storytelling manages the Managing Editor and Content Writer, providing editorial guidance, mentorship, and strategic direction to help them deliver consistent, high-quality content that aligns with the ACLU’s voice and goals. They will also oversee the ACLU’s editorial style guide, story gathering protocols, and ethical storytelling practices, serving as the organization’s go-to resource for how stories are collected and told - setting standards, coaching staff, and providing training on strategic, inclusive, and trauma-informed storytelling that aligns with the ACLU’s values and the communities we serve.

YOUR DAY TO DAY

Team Management & Development

  • Lead and support a high-performing editorial team, including the Managing Editor and Content Writer, fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment that prioritizes mentorship, growth, and creative excellence.
  • Provide clear direction, timely feedback, and meaningful growth opportunities to elevate editorial impact.
  • Partner with the Managing Editor to oversee the team’s editorial workflow and project timelines, ensuring an equitable distribution of work
  • Manage vendor relationships and freelance contributors, including sourcing, contracting, and ensuring timely, high-quality deliverables.

Editorial Leadership

  • Lead the development and implementation of a unified, organization-wide editorial calendar in collaboration with the Head of Brand Studio, Marketing Channels, Owned Digital Engagement, and Strategic Communications.
  • Align storytelling across teams and platforms to support key moments - from advocacy and policy pushes to landmark legal cases, original research, and culturally resonant opportunities.
  • Develop and implement workflows, planning frameworks, and tracking systems that enable seamless editorial coordination, ensuring storytelling efforts are timely, strategic, and aligned with departmental and organizational priorities. · Partner with Analytics, Strategic Communications Operations, Marketing Channels, and Digital Engagement teams to track the performance and resonance of key narratives and use insights to refine editorial priorities and content strategy.
  • Support affiliate-level storytelling by evaluating needs across the network, developing guidance and training programs, and incorporating affiliate-story gathering into national-led efforts.

Editorial Standards & Practices

  • Steward and evolve the ACLU’s Editorial Style Guide and Story Gathering Guide — ensuring clarity, consistency, inclusive language, and ethical storytelling practices are embedded across all external content and socialized across departments.
  • Partner with the Design Department to establish editorial best practices for written reports and visually driven ACLU publications.
  • Respond to internal inquiries related to brand voice, narrative framing, and story usage across the organization.
  • Provide training, guidance, and capacity-building workshops to staff and affiliates on ethical, strategic, and trauma-informed storytelling practices.

FUTURE ACLU'ERS WILL 

  • Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
  • Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
  • Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

  • Extensive experience leading editorial strategy, storytelling, or communications within a mission-driven organization, newsroom, or advocacy environment.
  • Exceptional writing, editing, and research synthesis skills, with a demonstrated ability to translate complex legal, policy, or research materials into clear, accessible, and compelling narratives.
  • Proven ability to work across large, complex organizations to build processes that align priorities, reduce redundancies, and strengthen collaboration, particularly in siloed or overlapping work environments
  • Deep understanding of ethical, inclusive, and trauma-informed storytelling practices, including experience sourcing and working with storytellers from historically marginalized communities.
  • Experience leading and mentoring high-performing teams, including managing editorial workflows, fostering professional growth, and cultivating a collaborative and inclusive creative environment. Experience giving tough feedback and improving performance.
  • Strategic thinker with a strong grasp of campaign development, audience engagement, and narrative strategy across digital platforms such as blogs, podcasts, video, and social media.
  • Familiarity with editorial calendar development, story banking systems, and tools that support cross-team content coordination.
  • Experience collaborating with legal, policy, marketing, and digital teams to identify strategic storytelling opportunities aligned with organizational priorities.
  • Strong project and time management skills, with experience overseeing vendors, managing budgets, and coordinating timelines and deliverables. · Familiarity with Microsoft and Asana tools
  • Ability to balance long-term planning with fast-paced, real-time storytelling demands, especially during major legal or policy developments.

COMPENSATION

The ACLU is committed to equity, transparency, and clarity in pay. Consistent with our compensation philosophy, there is a set salary for each role based on geographic work location. The annual salary for this position is $188,816 (Level D), reflecting the salary of a position based in New York, NY.  Salaries are subject to a regional pay adjustment if authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting.  
 
For details on our pay structure, please visit: https://www.aclu.org/careers/ACLU_Geographic_Pay_Structure-July_2024.pdf

WHY THE ACLU

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.

We know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and know that what we offer is essential not just their work, but to their overall well-being. 

At the ACLU, we offer a broad range of benefits, which include:

  • Time away to focus on the things that matter with a generous paid time-off policy
  • Focus on your well-being with comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment)
  • Plan for your retirement with 401k plan and employer match
  • We support employee growth and development through annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops

OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY, EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change.  We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression, anti-ableism, and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.    

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email benefits.hrdept@aclu.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

 

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