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Writer & Brand Strategist (Temporary Contract)

Cambridge, MA; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA

Writer & Brand Strategist (Temporary Contract)

Chicago, San Francisco, Cambridge MA

At IDEO, we use design to create new products, services, experiences; tangible strategies; and creative capabilities.

IDEO is seeking an Writer & Brand Strategist who will partner with client-facing design teams in San Francisco, Chicago, and Cambridge MA to support our across industries.

In a Nutshell:

As a Writer & Brand Strategist, you’ll be finding, creating, and honing narratives across a myriad of problem spaces — from creating brand narratives and verbal identities including voice and tone, positioning, messaging and campaigns. Ultimately, you will craft inspiring project deliverables that catalyze both our teams and our clients.

In a nutshell - You understand the power of words, and you wield it.

We’ve found that great Writers can come from many different backgrounds. We’re open to—and excited about—candidates with a wide array of past roles and experiences. You might have worked as a copywriter, journalist, strategist or novelist.

The most important qualification is simple: high-stakes professional experience connecting with people deeply through the craft of writing and brand strategy; surfacing and articulating stories that can fuel design, creating strategy based on your learnings, and crafting stories, whatever their form, that stir people to action.

This is a temporary, position at (40 hours/week). We are especially excited to meet candidates with a background in fast-paced environments like creative agencies, large scale nonprofits, or startups. This role will require onsite presence Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at one of our North America studios.

Once here you will:

  • Establishes impactful brand languages that makes strategy more human and accessible. 

  • Bring clarity to the intangible and humanity to the theoretical, acting as the ultimate translator within multidisciplinary teams.

  • Collaborate with multidisciplinary design teams to create cohesive and inspiring articulation of brand strategy, organizational purpose, values and vision, and consumer-facing brand expressions.

  • Synthesize a lot of information: Recognizing patterns, pulling it all together, and sharing what that means for our clients’ designs. Your role will center on finding the nugget of a compelling story and drawing it out from the clutter.

  • Connect with and learn from people through inclusive research engagement & ideation approaches.(You will likely love to ask “why.” A lot.)

Qualifications / Experience:

  • 3-5 years of professional writing experience crafting deliverables (e.g., design concepts, scripts, storyboards, briefs, manifestos, videos, handbooks, guidance documents, etc.) that inspire change.

  • Experience collaborating with others in multidisciplinary teams in an agency, large-scale nonprofit, advertising, or tech setting, including bringing teams and clients along with you on the journey of creative development.

  • Experience working with brands, either writing for, developing strategy, or designing consumer experiences, and familiarity with the fundamentals of brand development (ie. purpose, positioning, personality, values, brand architecture, naming).

  • Experience participating and/or facilitating in user research with a particular focus on the stories people tell each other and themselves.

Salary & Benefits:

IDEO is committed to paying its employees, contractors & vendors equitably, regardless of gender identity or race/ethnicity/cultural identity. 

The annualized rate of pay for this temporary position ranges from $100,000 - 160,000 USD. Final offers may vary based on candidate experience, location, and other factors.

As a temporary employee, this role is not eligible for full-time employee benefits. However, this position offers meaningful collaboration with IDEO teams and integration into project work and studio culture and the potential for growth contingent on business needs.

Commitment to Diversity

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability and transparency. These commitments will also be part of your journey at IDEO, so please feel free to read more about them here.

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