The Opportunity

The Content Strategy Manager in coordination with the VP, Strategic Communications and Engagement, is responsible for all original content creation at Activate including writing, editing, and brand consistency across all published media. This activity aims to increase brand awareness, grow our presence in our ecosystems, grow our thought leadership, and highlight our fellows and their accomplishments.

The role highlights include:

• Internal and external sourcing and writing stories to support marketing and communications strategy and promote fellows.
• Creation of external and internal communications that tell our and our fellows’ stories and inspire our audiences to action.
• Supporting our overall communications strategy by helping to grow our audiences via storytelling practices that include written and visual communications, where appropriate.

Key Responsibilities

• Identifying a strategic ‘canon’ of subjects and delivering a content strategy based on this canon that builds and inspires our audiences, tells our story, and tells our fellows’ stories while also building Activate’s thought leadership in the world.
• Editorially, creating compelling feature articles, profiles, news, and other long-form and short items.
• In coordination with a digital strategist, creating digital content for social posts (written and some visual ideation) to represent different content types for different channels.
• Maintaining a content calendar and associated keywords and tags for reference and tracking of campaign progress.
• Pitching media on stories related to Activate Fellows, the Activate program, its team, its mission areas, or other topics of strategic value.
• Working with internal and external stakeholders to produce strategic content.
• Channel-specific editorial responsibilities/ownership and copywriting.
• Providing editorial support across the organization and ensuring all published materials align with editorial standards, brand personality, and house style.
• Develop partnerships with external resources (labs, financial institutions, etc.) to ensure the accuracy of content and discover new opportunities.
• Represent Strategic Communications & Engagement team on Activate’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) Committee to inform DEIB content strategy.

Our Ideal Candidate has

• 5-7+ years experience as a published writer and editor, ideally as a journalist covering science and technology, or science writer at a research institution.
• Adept storyteller.
• A keen eye for different content formats, with good experience operating a multichannel content strategy.
• Understanding how to synthesize a content strategy with a broader marketing strategy.
• Strong research skills.
• Prolific writer comfortable with daily writing workload across multiple projects and deadlines.
• Discerning editor, with demonstrated ability to maintain quality and stylistic consistency across varying submitted writing skill levels and styles
• Keen ability to identify and convey compelling human stories within science and technology, and draw connections to broader social and environmental themes.
• Comfortable writing about complex scientific topics and making them compelling to non-scientific audiences
• Skilled relationship-builder, able to identify aligned incentives with external partners and media and generate exposure with mutually beneficial outcomes.

Our Team: Culture and Benefits

Activate’s culture is built around the following values:

• We put people first through mutual support, respect, and continuous improvement
• We live in trust, acting with authenticity, integrity, and a presumption of good intention
• We appreciate experimentation, using data to improve, and accepting that failure and discomfort are necessary for growth
• We create value through connection and building community
• We are guided by intention and are purpose-driven to improve society

This is a highly flexible, remote role. In-person presence is not required. We have offices in Berkeley, CA, Cambridge, MA, and New York, NY that are available for in-person work based on the employee’s preference. The starting base for this role is at $80,000, we offer a generous bonus structure and a comprehensive benefits package that includes professional development, $2,000 in annual wellness funds, unlimited paid time off, 90% paid healthcare premiums for employee and dependents, and the opportunity to join a retirement plan with a 3% match after one year of employment.