Digital Storytelling Associate

Contract position: Full-time position, for 12 months with the possibility of extension

Location: Remote, with a strong preference for candidates within UTC -/+5 time zones

Reports to: Storyteller, with regular collaboration and input from the wider Project and Graphic Design team

Start date: September 2024

Fee range: USD $3,000 - $4,500 monthly. This is a contractor role, which means you will be responsible for payment of all income taxes, health insurance and any other remittances that may arise, including other obligations required in your place of residence.

Closing date for applications: 30 August 2024

Is this you?

We’re looking for a communication and social media guru to help tell our story.

Someone who can craft and share powerful narratives that make complex stories, insights and projects accessible and engaging for everyone. You'll work to highlight the real-world impact of our work, ensuring our stories resonate deeply with our diverse audiences. Your work will amplify our voice, drive meaningful engagement, and help forge strong connections with partners, donors, and communities around the world.

You’ll work alongside our Storyteller and as part of our External Communications team to develop, measure and publish stories that inspire.

Here’s some of the exciting things you can expect to be doing as part of this role:

• Develop and implement comprehensive communication strategies that align with Common Thread's mission and goals.
• Manage and grow Common Thread's online presence, ensuring consistent and impactful messaging across all platforms.
• Conduct interviews, gather testimonials, and create case studies that showcase the real-world impact of our initiatives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather insights and translate them into engaging content.
• Stay updated on public health trends and incorporate relevant insights into communications and storytelling efforts.
• Craft compelling stories, articles, and social media content that resonate with various audiences, including partners, donors, and the general public.

All of this, via the following ways:

• Website content management (gocommonthread.com)
  • Write, edit and publish engaging copy for case studies, tools, and field notes
  • Create alt text and optimise images to keep our website accessible
  • Draw insights from website analytics and suggest ways to improve meaningful engagement
  • Audit existing web pages for spelling, clarity, and functionality
  • Update visual and written content
• Social Media Management & Strategy (Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Medium)
  • Create high-fidelity mockups and engaging copy for social media posts and from rough concepts on a regular basis
  • Ensure all posts are accessible with appropriate alt text
  • Support management of content calendar, planning future content aligned with project work, global issues and platform best practices
  • Develop regular posts on relevant content in Public Health, HCD, and Behavioural Science
  • Identify trending topics and posts in these fields and propose ways for CT to engage
  • Monitor and engage with accounts of thought leaders in our field and propose ways to amplify each other
  • Work with our technical team to improve thought leadership
  • Suggest ways to strategically grow our following and increase engagement on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium
  • Pitch, write and edit Medium blog posts
  • Monitor and report regularly on social media engagement
• The Stitch (our iconic newsletter)
  • Create transcript for audio pieces and subtitles for video pieces
  • Ensure all episodes include appropriate credits and links
  • Push podcast to various platforms
  • Support the writing and editing of the newsletter including identifying compelling topics, content, and manage a production schedule

What we’re looking for 

This role requires:

• At least 2 years of multimedia content creation experience
• Proven experience in storytelling, content creation, and strategic communications
• Ability to simplify complex information and present it in a relatable and engaging manner
• Exceptional creative writing, editing, and verbal communication skills
• Expertise in social media management, especially LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram analytics and growth strategy
• Audio and video production skills
• Fluency in English
• Web content management skills: Building and editing WordPress or other CMS
• SEO Management
• Proven ability to deliver client-ready work
• Experience with effectively managing tasks across multiple work streams
• A high degree of digital literacy—you’re able to use and learn online collaboration and project management tools to effectively work with a remote team

Though not required, it would also be helpful if you:

• Have a degree in Journalism, English, Digital Media, Communications, Marketing, or other relevant fields
• Are knowledgeable or experienced in Global Public Health, Behavioural science, and Human-centred design

Programs we use:

• Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Premiere, Audition, Photoshop, InDesign)
• WordPress
• Hootsuite
• Otter.ai or other transcription services
• Descript
• Figma
• Miro
• Mailchimp
• Monday.com

We expect every member of our team to:

• Work as a “Manager of One”; you are highly independent and can build goals and execute on them independently
• Be driven by our mission and passionate about applying your skills and time towards improving the lives of others, particularly those who are most vulnerable
• Have a growth mindset—be curious, passionate about learning, and see feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow
• Champion our team values in your work at CT

Not so fun fact: Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalised folks tend to only apply when they check every box. Think you have what it takes, but don’t meet all the criteria? Please apply anyway. We’d love to talk and determine together whether you could be a great fit! 

Common Thread is an equal opportunity company, and we value diverse voices, backgrounds, and perspectives on our team. We don’t discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or status as an individual with a disability. 

What we offer

• Flexible working hours and location. You may design your hours, and work from a location of your choice, provided you are available during the company’s “golden hours” (12-4pm GMT)
• An annual bonus scheme for all full-time, 12 month contractors that can amount to up to 15% of your annual earnings, depending on individual and company performance.
• 20 days of paid time off and 7 days of national holidays, based on your place of residence
• A management team that listens and responds to your needs—we generally offer one additional paid week during the December holiday season and last year we experimented with reduced summer hours (4.5 day week in July/August)
• A global retreat once a year, where we all come together in a beautiful part of the world
• A Wellbeing Stipend paid annually to help cover the costs for something you feel could help you maintain your health, balance and vigour (after 1 year at CT)

• A Professional Development Stipend and paid time-off for professional development opportunities
• Accrual of additional paid time off after 3 years of being on our team

Who we are 

We are a curious and creative bunch of experts and innovators who share in the belief that a change in behaviour can change the world. We believe that human behaviour—however illogical—is never a fault or a flaw. It’s a feature. We seek to understand it. We see people as a critical, yet too often ignored part of successful health initiatives. Our clients include the world’s leading organisations in public health, international development, and philanthropy. By connecting behavioural insights with community insights, we design public health solutions rooted in the social and cultural minutiae of communities across the globe.

How we work

We’re a virtual company, based across multiple time zones and countries. All our team members are contractors who have the flexibility to choose where they live, though we try to ensure a core block of hours when everyone can be collaborating.  Strong communication and collaboration skills are essential to success in this role! We search hard for creative team players who can work independently, but also collaborate with a talented team, learn together, and design powerful behavioural solutions that blend the best of human-centred design, behavioural science, anthropology, marketing and other disciplines.

Apply here!

Be sure to include samples of your work or a digital portfolio that you’re proud of and demonstrates that you’re the best fit for this role—these should be a mix of video and audio pieces, or short written pieces, anything that shows off your knack for storytelling, writing, and multimedia content creation