Strategic Communications Consultant

Last updated: February 2023

The Role:

We’re on the lookout for a strategic consultant based in the US who can collaborate with our London based team and also take a lead on strategic partnerships in that part of the world. You will lead communications strategies – from ideation to implementation – for our partners in the US (other agencies like to call them clients) to achieve the outcomes they are looking for.You will need to demonstrate expertise in one or more of the following areas:  PR (extra marks for experience in this field), digital campaigning, political campaigning and copywriting.

How you’ll be shaping history everyday:

• Leadership and Consultancy: You will lead the strategy for the partnerships you are working on. This involves providing leadership and strategic counsel to our partners, helping to guide them through the process and not being afraid to challenge their points of view in a respectful way. 
• Strategic thinking: You will always keep your eye on the big picture – achieving the outcomes our partners are looking for. This means putting outcomes before outputs, always thinking about the road to getting there within both available means and the changing environment, and recognising that the tools and tactics are adaptable and evolving.
• Strategic ideation. You will brainstorm ideas and build them out into strategies across a wide range of communications disciplines. This will involve crafting brand strategies for organisations, building campaigns for advocacy and behavioural change goals, developing communications strategies for organisations, and developing digital and media strategies to effectively reach priority audiences on the channels they use. 
• Strategic PR and Media: Using your experience working in PR, you will use your knowledge to build up relationships with press in the States. You will be required to lead on PR and content planning within the region and execute outreach on behalf of a variety of partners, both proactively and reactively. 
• Copywriting: Writing clear and concise copy for a range of different mediums – ads, publications, websites, press releases – that inform, engage, and resonate with  target audiences. You will understand the message that our partners are trying to seek to express and translate this into powerful and convincing written content. 
• Research: Carrying out research (e.g conducting stakeholder interviews, desk based research, competitors/peers analysis) to unearth powerful and actionable insights to inform strategies and activations. 
• Facilitating workshops: Leading on physical and virtual workshops to unearth insight, scope out opportunities, and co-develop strategies. This will include planning, running, and writing up key notes and outcomes. 
• New Partnerships: You might help fine-tune and support with responding to briefs and writing proposals for new and existing partners in the US, as well as taking part in pitches and presenting proposals.

Must haves:

• Strategic Experience: Proven track record and experience of developing and implementing effective strategies and influencing stakeholders. The individual should have at least 10 years of strategic experience.
• Problem solving: Using logic, as well as imagination, to make sense of a situation and come up with realistic and workable solutions. 
• Leadership: Experience of leading meetings with partners and taking a lead on the creation of various strategies. 
• Agency experience: We’d ideally like to bring someone on board who has agency and sector experience. 
• Collaboration: Working collaboratively in a team, as well as independently, and willing to roll up your sleeves during short intensive sprints.  
• Clarity and simplification:  From presenting ideas to the internal team or our partners, to delivering strategy documents, you present and organise information in a clear, engaging way that resonates and  creates clarity and alignment. 
• Proactivity: Taking ownership and autonomy over your work, solving problems that others may not have noticed, and going out of your way to continue learning and growing.
• Time management: Effectively planning and organising how to divide your time between specific projects and activities, balancing the art of flexibility with realism.

Q&A:

Who are we? We’re Shape History, the social impact communications agency. We work with our partners on some of the biggest issues facing humanity today, from Climate Change to Gender Equality, Digital Health to Inequality. We harness the power of communication to inspire inventive thinking  and propel social impact leaders and change makers to create a fairer world faster. 

Where do you need to be based? We have partners all across the US but we’d primarily be looking for someone based on the East Coast. 

How often will you be needed? We can be flexible but ideally part-time, approximately 2-3 days per week.

How much and how often will you be paid? We’ll agree on a day rate with you and pay you for the hours you complete at the end of each month. 

How do you apply? Send us your details and let’s have a call! Reach out on recruitment@shapehistory.com

When will we be making a decision on who to bring on board? We’ll be looking through applications on a rolling basis and we’d like to bring someone on board anytime from March onwards.

Race Equity:

We are committed to having an inclusive culture in which everyone feels safe and supported to achieve their potential. There is a long way to go in implementing race equity in the sector and we have a robust strategy in place for delivering this at Shape History. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented and minority groups, including those with lived experience of social issues we are working to address. 

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