Department: PECCS

Reports to: Director of Marketing & Communications

Status: Full Time, Exempt

Location: Palo Alto | U.S. Remote consideration

Salary Range: $97,347 — $140,082

Position Description

The Skoll Foundation is seeking an experienced Senior Writer and Editor to join our Public Engagement, Communications, and Creative Services (PECCS) team.

Reporting to the Director of Marketing & Communications, the Senior Writer and Editor will play a crucial role in crafting compelling stories and content tailored to inform, engage, and activate target audiences to advance the Skoll Foundation’s goals.

From telling human-focused stories to developing business case studies to articulating global trends and perspectives, the Senior Writer & Editor will be stimulated by the opportunity to develop thought leadership content to engage and activate target audiences to understand and support social innovators driving systems change. The Senior Writer & Editor will have a sophisticated approach to compelling copy creation, including well-honed, excellent writing, editorial, curatorial, and analytic skills and knowledge of the social change space.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Produce, edit, and distribute content to key target audiences to drive attention, resources, and support for Skoll’s grantee and Awardee communities. This includes storytelling and thought leadership pieces, website and other platform copy, and year-round updates and reports.
• Serve as primary writer and editor for Foundation-wide communications strategies to a variety of audiences, owning the full supply chain from creation to publication of written materials, tailoring content for audience segments and optimizing for distribution channels.
• Lead outreach to secure placement of opinion pieces in top-tier publications to influence global leaders across sectors to support social change and social innovators.
• Shape and contribute to the Foundation’s editorial calendar, ensuring it supports the Foundation’s strategy and goals.
• Work closely with the Director of Marketing & Communications, leadership, the CEO, and other Foundation subject matter experts to conceptualize, draft, and edit thought leadership pieces including but not limited to blogs, bylined articles, interviews, op-eds, letters to the editor, website copy, backgrounders, announcements/press kits, messaging docs/talking points, and speeches.
• Generate public-facing written material for email, web, and social media that champions the work of Skoll Awardees and active grantees.
• Copyedit material , ensuring each piece has a consistent style and tone, and that the materials break even the most complex information into a clear, direct, and simple style.
• Liaise with internal stakeholders to set and implement production and distribution timelines.
• Provide communications support as needed for the Skoll World Forum and other convenings.
• Lead projects for editorial calendar and coordinate distribution against the broader communications plan.
• Conceive of graphic assets to support written content and develop or assign to Graphic Designer as appropriate.

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in a writing or editing role.
• Excellent writing, editing, and copyediting skills.
• Experience interviewing subject matter experts to inform published pieces.
• Ability to dissect and synthesize complex concepts and convey them in simple, meaningful, accessible language for summaries, headlines, and social media-worthy copy.
• Experience tailoring content to a wide variety of formats including digital, earned media, and print. Strong awareness of best practices for each channel.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Experience developing and maintaining project plans, managing multiple projects/work streams simultaneously, shepherding within team-oriented approach and collaborative spirit.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience writing and editing content for digital media.
• Familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style and experience with SEO best practices preferred.
• Strong storytelling ability and demonstrated experience in crafting compelling narratives for a globally diverse audience.
• Experience with collaborative project management tools (i.e., Asana, Slack, Office 365) and design tools (Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop).
• Ability to travel to Oxford, UK for the annual Skoll World Forum (must have current passport).
• Experience with: Pardot, basic HTML, Microsoft Office Suite, Outlook, WordPress, Salesforce highly desired.
• Commitment to the Foundation’s vision and mission and a deep passion for social change, entrepreneurship, and innovation and the Foundation’s mission.

Salary Description

Offers are based on the candidate’s years of experience and the Foundation’s practice of upholding salary equity within the Foundation. The base salary range for this position is between $97,347 and $140,082 per year. The salary range will vary for candidates outside the Foundation’s primary office in Palo Alto, California 

Your Health

The Foundation requires all staff, vendors, and visitors be fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

 About the Skoll Foundation

The Skoll Foundation seeks to catalyze transformational social change by investing in, connecting, and championing social entrepreneurs and other social innovators who together advance bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

Jeff Skoll, the first employee and first President of eBay, created the Skoll Foundation in 1999 to pursue his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all. The Foundation is part of the Jeff Skoll Group, which also includes Participant (formerly known as Participant Media) and the Capricorn Investment Group.

The Foundation aspires to fundamentally shift the trajectory on urgent global problems including pandemics and global health systems, racial justice, climate change, effective governance, and inclusive economies. The Foundation does this by connecting social innovators around the world, investing in their solutions, and championing their work. The Foundation is committed to finding new ways to streamline its operations and support the organization as it drives transformational social change globally. Learn more about the Skoll Foundation at www.skoll.org.

Applicants
The Skoll Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. We embrace and encourage our employees’ differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Skoll, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the ADA and related state laws. Reasonable accommodation is a change in how things are normally done, ensuring an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on the company.  Please contact hr@skoll.org if you need assistance completing any forms or to otherwise participate in the application process.

Click here to submit your resume, cover letter, and a writing sample. In your cover letter indicate your passion for the mission and your fit for the role. We will contact qualified applicants.