Managing Digital Strategist

Managing Digital Strategists run Middle Seat’s largest email programs for progressive candidates, political committees, and nonprofits. They also manage and mentor junior members of the email team. As an experienced emailer, this job is an opportunity to work on some of the most notable fundraising and advocacy programs in our space. You will take the lead on strategy and execution with some of our most important clients. You will also learn to be an effective manager, mentor, and leader on the email team. This role is roughly 80% client work and 20% team management work.

This role is part of the bargaining unit.

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Why Middle Seat

• Competitive salaries and great benefits
• We only work for progressive organizations, candidates, and causes
• We’re a proudly unionized team — part of the Campaign Workers Guild

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Job Responsibilities

• Write compelling fundraising and organizing emails
  • Writing embodies the voices and perspectives of our clients, with no edits needed
  • Expertly adapts writing to various calls-to-action
  • Writing always deploys effective theories of change
• Work with clients to get emails edited, approved, and scheduled
  • Coordinates clients to review and finalize email copy
  • Solicits, accepts, processes, and incorporates copy feedback, from both senior team members and clients
  • Provides valuable and constructive copy feedback to more junior team members
  • Plays a role in helping to develop the copywriting skills of junior team members
• Code, produce, target and test mass email communications
  • Email code is complete and accurate, with no errors. Requires no troubleshooting. Can troubleshoot intermediate and complex code issues.
  • Follows our internal testing processes; sends email tests to team members for review and approval
  • Frequently volunteers to review and approve tests for others. Nearly always catches and rectifies errors before they launch.
  • Launches emails to targeted audiences with no mistakes
• Use multiple different CRMs to run email programs (ActionKit, BSD, Action Network, NationBuilder, MailChimp, etc.)
  • Has mastered all CRM(s) used by their client(s)
  • Has become fluent in 1-2 additional CRMs
  • Trains and mentors junior team members on learning new CRMs
• Analyze metrics and report back to clients on performance, best practices, test results
  • Compiles metrics into cohesive, thorough, well-structured reports
  • Analyzes those reports; derives strategic guidance from them
  • Presents reports, analyses, and strategic guidance to clients with no assistance
  • Mentors and/or manages junior team members in producing client reports
• Present detailed monthly reports to clients
  • Can independently build, present, and explain monthly reports to clients.
  • Can also successfully coach junior team members through the process of building monthly reports; provides valuable and constructive feedback
• Serve as a day-to-day contact with clients.
  • Communicates extremely well with clients regularly
  • Is very responsive to client needs and requests
  • Frequently proactively anticipates and responds to client needs
• Take part in brainstorms, team meetings, conference calls, etc.
  • Contributes significantly — and frequently leads, and volunteers to lead — brainstorms, team meetings, and other internal meetings
• Develop monthly content calendars and goals for clients
  • Develops cohesive calendars that align with email scheduling best practices, with no assistance
  • Sets fundraising goals that are appropriate to their clients’ programs and overall industry standards, with no assistance
  • Helps hold junior team members accountable to following calendars and reaching goals
• A/B test everything you do
  • Recommends innovative testing ideas
  • Conducts tests independently
  • Successfully concludes tests; compiles and presents test results
  • Holds junior team members accountable to following testing protocols
  • Assists junior team members with testing procedures and reports
• Produce ActBlue fundraising pages and tests
  • Builds fundraising pages that align with both client branding and digital fundraising best practices, with no assistance
  • Regularly audits fundraising pages; works with the product team to ensure fundraising page wrappers are updated
• Write copy for landing pages
  • Writes cohesive, appropriate, concise landing page copy, with no assistance
• Contribute significantly to new client pitches
  • Provides appropriate, relevant content to new client pitches; proactively seeks out opportunities to contribute
  • Content requires no editing, revising, and feedback
• Directly manage junior email team members
  • Plays a direct managerial role for at least one junior team member
  • Schedules and holds regular check-ins with direct reports to discuss professional development, growth, and progress
• Contribute to employee goals, training, and growth
  • Works with direct reports to develop and actualize professional development goals
  • Helps to train junior employees; helps to on-board new employees
  • Manages the performance evaluation process, with assistance
  • Delivers and conducts employee performance evaluations, with supervision
• Run training sessions
  • Runs training sessions to teach new/junior team members and improve team knowledge
  • Recommends training topics; manages the process of developing and delivering corresponding trainings
• Give feedback on programming and drafts
  • Provides constructive, thorough, well-thought-out copy feedback and edits
  • Reviews email code for issues or irregularities; recommends effective solutions
• Project management
  • Independently manages projects
  • Manage junior team members on projects
  • Teaches project management skills to junior team members
• Lead on setting up new client accounts
  • Effectively manages new client setup and onboarding
• Work with our product team to develop landing pages and templates
  • Coordinate with the product team to produce on-brand landing pages and templates that embody digital best practices
• Set up CRMs
  • Sets up and/or transition over to a new CRM instance for a client
• Play a role in the management of Middle Seat’s email team
  • Recommends improvements to email team systems
  • Helps streamline email team processes
  • Contributes to the process of interviewing and recruiting new email team members
  • Assists with determining client and backup allocation and team member workloads

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Requirements

• 4+ years of relevant experience in email fundraising (or similar)
  • Most employees at this level will need at least 24 months to earn a promotion to the next level
• Mastery of 3+ common CRMs or fundraising platforms (ActionKit, ActBlue, Blue State Digital, ActionNetwork, NationBuilder, etc.)
• Ability to quickly learn new tools and CRMs
• Mastery of email writing for fundraising
• Understands and effectively utilizes theories of change
• Excellent writing skills (diction, grammar, sentence structure, spelling)
• Able to switch voice and tone per client needs
• Proficiency in HTML and CSS as needed to run major email programs
• Able to manage large clients unassisted
• Creative writing chops
• Enthusiasm for data and testing fundraising content
• A desire to play a role in fundraising for major political campaigns, nonprofits, and causes
• Attention to detail
• Informal or formal management or mentorship experience preferred
• Interest in helping to manage a growing, diverse team of email specialists

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Salary and Benefits

• Salary starts between $90,000 and $100,000
  • Commensurate with years and depth of experience
• Profit sharing plan: share in the growth and success of Middle Seat
• $50 mobile phone subsidy monthly
• 100% premium coverage for health, dental, and vision
• Zero deductible health plan
• Wellness benefits, which include free memberships to One Medical, Health Advocate, and Talkspace
• $100 monthly student loan reimbursement
• $350 monthly mental health reimbursement
• $1,000 annually towards professional development
• 6% employer match on your 401k retirement account
• 20 paid vacation days off, plus your birthday, plus your birthday and work anniversary off
• Unlimited sick leave
• 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents and a discount on services from Kindbody

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