Senior Strategist (Full Time)

We’re looking for a spirited and dynamic professional with wide ranging expertise to help strengthen our organization and the amazing clients we serve. We value our team’s myriad experiences as educators, artists, journalists, innovators, and human rights advocates. And as a firm that works on integrated projects, we’re seeking a person who is interested in the ways strategy, design, and storytelling can increase opportunity through education, workforce, and community.

A Senior Strategist at Friday is a critical thinker able to gather, discern, organize, and communicate information in order to help clients develop clear strategic direction. A person in this role is knowledgeable in assessing the essential functions of an organization (e.g. operations, talent, financials, communications) and the external factors that impact an organization’s livelihood (e.g. policy changes, market trends, environmental factors). A Senior Strategist has experience developing strategic planning frameworks and applying them to the way an organization communicates with and serves its audiences.

A Senior Strategist is an adept project manager, capable of developing and monitoring high-level project timelines as well as managing day-to-day priorities. As a project manager, this person captures and communicates next steps to clients and leverages project management tools to ensure all parties are clear on responsibilities, tasks, and timelines. A Senior Strategist is an exceptional communicator, balancing clarity and conciseness with thoroughness and attention to detail in order to craft important communication updates.

Internally, a Senior Strategist leverages their professional network and supports Lead Strategists and Strategy Directors to identify and steward new clients and project opportunities. A Senior Strategist contributes to Friday’s strategic direction, offering ideas for how the company can continuously improve and expand its strategy offerings and services, and contributes to thought leadership in the field. A Senior Strategist may also share responsibilities in managing associates and fellows on client projects and/or company growth initiatives.

 

Organization

Friday is a strategy and design firm working at the intersection of learning, opportunity, and community. We are strategists, innovators, and designers who apply creativity and strategic thinking to solve pressing challenges, uncover new opportunities, and build the capacity of leaders. Our clients are leading companies, nonprofits, foundations, and governments working across education, economic opportunity, and community development.

Friday is an equal opportunity employer and an organization that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Building a diverse and inclusive organization is a priority, and we encourage applicants from all backgrounds. Candidates are evaluated solely on their ability to perform the work required.

 

Responsibilities

  • You will manage and support strategic planning, brand strategy and program design projects including overseeing project process, contributing to and leading the creation of key deliverables, and ensuring excellent client relationships and experience.
  • You will collaborate with strategists and creatives at Friday to identify and create solutions to advance our clients’ social causes.
  • You will assume project management responsibilities, tracking progress of key deliverables, creating meeting agendas, updating project management tools, and collaborating with the Project Lead on process adjustments.
  • You will manage and support client communication, including being available to respond to client questions, troubleshooting issues in collaboration with the Strategic Lead, and communicating important updates.
  • You will identify opportunities to lead different aspects of strategy projects, including workshop and client meeting facilitation, in coordination with the Strategic Lead, to build your experience and expand your skill set.
  • You will contribute your education, professional experiences and knowledge to further develop our services and offerings, including defining and improving our process for executing on strategy deliverables, managing client relationships, and delivering high-quality work to our clients.
  • You will support the business development process for strategy-related projects and will be encouraged and supported to identify and steward new clients and projects.
  • You will reflect on unique insights from client work and share new ideas with the field by way of blog posts, resources, and new tools.

 

Qualifications

  • You are a strategic thinker that understands how to design creative solutions to solve business and organizational challenges.
  • You have foundational knowledge of organizational strategy and have demonstrated experience applying strategic thinking to a range of tasks including strategic planning, brand strategy, marketing & communications and/or program design & innovation. We do not expect candidates to have experience in each one of these areas, but rather are interested in understanding your ability to think critically across multiple types of tasks and deliverables.
  • You are adept at synthesizing and translating complex thoughts into accessible ideas and ask clear, thought-provoking questions to uncover new insights.
  • You are an active listener, processing nonverbal cues, considering the implications of what’s being said, and paying close attention in order to capture key takeaways.
  • You demonstrate excellent writing/editing and verbal communication skills.
  • You have experience serving, advising, facilitating and/or working for nonprofits, foundations and/or governments in the education, economic opportunity and/or community development sectors.

 

Personal Qualities

  • You are passionate about equal opportunity and innately curious, staying up on social and design trends and considering their implications for our work.
  • You are both a big thinker and an attention-to-detail executor; you are able to manage multiple projects at a time, keeping yourself and your team organized and on task.
  • You are able to quickly pivot as strategic direction changes, accept feedback and critique, and enjoy building off of others’ ideas.
  • You thrive in an entrepreneurial, self-directed work environment and build relationships with team members working remotely.
  • You contribute to a “Friday Feeling”, creating inclusive, joyful and creative work spaces where people can be their best selves and exchange new information and ideas.

 

Why Friday

We believe everyone should have the opportunity to realize their potential, apply their talents, and shape the place they live for good. Our core values guide our interactions with one another and inform how we work with clients and partners:

  • We are Flexible. Everybody’s Friday is a little different – just like our team and clients’ needs. That’s why we prioritize flexible schedules and remote work. And we offer our clients multiple ways to work with us: weekly sprints, workshops and trainings, multi-month projects, and long-term partnerships.
  • We are Focused. We seize every week as a possibility for transformation. At the start of the week we organize and iterate; by Friday we present, and celebrate. At the end of each week, we look back and ask ourselves: Did we make a difference?
  • We have Fun. Friday is business at heart with a weekend’s soul. We are passionate about social change and bring our whole selves to every engagement. We are both partner and friend, colleague and confidant.
  • We are invested in the Future. Impact doesn’t stop with Friday. We build the capacity of our clients to sustain change long term. We create enduring strategies, tools, and programs and ensure our clients are equipped to implement change. And we believe in empowering our team to achieve their goals both in and out of work.

 

Position Details

  • Position type: Full-time, exempt role
  • Start date: Fall 2022
  • Salary Range: $86,000-$104,000 depending experience; eligible for annual bonus and opportunities to earn sales commission.
  • Competitive Benefits: Health, vision, dental, disability and life insurance covered by employer; 401K with 3% employer contribution
  • Location: Remote, with preference for those living in California or mid-tier cities around the United States (Austin, Indianapolis, Denver, Nashville, etc.)

 

To Apply

If this sounds like the right fit for your expertise and interests, please submit your application at friday.us/apply-senior-strategist, including a brief but personalized cover letter (PDF), your resume (PDF), and 3 work/writing samples (PDF). No phone calls please.