Senior Director, Editorial Strategy

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. Climate Lead equips ultra-high-net-worth families new to climate with the information and insights they need to drive transformative solutions by serving as an impartial guide. We cut through the complexity by curating roadmaps in partnership with a diverse network of experts to help philanthropists make a bold impact on climate from day one.

The Senior Director, Editorial Strategy will oversee content strategy, editorial, and production, working across teams to enable the highest- quality content that inspires donors to act. This role creates and manages editorial workflows to empower content creators from discovery through execution –  providing accountability, support, and strategic context to ensure an integrated set of donor touchpoints optimized for early engagement, learning, and giving. By streamlining production across the organization, this role enables creators and project teams to deliver high-impact content, including engaging storytelling, actionable case studies, direct NGO insights, and innovative delivery formats across all workstreams. This position is a senior leader on a 10+ staff communications team reporting to the Chief Communications officer. 

This role will manage 1-2 direct reports.

Editorial Strategy (50%)

• →Develop annual org-wide editorial strategy focused on compelling and accessible content that moves donors to give, iterated through the year. 
• →Track patterns and metrics to adjust mix of products (quarterly)
• →Rebalance workloads with other senior leaders and manage high volumes of content requests, identifying clear trade-offs when new requests arise.
• →Connects dots across teams for alignment and multichannel content. 
• →Accountable for cross-team prioritization with department leaders for content workstreams.
• →Develop and implement editorial tone in alignment with brand and latest climate communications research
• →Review all creative briefs created to ensure sharp strategy and coordinated execution against competing priorities
• →Advise on discovery key questions and purpose outcomes
• →Provide final decision on signature products, reviewing and providing feedback  against creative briefs along the way 
• →Provide guidance and oversight for effective and high-quality use of AI 

Production Oversight and Accountability (30%)

• →Oversee production management staff, ensuring key steps in the creative and production process: discovery, kick-off, creative brief, reviews, sign-off are all in place
• →Ensure teams learn and follow processes in an agile way to ensure great products 
• →Provide regular updates on editorial workflows and calendar to key partners on other teams
• →Encourage right-sizing of projects and realistic timelines, while constantly elevating content
• →Define success for editorial process and metrics for success across content. Create new systems for tracking and reporting out 

Team Management (20%)

• →Manage 1-2 direct reports, who will handle operational design and processes for content flows and project management
• →Internal communications across teams showing what we are working on and when to expect things

• Strategic Editorial Vision: Develops and leads an annual org-wide editorial strategy that translates complex climate issues into compelling, accessible touchpoints that move donors to action.
• Content Excellence & Rigor: Serves as the primary guardian of quality across all editorial products, setting clear content models and reviewing creative briefs to ensure sharp narrative strategy.
• Operational & Production Efficiency: Establishes agile workflows, clear prioritization frameworks, and systems accountability to manage high-volume requests and deliver seamless cross-team execution.
• Portfolio Optimization: Tracks metrics and audience patterns quarterly to balance workloads, right-size projects, and continually refine the organization's mix of signature products.

Management Success Criteria

• Being The Expert & Continuous Learning: Shares knowledge generously while remaining curious, humble, and attuned to audience insights.
• Leading: creates an environment where others feel supported, empowered, and able to contribute fully.
• Building teams: Enables team dynamics that amplify individual strengths by facilitating difficult conversations with courage and compassion and celebrating diverse approaches to problem-solving

• Collaborating: builds bridges across individual differences to multiply our collective impact, creating connections that strengthen our whole ecosystem to maintain a unified, integrated editorial calendar.
• Driving results: Optimizes for both speed and sustainability in the work by making difficult prioritization decisions with transparency and protecting the team from unnecessary urgency while maintaining focus

• 10+ years of progressive leadership in editorial strategy, content creation, or strategic communications, with a proven track record of managing teams and driving impact.
• Demonstrated experience partnering seamlessly across philanthropy, marketing, events, and executive leadership to align content strategies with high-priority organizational goals and donor engagement pipelines.
• Exceptional editorial judgment with experience serving as a primary brand steward, content reviewer, and creator of benchmark editorial standards.
• Outstanding editing skills and a collaborative approach to mentoring, coaching, and leading by influence.
• Proven success in designing, implementing, and championing agile editorial workflows that foster cross-functional alignment.
• Strong data-driven mindset, with skill in establishing performance metrics and translating audience engagement insights into editorial improvements.
• Exceptional interpersonal communication skills, with the adaptability, resilience, and vision needed to thrive in a dynamic, high-growth environment.

Climate Lead is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. This position operates in a hybrid environment and can be based either in our San Francisco office or our New York City hub. 

Staff in the San Francisco Bay Area work in the office Tuesday through Thursday each week and typically work from home on the other days. New York City Staff are expected to work out of our hub space a minimum of 10 days each month.

 The position will require domestic and international travel.