Messaging Director

WORK LOCATION + HOURS:

Office hours are generally 8:30am–5:30pm. Open Book’s hybrid work model prioritizes staff working in our Minneapolis office at least 3 days/week. Occasional travel may be required.

ABOUT OPEN BOOK:

Open Book Communications is a Minneapolis-based team of doers, thinkers, and makers serving clients nationwide with communications and creative leadership. Our purpose as a company is creating storytelling that changes lives and organizations by “cracking the code” of how to show and tell an organization’s core story. We specialize in partnering with leaders driven by strong convictions and a vision for positive change who are wrestling with how to get their organizations to the next level. Our team culture is grounded by five core values: 1) drive toward outcomes; 2) big heart, no ego; 3) invite the challenge; 4) say it, do it, learn from it; 5) help others succeed.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

We are currently seeking a Messaging Director who will play a pivotal role in driving creative vision for organizational storytelling and communications in ways that serve clients deeply and move projects forward. In this role you will generate lead ideas, story concepts, and narrative approaches that solve communication challenges and give unique voice to the visions our clients are pursuing. The ideal candidate is a compelling writer and thinker who also thrives on working collaboratively within a cross-disciplinary creative team—including designers, animators, and digital developers—so as to craft stories and communication strategies that integrate art and copy. You are someone motivated to serve through can-do leadership, solution-minded resourcefulness, and strategic judgement so that people, stories, and ideas succeed. This role reports to the Senior Creative Director.

REQUIRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS:

• Strong and confident leadership
• Experience in stakeholder/client engagement
• Skilled writer; creativity and intelligence with a rich vocabulary and mastery of grammar
• Evidence of creative writing experience (links to published/public work would be advantageous)
• Confident and clear communicator, both verbally and in writing
• Demonstrates knowledge and proficiency with communications technologies
• Understands principles of copywriting, graphic design, layout, and publishing
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Impeccable attention to detail
• Appreciation for giving and receiving constructive feedback that helps work get better
• Growth mindset

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

5+ years of industry experience

Experience supervising and developing other writers beneficial, but not required.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

Provide creative direction through words and narrative systems that can be integrated with visual concepts.

• Offer vision and creative solutions that “crack the code” for how an organization tells its core story
• Use both intelligence and blank-slate imagination to conceive of core story concepts that represent a simple and profound idea, are invitational across audiences, and offer strategic connections to build on
• Translate story concepts into language and messaging that is “sayable and memorable” and that can be paired with design to anchor a client’s brand
• Collaborate with the creative team to ensure messaging, design, and creative tools integrate and support each other

Create from deep client insight.

• Gain a deep understanding of an organization through researching and reviewing diverse inputs
• Conduct client and stakeholder interviews through purposeful question-asking and active listening that facilitates discovery and “aha” insights
• Distill and document key findings into coherent ideas; provide strategic insight to crystallize a client’s core distinctives, needs, and communication challenges that drive or unlock creative possibilities
• Demonstrate sufficient mastery of a client’s point of view as to be able to write from their unique voice

Write for diverse contexts in ways that others can build on.

• Give voice to vision and animating ideas through clear, beautiful writing clients recognize themselves in
• Tailor tone, voice, and aesthetic based on different arenas and audiences
• Craft words and writing that are creative as well as sharp and specific, grounded in ideas
• Collaborate with the creative team to execute branded content across multiple platforms; this will include crafting narrative storybooks, web copy, event speeches, talking points, video scripts, and more

Communicate ideas with confidence.

• Present work and constructively engage with ideas and feedback in client meetings
• Package information (presentations, strategy memos, concept pitches) in ways that help a client clearly understand Open Book’s work, observations, or proposed direction for a project
• Represent the philosophies of Open Book, and our clients, with keen attunement to the nuances of a differentiating point of view; serve as a translator to help build mindshare or greater alignment

Serve as an engine for moving projects forward.

• Facilitate forward momentum for projects by offering ideas, solutions, and next steps
• Collaborate with the creative team to review work and provide constructive feedback
• Communicate with clients in a timely and relational manner, ensuring all parties have aligned expectations and are moving toward shared wins