J2 | AIGA Philadelphia

About Us:
J2 is a strategy and design agency focused on providing thoughtful, flexible, and lasting brand and communication solutions for education, nonprofit, and arts and cultural organizations. Through our focus on collaboration, process, and hard work, we produce successful results with both immediate and lasting impact for our clients (and the world!) We work for organizations with the ambition to look towards the future, and we treasure hard-working, passionate, and engaged employees. We value input from multiple viewpoints and perspectives across the agency; our goal is to create a creative community that is rich with cultural, social, and intellectual diversity. Notable clients include Mural Arts Philadelphia, Episcopal Community Services, Harlem Academy, the Center for Architecture + Design, Pan-American Charter School, and Rutgers University.
Learn more at J2made.com.

About You:
For you, “strategy” isn’t just a profession, it’s a way of life. You’re excellent in situations that require strategic organization of information, and enjoy bringing order and consistency to your work by establishing routines, focusing on timelines, and breaking long-term projects into a series of specific short-term plans. At the same time, you have a demonstrated flair for communications. Your knowledge of branding, marketing, communication, and social media is ever-expanding, enabling you to always match the right goal with the appropriate tactic to achieve it. You’re a whiz at understanding research and transforming it into actionable steps to bring a brand to life. You explain your views clearly and write with both precision and panache. After all the brands are designed and the roll-out plan is set, you love learning new things. Driven by your innate curiosity, you find value in the ideas and interests of others. You enjoy the process of acquiring and maintaining new levels of expertise.

About the Position:
To be successful in this position, the ideal candidate will have substantial experience in branding, marketing, and communications. From learning how users think to rolling out a refreshed brand using multi-channel marketing, this Strategist will have an interest in, and talent for, multiple phases within a full branding initiative. This individual will work closely with, and report to, the Senior Strategist and help manage daily communications and project work flow between clients, J2’s Strategy Team, and relevant contractors.

The Strategist will primarily be responsible for developing brand strategies, messaging guidelines, and communication plans. The Strategist will collaborate with the Strategy Team throughout the Research and Discovery Phases, in which a clear understanding of the client’s target audience’s needs are gained, through to the Execution Phase, where findings are written up and applied to create brand messaging, core narratives, and communications plans. Successful candidates must be committed to working with diverse community populations and should possess specific competencies and demonstrated expertise in multicultural settings.

In addition to keeping long-term projects on-track, this individual will be asked to take on short project assignments and will be expected to learn a lot about new subject matters in a short period of time and then move onto the next assignment. The ideal candidate will have a commitment to in-depth thinking, quality control, and customer experience. Client presentation experience is a plus! This role may also participate in business development efforts, client engagement, and thought leadership opportunities. This is a full-time position at our office, located at One Penn Center in Philadelphia, PA. Salary commensurate with experience. Estimated start date = August 2017.

Position Responsibilities:

Manage all aspects of the internal work flow for Strategy projects including scheduling, planning, phasing, and managing various complex calendars internally.
Coordinate directly with clients for scheduling and information requests (such as a deeper understanding of the organization and its branding goals), manage client relationships, and present to clients as needed.
When needed, assist in primary and secondary research with a heavy focus on quantitative and qualitative methods – from traditional methods such as online surveys and focus groups to more creative, unconventional methods that have been extensively researched and vetted by others.
Analyze existing research in order to extract key learnings, identify patterns, and understand climate.
Review analytics (in survey platforms and digital media) to identify the most important audiences and best customers for the client’s brand.
Develop brand strategy recommendations utilizing research analysis, including: positioning, platform, attributes, messaging hierarchies, audience personas, go-to-market strategies, and communication plans.
Write executive summaries, craft contextual introductions, and outline documents for completion by the Senior Strategist.
Develop and present strategic recommendations to the client,
Establish benchmarks of success during Brand Messaging and Communication Phases of client engagements, and conduct post-work assessments to capture the success of the final project (or what still needs to be done to meet the client goals).

Position Objectives:

Gain a complete understanding of J2’s Brand Strategy and Messaging process and deliverables.
Organize all deliverables, documents, and processes to facilitate efficiency, quality, and profitability.
Benchmark best practice models of Brand Strategy, Messaging, and Communications to continually improve J2’s services and deliverables.

Qualifications:

Minimum 3 years of related work experience, preferably in an agency or nonprofit environment
Outstanding verbal, written, listening, and time management skills
Proven ability to work well independently and in a team
Ability to create well-designed and inspirational presentations and documents
Demonstrated ability to creatively and effectively solve problems
Computer skills: time management software, Basecamp, Keynote, Google Office Suite

Next Steps:
Online portfolios are nice, but this position demands clear communication and strong writing skills. Therefore, interested applicants should email ONE PDF to strategyjobs@j2made.com with the subject line “STRATEGIST” that contains the following:

A statement of intent that describes your specific interest in the position, outlines your salary requirements, and tells a brief story about a time you solved a problem in a creative or interesting way
Updated resume or CV detailing your professional and volunteer experience related to this position
Three (3) recent, professional references
Two (2) relevant, professional writing samples (ex: executive summaries, strategy documents, communication plans, etc. No personal blogs, please!)

J2 Design has a strong commitment to principles of diversity and, in that spirit, actively encourages applications from groups underrepresented in creative agencies, studios, or firms. Applicants whose work incorporates a global perspective and a demonstrated commitment to issues of diversity in the regional and national nonprofit sectors are particularly encouraged to apply.