The Andrew W Mellon Foundation
Senior Producer and Managing Editor
The Andrew W Mellon Foundation, New York, NY
Mellon Foundation
Senior Producer and Managing Editor
The Mellon Foundation ("Foundation") believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas - Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place - and through its signature Presidential Initiatives. The Foundation seeks a Senior Producer and Managing Editor for the Communications department.
Team/ Program Overview:
The Mellon Foundation's team of communications professionals are responsible for building and stewarding the Foundation brand, telling its story, and driving outreach and engagement efforts both internally and externally. Our work strives to:
Reporting to the Integrated Content Director, the Senior Producer and Managing Editor will be part of an ambitious and highly collaborative team whose focus is engaging broad interested and invested audiences in the meaningful, relevant, and impactful work at the Mellon Foundation.
Position Summary:
In this role, a successful candidate will drive innovative approaches to storytelling that connect with audiences and integrate with the Foundation's strategic communication priorities, while working adeptly across departments at the Foundation. With a keen sense of brand voice and narrative, the ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, resourceful, and ready to tell stories in many formats. They are a content strategist who is also hands-on: writing or editing copy, storyboarding videos, scripting for audio, captioning photos, and packaging content in ways that help it reach targeted audiences. The Senior Producer and Managing Editor is part of the Foundation's Communication's department, sitting on the content team, and working with external contributors, in-house creatives, and technologists. This role will work with a small group of consultants: contributors, fact checkers, and proofreaders. Key attributes of a successful candidate: confident, cooperative, and capable of working across multiple concurrent projects.
We use digital tools and social media as primary channels for bringing our mission and message to broader audiences. The Senior Producer and Managing Editor also demonstrates an expert understanding of digital media culture and platforms and is motivated to explore new and innovative ways for driving engagement with storytelling, announcements, and events from Mellon. They are culturally curious about the topics and projects supported by Mellon and have a track record of entrepreneurial approaches to modes of content making. The Senior Producer and Managing Editor is also involved with editorial planning, creative asset iteration and management, project management, and administrative tasks associated with the content team function.
Position Description:
Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to the following:
50% Content creation and innovation in storytelling. Contribute to ideation and editorial planning for an annual calendar of stories, features, and interactives that integrate with strategic messaging and priorities. Take on research and reporting to produce content in many forms, including written (short- and long-form), audio, visual, and multimedia. Partner with external contributors and creative agencies to make content that engages and connects to Mellon's audiences. Own a slate of story assignments, from concept to completion, and contribute to setting and meeting goals of the content team. Use data to inform recommendations and decision making.
30% Production and project management. Organize and publish stories as assigned. Understand and communicate overall production timelines, project deliverables, and resourcing needs. When working with external contributors, help produce their submission and stories for accuracy, clarity of voice, tone, and editorial alignment. Review edited articles before publication. Maintain positive working relationships with external contributors and creatives. Ensure all published content is factual and error free, aligned with an editorial plan, and that the tone and voice follow Mellon's messaging platform.
20% Ideation and development of new editorial offerings. Work with Communications leadership to explore and actualize new storytelling opportunities, through work with Mellon grantees, acquisition sources, media partnership, and more.
Qualifications:
Preferred:
Mellon Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. Mellon offers a generous total reward package that includes base salary and a comprehensive benefits program, as well as an excellent working environment. Mellon is committed to providing compensation that is competitive and equitable within the philanthropic sector. The estimated annual salary range for this role is $155,000 - $170,000. The amount of pay offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to qualifications, unique skills, credentials, or experience that is expected to impact the candidate's contribution to the role. We will also consider market data as well as the Foundation's internal pay equity framework.
The Mellon Foundation is committed to access and inclusion for our applicants. If you have accessibility requests to support your participation in the hiring process, please let us know at your earliest convenience.
Please note that Mellon maintains a hybrid work schedule, with three days per week in person at the Foundation's Manhattan offices.
Candidates should apply by submitting a cover letter describing fit for the position and a resume by December 3, 2024. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
The Foundation will consider each complete application carefully but only contact those individuals it believes are most qualified for the position.
Senior Producer and Managing Editor
The Mellon Foundation ("Foundation") believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas - Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place - and through its signature Presidential Initiatives. The Foundation seeks a Senior Producer and Managing Editor for the Communications department.
Team/ Program Overview:
The Mellon Foundation's team of communications professionals are responsible for building and stewarding the Foundation brand, telling its story, and driving outreach and engagement efforts both internally and externally. Our work strives to:
- Build broad brand affinity and connection with the Mellon Foundation's work
- Encourage appreciation, understanding of, and engagement with the work of our grantees
- Broadly advocate for the centrality of the arts and humanities in culture
Reporting to the Integrated Content Director, the Senior Producer and Managing Editor will be part of an ambitious and highly collaborative team whose focus is engaging broad interested and invested audiences in the meaningful, relevant, and impactful work at the Mellon Foundation.
Position Summary:
In this role, a successful candidate will drive innovative approaches to storytelling that connect with audiences and integrate with the Foundation's strategic communication priorities, while working adeptly across departments at the Foundation. With a keen sense of brand voice and narrative, the ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, resourceful, and ready to tell stories in many formats. They are a content strategist who is also hands-on: writing or editing copy, storyboarding videos, scripting for audio, captioning photos, and packaging content in ways that help it reach targeted audiences. The Senior Producer and Managing Editor is part of the Foundation's Communication's department, sitting on the content team, and working with external contributors, in-house creatives, and technologists. This role will work with a small group of consultants: contributors, fact checkers, and proofreaders. Key attributes of a successful candidate: confident, cooperative, and capable of working across multiple concurrent projects.
We use digital tools and social media as primary channels for bringing our mission and message to broader audiences. The Senior Producer and Managing Editor also demonstrates an expert understanding of digital media culture and platforms and is motivated to explore new and innovative ways for driving engagement with storytelling, announcements, and events from Mellon. They are culturally curious about the topics and projects supported by Mellon and have a track record of entrepreneurial approaches to modes of content making. The Senior Producer and Managing Editor is also involved with editorial planning, creative asset iteration and management, project management, and administrative tasks associated with the content team function.
Position Description:
Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to the following:
50% Content creation and innovation in storytelling. Contribute to ideation and editorial planning for an annual calendar of stories, features, and interactives that integrate with strategic messaging and priorities. Take on research and reporting to produce content in many forms, including written (short- and long-form), audio, visual, and multimedia. Partner with external contributors and creative agencies to make content that engages and connects to Mellon's audiences. Own a slate of story assignments, from concept to completion, and contribute to setting and meeting goals of the content team. Use data to inform recommendations and decision making.
30% Production and project management. Organize and publish stories as assigned. Understand and communicate overall production timelines, project deliverables, and resourcing needs. When working with external contributors, help produce their submission and stories for accuracy, clarity of voice, tone, and editorial alignment. Review edited articles before publication. Maintain positive working relationships with external contributors and creatives. Ensure all published content is factual and error free, aligned with an editorial plan, and that the tone and voice follow Mellon's messaging platform.
20% Ideation and development of new editorial offerings. Work with Communications leadership to explore and actualize new storytelling opportunities, through work with Mellon grantees, acquisition sources, media partnership, and more.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree (or similar combination of relevant Education + Experience)
- A minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience with responsibilities including content marketing, digital strategy, editorial production, project management, and/or content strategy
- At least 3 years of work history as a supervisor with direct reports and/or oversight of freelance employees
- Work experience in an environment with a cross-functional team, clients, or multiple stakeholders
- Strong track record of strategic and creative thinking to successfully build targeted audiences
- Demonstrated ability to write compelling, error-free copy on tight deadlines. Must have experience writing for people as well as brands.
- Portfolio work that shows knowledge of web design, video, audio production, and best practices for digital accessibility
- Impeccable attention to detail
- Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly articulate creative concepts, and to give and receive feedback productively
- Ability to work under deadlines, to organize information, to report out with clarity, and to handle multiple assigned tasks efficiently
Preferred:
- Demonstrated knowledge of Mellon's fields of support: arts, humanities, and higher education
- Experience using project management platforms , e.g. Monday.com
- Familiarity with style guides, including CMOS
- Understanding of basic SEO, translating audience metrics
- Proficiency on a Mac platform
- Spanish fluency (orally and in writing)
Mellon Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. Mellon offers a generous total reward package that includes base salary and a comprehensive benefits program, as well as an excellent working environment. Mellon is committed to providing compensation that is competitive and equitable within the philanthropic sector. The estimated annual salary range for this role is $155,000 - $170,000. The amount of pay offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to qualifications, unique skills, credentials, or experience that is expected to impact the candidate's contribution to the role. We will also consider market data as well as the Foundation's internal pay equity framework.
The Mellon Foundation is committed to access and inclusion for our applicants. If you have accessibility requests to support your participation in the hiring process, please let us know at your earliest convenience.
Please note that Mellon maintains a hybrid work schedule, with three days per week in person at the Foundation's Manhattan offices.
Candidates should apply by submitting a cover letter describing fit for the position and a resume by December 3, 2024. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
The Foundation will consider each complete application carefully but only contact those individuals it believes are most qualified for the position.