Writer/Editor

National Brain Tumor Society

Conquering and curing brain tumors – once and for all.

Job Description

Background:
National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) unrelentingly invests in, mobilizes, and unites the brain tumor community to discover a cure, deliver effective treatments, and advocate for patients and caregivers. Building on over 30 years of experience, we are the largest patient advocacy organization in the United States committed to curing brain tumors and improving the lives of patients and families. With thousands beside us, our collective voices and actions are a powerful force for progress. Our donors, volunteers, and partners fuel our work and accelerate breakthroughs in brain tumor research. We will not stop until we defeat brain tumors—once and for all.

Reporting to the senior director of marketing and communications, the writer/editor at the National Brain Tumor Society will create content across enterprise-wide, digital and print channels. 

Summary:
Join a collaborative team of creative engagement and experience-focused marketing and communications professionals and dedicated team as we carry out our mission of conquering and curing brain tumors— once and for all. Reporting to the senior director of communications, you will serve as lead writer and editor for the organization. Our resident wordsmith, you will craft and refine a wide range of content types, from marketing copy and program description to feature articles, video scripts, and presentation content. As the keeper of our editorial style guide, you are a meticulous and detail-oriented grammarian with a commitment to quality and engagement above all else. You are audience-focused and are energized by a plate full of diverse projects that cross all digital and print platforms. 

Duties and Responsibilities: 
Writing: 
  • In collaboration with the senior director of communications, creates messaging for priority enterprise level and program level campaigns and initiatives at NBTS
  • Writes and/or edits content on the website, with a priority focus on simple, easy-to-understand B2C content but also has the ability to draft more complex content for B2B audience 
  • Translates complex scientific and health concepts into digestible, compelling donor and non-scientific constituent content
  • Writes original content for fundraising campaigns, including emails, social media posts, digital ads, web copy, etc. 
  • Writes original content for enterprise-wide campaigns (Brain Tumor Awareness Month, GBM Awareness Day, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month), including articles, profiles, emails, web copy, video scripts, digital ads, etc.
  • Writes all print and other text-based collateral, including the organization-wide annual report
  • Stays abreast of SEO best practices and collaborates with director of digital content strategy to adjust content and generate new content to optimize traffic to the NBTS website
  • Collaborates with partners across the organization to identify compelling story ideas to help tell the NBTS story

Editing and Proofreading:
  • Serves as lead editor on staff and acts as the “final set of eyes” on all priority communications in order to ensure quality, brand-compliant text and graphics
  • Proofreads written content for grammar, style, and punctuation
  • Oversees the NBTS editorial style guide and annually updates the document as needed
  • Ensures all NBTS materials are consistent in voice and align with NBTS style guide
  • Ensures all materials are error-free and of the highest quality to best represent the NBTS brand

Content Marketing:
  • Pitches and creates compelling content to accompany campaign promotions or optimize programming for mass audience
  • Identifies opportunities to repurpose content across channels to optimize engagement
  • Collaborates on content marketing strategies to generate leads

Speechwriting and Deck Building:
  • Crafts leadership remarks for events or communications in the voice of organizational leaders 
  • Develops copy for and edits professional presentations and talking points for external communicators to use when operationalizing campaigns, initiatives, partnerships, and introductions

Brand Management:
  • Collaborate with the senior director of communications and the marcomms team to steward a strong brand across all platforms 
  • Advocate for brand and quality control 

Other duties as assigned by senior director of communications

Required Skills and Competencies:
Qualifications and Experience:
  • At least 5 years of experience in an editorial role, preferably in nonprofit, health care, or equivalent
  • Undergraduate degree in Communications, BA or BS in a related field, or equivalent prior work experience required
  • Experience writing for development, nonprofit programs, and enterprise-wide materials preferred
  • Demonstrated experience writing for a variety of mediums, including feature articles, profiles, marketing copy, social media, and web 

Required Competencies:
  • Impeccable writing, editing, and proofreading skills (samples are required with application)
  • A demonstrated wide range in writing ability; can nimbly shift voice and tone to create content for solicitations, leadership communications, web features and articles, patient support resources, marketing content, and more
  • Excellent listener and communicator, capable of interviewing and hearing out experts and turning verbally delivered content into appropriate written content
  • Ability to work independently and thrive on managing a variety of key initiatives concurrently
  • Expertise crafting quality content for SEO 
  • Demonstrated experience managing content as part of a comprehensive editorial calendar
  • Experience creating content marketing materials and strategies to support an organization’s mission
  • Strong brand management skills
  • Strong project management skills

Additional Characteristics:
  • A desire to work for a mission-driven organization dedicated to helping those facing a life threatening disease
  • Meticulous grammarian and wordsmith
  • Keen attention to detail
  • Eye for big-picture storytelling
  • Strong collaborative skills
  • Proactive self-starter 
  • Positive (can-do) attitude 
  • Noteworthy patience 

Work Environment: 
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.
  • Location: Remote (core hours 9:00am to 5:00pm EST, primary work location must be in the United States) or on-site at NBTS headquarters in Newton, MA
  • This is a full-time exempt position.
  • Travel to headquarters and/or meeting locations by car and/or plane may be required less than 5% of the time.
  • Role is largely sedentary, with infrequent light physical effort required. On-site work is performed in an ADA compliant office environment, and workspace may be shared.

How to Apply:
To apply for this role, email a resume, cover letter, and writing samples to careers@braintumor.org. The writing samples should include 2 to 3 pieces that are representative of your current skills and the breadth of your prior writing experience. A link to an online writing portfolio may be submitted instead of or in addition to the writing samples.

NBTS provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.