With a workforce of over 25,000 people, and opportunities in more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia is the fifth-largest city in the United States and one of the largest employers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. As an employer, the City of Philadelphia operates through the guiding principles of service, integrity, respect, accountability, collaboration, diversity and inclusion. Through these principles, we strive to effectively deliver services, to resolve the challenges facing our city, and to make Philadelphia a place where all of our residents have the opportunity to reach their potential.  

The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) oversees most major technology projects for the City of Philadelphia, ensures continuity of the City’s technology operations, and finds new ways to help the public interact meaningfully with technology. OIT uses technology to help City employees do their work better and helps residents get what they need from municipal government. Additionally, OIT offers an innovation service portfolio focused on developing municipal government’s capacity for creativity and innovation.

OIT is currently absorbing much of the former Office of Open Data and Digital Transformation (ODDT) team in the 2020 calendar year. Open Data team members are now located within OIT’s centralized data team, and the Digital Transformation team will also be based within OIT. This integration with the City’s central technology office will allow digital UX and content designers to work seamlessly with software engineers to support enterprise-wide technology development.

This position is part of the Digital Transformation team (located within the Office of Innovation & Technology) and primarily supports the content migration efforts and product feature development of the new phila.gov platform.

SIx million people visit the City of Philadelphia’s website, phila.gov, every year. Whether they’re looking for information on the Philadelphia Marathon, checking whether trash pickup is on-schedule, looking for after school activities, or applying for public assistance programs, for many Philadelphians, their experience on phila.gov represents the image they have of government. For the past few years, we’ve been working closely with content creators, City colleagues, and the public to rewrite service information and to design features that better meet the needs of City residents. You can see the progress so far at www.phila.gov.

As a Content Strategist, you'll work closely with the Content Strategy Practice Lead on all strategy and implementation efforts. You'll also work closely with the product team to execute project work, lead content migration and redesign efforts, and produce new content. In addition, you'll build strong relationships and lead content projects with City department partners—understanding their needs and translating insights into actionable content solutions. Finally, you’ll lead training and workshops that empower City department partners to create, update, and maintain content that reflects rigorous content standards.

Please note: We’re hiring two Content Strategists.

In this role, you will:

• Plan, write, and improve navigational labels, UX content, web page content, and training materials, according to content standards.
• Create new resident-centric content standards as needed and ensure they are applied effectively.
•  Train collaborators (e.g., City departments, vendors, and team members) on content standards, plain language, and web writing best practices.
• Plan and facilitate co-writing and information architecture workshops with users and stakeholders.
• Work openly and collaboratively with a multi-disciplinary team to effectively implement content recommendations.
• Evolve content efforts based on insights gleaned from evaluation.
• Offer and take constructive feedback around project output and process.
• Develop project timelines based on tasks and level of effort to complete tasks.
• Proactively manage self and project to ensure deadlines are met.        
• Problem-solve through ambiguity and when challenges arise.

Competencies

• Excellent communicator: Ability to take a complex subject and break it down into crisp, simple language.
• Empathetic: Ability to imagine navigating City services and programs from the perspective of typical residents – and identify actionable content improvements.
• Analytical/systems-thinker. Ability to envision how content fits together, even how it crosses department lines.
• Relationship-builder: Ability to work with a variety of people and personalities, listen and ask questions, and cultivate relationships that promote collaboration.
• Curious: Ability to practice active listening, ask questions to get at the root of the problem, be open to receiving/giving constructive feedback, and have a sincere interest in learning new skills or growing old ones.
• Rigorous: Driven by thoughtful, quality, and detail-oriented processes, project output, and client/team interactions.
• Organized: Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, estimate timelines, rework a project approach based on unforeseen challenges, work well under pressure, and set/meet reasonable deadlines.
• Action-oriented: Ability to see opportunities, navigate barriers, be self-directed, and problem-solve solutions that enhance the City’s deliverables, processes, and practices.
• Broad spectrum: Knows enough about the basics of design and development processes to effectively collaborate across disciplines.
• Resilient: Ability to have a sense of humor, learn from mistakes, and/or return to work after experiencing a setback.
• Amplifier: Ability to amplify others’ strengths and successes and operate beyond ego and self-interest.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Experience with information organization and architecture.
• Experience redesigning a website.
• Experience as a trainer or teacher.
• Experience with content management systems.
• Conversant in user experience design best practices.

Candidates should have:

• At least three (3) years of full-time, or equivalent part-time professional experience as a content strategist.

Nice-to-have skills:

• Bilingual
• Strong visual design aesthetic
• Experience with Google Analytics

When applying, please include:

• A resume.
• A one-page cover letter explaining why you’re interested in being a member of the Digital Transformation team. (No form letters please; we read every one of them!)
• Up to 3 relevant work samples.

The successful candidate must reside in the City of Philadelphia or establish primary residence in the City of Philadelphia within 6 months of employment.

Salary Range: $80,000 - $90,000

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670. For more information, go to: Human Relations Website:

http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx