A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What We Offer:

Impact - The work you do here matters to millions.

Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it?

Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs

Benefits - We care about your well being

The Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT) oversees most major technology projects for the City of Philadelphia. We use technology to help City employees do their work better and to serve residents in getting what they need from City government. This position will report to the content director.

The content team collaborates with the teams responsible for the City’s digital transformation efforts: Content Strategy, Software Engineering, and User Experience. Together, these teams have worked on projects, such as phila.gov and the resource finder framework, digital assets that allow our City department partners to provide information and services to Philadelphians.

This position is part of the Digital Services team (located within the Office of Innovation & Technology) and primarily supports the content creation 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.

As a Content Strategist, you'll work closely with the content director 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.

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.
• Communicate the status of work, challenges, and successes clearly and honestly.
• 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 a 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.

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

Nice-to-have skills:

• Bilingual                                                                              
• Strong visual design aesthetic
• Conversant in user experience design best practices      
• Experience with content classification and metadata schemas
• Experience using digital assessment management systems

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

When applying for this position, please include:

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

Did you know?

• We are a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program qualified employer
• 25% tuition discount program for City employees (and sometimes spouses and dependents as well) in partnership with area colleges and universities
• We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents
• Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
• Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Generous retirement savings options are available

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Please note that effective September 1, 2021 the City of Philadelphia is requiring all new employees to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19. 

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 or send an email to [email protected]. For more information, go to: Human Relations Website: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx