Senior Writer and Editor (Brand Strategy)

The next part of your journey is right around the corner — with The Standard.

A genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others is the foundation for everything we do. With a customer-first mindset and an intentional focus on building strong teams, we’ve been able to uphold our legacy of financial stability while investing in new, innovative technologies that support the needs of our customers. Our high-performance culture focused on operational excellence thrives thanks to remarkable people united by compassion and a customer-first commitment. Are you ready to make a difference?

Job Summary:

As a Senior Writer and Editor on the Brand Strategy & Creative Strategy team, you’ll serve as lead writer and brand steward, by creating content for enterprise-level brand campaigns and programs, including key sponsorships, Enterprise Thought Leadership, and brand video and social media. In this role you’ll leverage your expertise in copywriting and brand to peer mentor and collaborate with colleagues to shape and deliver programs for complex brand marketing challenges. You’ll define and develop strategic, straightforward and compelling brand messages for a variety of audiences through multiple channels (e.g., online, video, live presentation, print, etc.) to increase brand awareness and affinity.

Key Responsibilities:

• Elevate the overall brand voice and tone while creating easy-to-understand narratives across all channels. Live our brand by modelling our brand attributes and inspiring others to learn and engage with the brand.
• Develop concepts and copy for enterprise-level campaigns across multiple channels, delivering content that is on brand and effective, including assignments such as enterprise thought leadership articles and white papers, social media, sponsorship materials and video scripts. Depending upon experience, may be asked to serve as video producer.
• Leverage writing expertise to consult on creative projects, offering guidance on best practices. Regular presenter at Creative Center of Excellence.
• Lead and collaborate with cross-functional teams to brainstorm ideas, evaluate solutions and develop on-brand messaging that meets brand objectives.
• Conduct brand reviews to ensure copy aligns with The Standard’s brand voice and tone and adheres to the company writing style guide.
• Onsite participation in downtown Portland office for full day video shoots -- one to three times per month based on business needs.
• May track and analyze performance of program writing and organize and manage repositories or hubs of program content.

Skills and Background You’ll Need:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, writing, communications, related field required.

Experience: 8+ years of brand writing experience required, preferably for B2B or financial services. 10 years of experience in financial services (preferred).

Skills:

• Excellent writing and editing skills with demonstrated ability to write and edit content in The Standard’s tone and voice that meets program objectives and amplifies The Standard’s brand.
• Proven critical thinker able to identify key insights and differentiators from strategies, articles and complex primary research.
• Experience determining style, tone and structure across a variety of media combined with the ability to adhere to AP Stylebook guidelines and company writing style guide standards.
• Confident professional presence that supports collaboration and education with stakeholders across the organization.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and work on multiple, high-profile projects simultaneously (white-board assignments and storytelling) as opportunities emerge in an evolving brand and creative environment.

Key Behaviors of a Successful Candidate:

Winning Together: Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to build trust and effective partnerships with both internal and external stakeholders. Fosters teamwork, maximizes efficiencies, and works to promote collaboration and delivery of exceptional customer experiences.

Driving Success: Strong organization and time management skills and ability to effectively manage multiple initiatives simultaneously. Works effectively with stakeholders to address challenges and is viewed as a subject matter expert with the ability to negotiate and influence management decision making.

Improvement Mindset: Proactively identifies trends and patterns and provides analysis and recommendations to stakeholders and decision makers, to define, implement, and deliver on branding strategy. Takes a proactive approach in gaining knowledge across multiple business lines and job functions to create copy that take us “next level.”

Adaptability: Adapts quickly to changing priorities and is comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty driven by a fast-changing environment and new challenges.

We have built an enduring legacy of stability, financial strength and exceptional customer service through the contributions of the service-oriented people who choose to work at The Standard. To ensure we can attract and retain the best talent, when you join The Standard you can expect:

• A rich benefits package including medical, dental, vision and a 401(k) plan with matching company contributions

• An annual incentive bonus plan

• Generous paid time off including 11 holidays, 2 wellness days, and 8 volunteer hours annually — PTO increases with tenure

• A supportive, responsive management approach and opportunities for career growth and advancement 

• Paid parental leave and adoption/surrogacy assistance

• An employee giving program that double matches your donations to eligible nonprofits and schools

In addition to the competitive salary range below, our employee-focused benefits support work-life balance. Learn more about working at The Standard.

• Eligibility to participate in an incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program and plan. Any award depends on a variety of factors including individual and organizational performance.

The actual compensation for this role will be based on a combination of education and experience, knowledge and skills, position budget, internal equity, and market data.

Salary Range:

Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., and American Heritage Life Insurance Company and American Heritage Service Company, marketed as The Standard, are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status or any other condition protected by federal, state or local law. Except where precluded by state or federal law, The Standard will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. The Standard offers a drug- and alcohol-free work environment where possession, manufacture, transfer, offer, use of or being impaired by an illegal substance while on The Standard's property, or in other cases which the company believes might affect operations, safety or reputation of the company is prohibited. The Standard requires a criminal background investigation and employment, education and licensing verification as a condition of employment. After any conditional offer of employment is made, the background check will include an individualized assessment based on the applicant’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain and correct background information. All employees of The Standard must be bondable.