Associate Director, UX Content Strategy (contract)

Company Description

Digitas is the Networked Experience Agency, built on the vision that we create magnetic experiences that earn the right for brands to exist in human networks. Today, and tomorrow. We deliver Networked Experiences by leveraging comprehensive data, technology, creative, media and strategy capabilities. Digitas delivers ambitious outcomes via unique solutions that include Creative Experiences, Integrated Media, Addressable Relationships, Social Marketing and Total Commerce. Celebrated by AdAge as Data and Insights Agency of the Year, U.S Campaign’s Brand Experience Agency of the Year, Media Network of the Year and celebrated by Forrester and Gartner, Digitas serves the world’s leading brands through a global network comprised of more than 5,500 employees across over 65 offices in 43 countries.

The Digitas culture is made up of fearless, inventive and generous Unicorns of all kinds.

Overview

Digitas is looking for a contract Associate Director, UX Content Strategy to support a pair of high-profile client accounts!

At Digitas, we do CS a little differently. Our UX Content Strategists are an integral part of our Design team. Their backgrounds run the gamut from UX to publishing, startup to agency. They empathize and solve users’ problems, they are well-versed in modern digital experiences, and they are driven by delivering (and supporting) the best possible solution. They are collaborators who lead multidisciplinary teams to set and drive a vision forward, and they aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty making things. They drive the content architecture of digital products and services that people love to use.

In this role, you will leverage your UX/systems thinking as well as your experience in digital site architecture to build and analyze page hierarchies, layouts, taxonomies, and how landing and content pages behave and perform. You will work behind the scenes with complex, dense, technical content across our clients’ .com experiences to optimize engagement with the site. You will work directly with the client and alongside Digitas UX, copy, and design teams to understand the client’s business needs and then translate those needs to the screen. You may even find yourself writing some site copy as the need arises.

PLEASE NOTE:

• This is a 40hr/week freelance role expected to start in mid-March/early-April and run for a period of 3-6 months. Extension beyond that window or conversion into a full-time role following the completion of the freelance period is possible but not anticipated.
• This is a hybrid role based out of our Chicago office and will require occasional onsite engagement of about 3 days/week. Candidates who are local to the Chicago area and willing to commit to a hybrid schedule will be prioritized but highly qualified candidates in other markets who are willing to work Central Time hours may also be considered.
• We are not able to support any form of current or future visa sponsorship needs for this role. No 3rd party-staffing agencies, please.

Job Responsibilities

• Partner with clients and Digitas UX and Content leaders to define project expectations, present and defend work, and own multiple concurrent project workstreams from concept through delivery, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and polish at every step.
• Understand strategic business goals… and challenge them when needed.
• Solve complex problems and find the clearest, most compelling way to communicate the solution.
• Craft deliverables including strategic vision, site maps, content authoring guidelines, taxonomies, and maybe things that no one even has a name for yet.
• Collaborate deeply with design, strategy, technology, account management, and other disciplines.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on content strategy topics with cross-disciplinary agency and client partners.
• Practice and evangelize customer-centric thinking.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressively-responsible experience in UX-focused content strategy within an advertising agency, media organization, in-house agency, consultancy, or product-driven environment.
• Bachelor s degree preferred; experience may be substituted.
• Prior experience partnering directly with clients to confidently present work, articulate rationale for approach in the context of both business and user needs, and workshop and brainstorm iterative changes to ongoing projects.
• Prior experience leading project teams of content strategists to produce on-time and quality deliverables.
• Prior experience working with dense, high-volume, highly technical, complex, content… some people might call it dry, but you live for the challenge.
• Extensive experience evaluating and analyzing website pages and behaviors to inform recommendations for optimization.
• Prior experience with user testing would be swell.
• Deep understanding of the full experience design process from research to architecture to visual design.
• Exceptional writing skills and an elevated understanding of the English language.
• Experience translating data into strategic recommendations.
• Understanding of user-centric design and product development best practices.
• Demonstrable understanding of UX content strategy for digital products, content platforms, and branded experiences as well as a clear understanding of how content and design work together.
• Proficiency in Figma (including components, variants, libraries, and documentation workflows) as well as other specialized tools including Adobe Creative Cloud and Screaming Frog.
• Experience working within large-scale, complex site architectures and contributing to their evolution, modernization, and enhancement.
• Familiarity with prompt-based interaction and commonly used generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Gemini, DALL·E, Midjourney) is a plus, especially for tasks like ideation, research, or content generation. 
• Strong understanding of responsive web design, accessibility standards, and UX/UI best practices.
• Ability to think holistically through user flows and other experience models.
• Curiosity for (or a deep immersion in) the technology of modern experiences including the latest XD and content trends.
• Experience working within an agile design process.
• Demonstrated ability to think holistically about an experience to ensure user and business needs are met.
• Comfort operating with a high level of ownership, autonomy, and accountability.
• Basic understanding of front-end development technologies.
• Ability to accept and synthesize feedback quickly while maintaining project integrity.
• Experience working within a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary team on customer-focused products and services.
• A natural sense of urgency and an ability to work quickly, efficiently, and accurately within tight deadlines and constantly-evolving project parameters, scope, and goals.
• Flexible and adaptable with an ability to manage and prioritize multiple concurrent projects with constantly shifting parameters and targets.
• Highly collaborative but independently capable.
• Assertive, confident communication skills and a willingness to ask questions and take initiative.
• Scrappy and entrepreneurial with a drive to evolve and innovate.
• A portfolio showcasing innovative, impactful, high-quality content strategy, site architecture, and/or UX deliverables for product and marketing-driven digital experiences is REQUIRED and should be submitted at the time of application.

Additional Information