Writer

Title: Writer (Contract)

Location: San Francisco, CA or Remote (Based in the U.S.)

NerdWallet is seeking an experienced writer for part-time contract work. The estimated schedule for the engagement would be an average of 25 hours per week from August 2023 – December, 2023.

We’re NerdWallet. And we’re not your typical finance company. We believe that everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. Our team has the knowledge, passion, and skills to make that happen!

Our content team covers the personal finance topics that millions of Americans encounter every day. Readers trust our writers to translate complex concepts into conversational articles that answer the questions our audience asks within a context they can understand.

As a writer, you would spend time researching and understanding consumer pain points and journeys to guide users toward next steps. You will learn and use search optimization best practices to ensure your content ranks and engages users. You will measure your success and build on it.

Where you can make an impact:

• Research finance topics related to consumer lending and write high-quality articles with a strong consumer-first orientation.
• Apply your SEO expertise to each article so that it’s discoverable on search engines and attracts an engaged audience.
• Collaborate with editors to ensure your articles are clear and helpful for consumers.

You are:

• A strong communicator who can empathize with consumers and help them navigate complex financial decisions.
• An excellent writer who delivers self-edited, clean copy on deadline.
• Excellent at prioritization and handling multiple projects at once.
• Resourceful and self-directed, able to tackle anything from story assignments to projects with minimal direction, and you consistently deliver polished work.
• Able to provide examples of how you’ve taken initiative and driven positive outcomes
• Someone who works with enthusiasm and enjoys learning about new personal finance topics, developing relevant sources and communicating consumer-first advice.

Your experience:

We recognize not everyone will meet all of the criteria. If you meet most of our criteria and you’re excited about the opportunity and willing to learn, we’d love to hear from you!

• Journalism or related degree or equivalent professional experience
• 2+ years of consumer-focused writing with published work
• Personal finance expertise, particularly with consumer lending

Please include a cover letter and links to four (4) examples of your work in your application. If you don’t have links to share, you may include four writing samples at the bottom of your cover letter.

Pay Transparency

• The hourly rate for this position is $50/hour

Where:

• This role will be based in San Francisco, CA or remote (based in the U.S.).

You support the team in pushing us to think differently, leveraging your best-in-class experience to put processes and structure in place to drive operational efficiency and optimize agency effectiveness.

Where you can make an impact:

• Full assessment of current resource allocation by client and job type
• Financial Philosophy & Recommendations: Provide a strong perspective, grounded in data & experience – on the right number of billable vs. non-billable hours for each employee / level, the right billable rates of each employee / level, and the right charge-back model for each client. Partner closely with the creative leadership team to assign and implement.
• Scoping Benchmarks: Partner closely with the internal creative team to define the current project list, size & scope of typical projects, and current hours spent. Bring a strong perspective on the ideal number of billable hours per level for each project going forward.
• Develop, implement, and review operational procedures to improve agency performance and efficiency
• Conduct an audit of our current intake process, briefing templates, meeting cadence and feedback loops; meet with internal stakeholders to understand what’s working / what’s not. Work closely with the Creative Managing Director and team to implement a new standard process that optimizes for accurate sizing, efficient and effective working streams. Success is that the team is applying the right level of fidelity for impact improving speed to market while driving business performance.
• Inform agency resource planning decisions
• Talent Assessment: During 2024 planning, partner with the creative leadership team to conduct a talent assessment /skill-set gap analysis and define an approach for closing the gaps – including maximizing contractors, agencies and FTE where it makes sense. Success is using the right talent, at the right time, to drive cost-efficient and effective outcomes in 2024.
• Budget Allocation: During 2024 planning, provide guidance on how to turn business needs into budget allocations – to ensure we are effectively mapping # of projects to # of billable hours available among the team and supporting resources (agency, contractors, etc.)
• Recommend tools and technology to improve agency operational performance
• Identify software and source tools to help the team track billing utilization and burn rates. Provide counsel on how to pull and measure the data in a way that leads to concrete next steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness for the organization.
• Recommend software and technology solutions to improve agency operations including: project workflow, feedback loops and creative delivery.

You Are:

• Experienced at effectively running an agency team to capitalize on cost savings while not sacrificing effectiveness of results.
• Able to identify a strong point of view on billable business models.
• Experienced conducting talent assessment & skill-set gap analysis and defining an approach for closing the gaps & optimizing resources to achieve internal objectives.
• Skilled at improving intake process / project management process in order to improve communication between parties and ultimately speed to market.

Your experience:

• 10+ years experience effectively leading and operating a marketing agency model

Pay Transparency

• The hourly rate for this position is $150/hour

Where:

• This role will be based in San Francisco, CA or remote (based in the U.S.).

If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents linked here.

NerdWallet is committed to pursuing and hiring a diverse workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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