Hearing Dogs is hiring: Content & Storytelling Lead in Kansas City

Job Title

Content & Storytelling Lead

Location

Hybrid/The Grange, Saunderton

Employment Type

Permanent

Contract Type

Permanent, Full Time

Salary

Circa £46,000 per annum

About Us

National charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, trains dogs to transform the lives of deaf people and provides hearing loss services – because nobody with hearing loss should feel alone.

About The Role

Job Title: Content & Storytelling Lead

Reports to: Associate Director of Creative Strategy

Location: Hybrid/The Grange, Saunderton

Contract Type: Permanent, Full Time

Salary: Circa £46,000 per annum

Overview

Stories are at the heart of how we inspire people to support, volunteer for and stand with our mission, and how we connect with more people who can benefit from our services. The Content & Storytelling Lead will be the custodian of these stories: uncovering them, shaping them and ensuring they are shared powerfully and consistently across the organisation and beyond. This role blends creative leadership with structured content planning. You will work across teams to ensure we are identifying, gathering, developing and using stories to their fullest potential across multiple channels and making them accessible to all teams.

Key Responsibilities

Story & Content Strategy

• Lead the development and implementation of an organisation-wide storytelling strategy that builds our brand, increases engagement among supporters and volunteers and encourages more people to access our services
• Create a clear and simple process that defines how stories are collected, curated and shared internally to maximise strategic use
• Ensure our storytelling aligns with and builds our brand, reinforcing a clear and consistent identity across all channels and audiences
• Ensure that stories rooted in lived experience sit at the heart of our storytelling and brand strategy and shape them into compelling narratives that inspire understanding, connection and action
• Ensure storytelling aligns with our organisational values, safeguarding standards and ethics

Story Sourcing & Management

• Create and manage a central story pipeline and content library that captures case studies, lived experience voices, recipient and volunteer stories, frontline employee experience and impact data
• Establish clear workflows for identifying, requesting, approving and maintaining stories and supporting materials (quotes, images, video, permissions, safeguarding etc)
• Build positive, collaborative relationships with colleagues, volunteers, recipients and partner organisations to encourage ongoing story-sharing
• Work across teams to ensure we are identifying, gathering, developing and using stories to their fullest potential across multiple channels including digital platforms, media, appeals, campaigns and internal communications

Content Creation & Creative Leadership

• Oversee a team that crafts compelling narratives and raw content for stories that can be used across multiple channels such as blogs, appeals, media, social media, newsletters, video scripts, campaign messaging, targeted outreach and annual reports.
• Collaborate with other teams to tailor stories to audience needs, ensuring raw content is available to all relevant teams, in a timely manner
• Guide tone of voice and storytelling messaging across the organisation, in line with our overarching brand framework offering training, templates and editorial support where needed.
• Work closely with Marketing Communications, Income Generation, Services, People & Culture & ELT to embed storytelling into their strategies and workplans.
• Ensure stories are used consistently and fully leveraged across all relevant channels

Performance

• Develop metrics to measure story and content performance
• Regularly evaluate what types of stories resonate and refine approaches to build stronger connection and engagement

About You

• Strong experience in storytelling, journalism, communications or content strategy and gathering
• Proven ability to craft emotionally compelling and impactful written content that motivates people to take action
• Experience managing sensitive stories and working respectfully with people sharing lived experience
• Knowledge of video and photography briefing and commissioning.
• Strong project management and workflow-building skills
• Proven understanding of brand strategy and how effective storytelling supports wider brand building activity
• Ability to influence, collaborate and inspire confidence across varied teams
• Understanding of ethical storytelling, consent and safeguarding principles
• Creative and proactive in finding new stories and opportunities
• Comfortable balancing creativity with structure and organisational strategies
• Demonstrates strong brand knowledge and ability to apply organisational brand framework and story effectively
• Experience in the charity or social impact sector.
• Experience training others in storytelling.

Essential

• Strong experience in storytelling, journalism, communications or content strategy and gathering
• Proven ability to craft emotionally compelling and impactful written content that motivates people to take action
• Experience managing sensitive stories and working respectfully with people sharing lived experience
• Knowledge of video and photography briefing and commissioning.
• Strong project management and workflow-building skills
• Proven understanding of brand strategy and how effective storytelling supports wider brand building activity
• Ability to influence, collaborate and inspire confidence across varied teams
• Understanding of ethical storytelling, consent and safeguarding principles
• Creative and proactive in finding new stories and opportunities
• Comfortable balancing creativity with structure and organisational strategies
• Demonstrates strong brand knowledge and ability to apply organisational brand framework and story effectively

Desirable

• Experience in the charity or social impact sector.
• Experience training others in storytelling.

Please note: This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 due to its duties involving the protection of children and/or adults at risk. Applicants are therefore required to disclose all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, and reprimands, as well as any relevant non-conviction information. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check in accordance with the Police Act 1997 (Part V).