Application Guide

How to Apply for Director of Strategy and Action

at Narrative Initiative

🏢 About Narrative Initiative

Narrative Initiative is a nonprofit consultancy that helps social justice movements build and wield narrative power—shifting the stories that shape policy, culture, and public opinion. Working here means partnering with a wide range of organizers, funders, and communicators on projects that blend rigorous research with creative experimentation. It’s a fit for someone who wants to shape narrative strategy at the movement level, not just execute campaigns for a single brand.

About This Role

As Director of Strategy and Action, you’ll lead a team of researchers and strategists, own the quality and reach of Narrative Initiative’s narrative strategy and campaigns, and sit on the Management Team reporting to the Chief of Staff. You’ll juggle multiple live projects across issue areas and constituencies, using qualitative and quantitative research, message testing, and new distribution formats to turn narrative insight into action. This is a senior practitioner role for someone who reads the narrative landscape closely and knows how to build the structures, staffing, and vision for a growing practice.

💡 A Day in the Life

You might start with a check-in with your researchers on a live message-testing project, then join a partner call to refine a narrative framework for a coalition campaign. Later, you’d review a draft strategy brief, experiment with a new distribution format, and meet with the Chief of Staff on staffing and priorities for the next quarter—all while keeping several projects moving at different stages.

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🎯 Who Narrative Initiative Is Looking For

  • A senior narrative strategist with 8+ years of experience leading research and strategy across multiple social justice issue areas, constituencies, and organizational contexts.
  • Fluent in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including message testing, audience segmentation, and translating findings into actionable narrative frameworks.
  • Experienced managing and mentoring researchers/strategists, with a track record of shaping team vision, structure, and staffing at the management level.
  • Energized by experimentation—testing new formats, media ecosystems, and distribution channels, and learning from what works and what doesn’t.
  • Comfortable holding complexity: several projects live at once, at different stages, with different collaborators and timelines.

📝 Tips for Applying to Narrative Initiative

1

Show you can hold multiple projects at once: in your resume or cover letter, describe 2–3 concurrent narrative projects you led, including their stages, collaborators, and outcomes.

2

Demonstrate both qualitative and quantitative fluency: name specific research methods you’ve used (e.g., narrative analysis, focus groups, message testing, polling, social listening) and how you translated findings into strategy.

3

Highlight management experience: Narrative Initiative wants someone who can shape team vision, structure, and staffing—include details about how you’ve built or restructured a research/strategy team.

4

Connect your work to Narrative Initiative’s partner base: mention experience across issue areas, constituencies, and organizational contexts (e.g., grassroots groups, funders, coalitions) and how you adapted your approach.

5

Signal experimentation: describe a time you tested a new format, media ecosystem, or distribution channel, what you learned, and how it changed your narrative practice.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your track record leading cross-cutting narrative strategy and frameworks that are well-researched, iterative, and responsive to partners and communities.', 'How you’ve managed a team of researchers and strategists—including quality control, relevance, and reach of the work produced—and shaped vision, structure, and staffing.', 'Your experience juggling multiple live projects across issue areas, constituencies, and organizational contexts, with different collaborators and timelines.', 'Your curiosity and results from message testing, distribution experiments, and new media ecosystems—showing you’re both a rigorous researcher and an action-oriented practitioner.']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Review Narrative Initiative’s published reports, frameworks, and case studies to understand their narrative strategy approach and the issue areas they work in.
  • → Research their partners and funders—who they collaborate with, what movements they support, and how they describe narrative power in their ecosystem.
  • → Look into the backgrounds of the Chief of Staff and Management Team to understand leadership priorities, decision-making style, and how this role fits into the organization.
  • → Follow Narrative Initiative’s recent social media, newsletters, or blog posts to see current experiments, media ecosystems they’re exploring, and language they use about narrative action.
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💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 How you read the current narrative landscape and what you would prioritize in your first 90 days leading Narrative Initiative’s strategy and action work.
2 A specific example of a cross-cutting narrative framework you developed, including the research methods used, how it was iterated, and how partners applied it.
3 How you manage a team of researchers and strategists across multiple live projects at different stages—prioritization, quality control, and staffing decisions.
4 Your approach to message testing and distribution experimentation: what you’ve tested, what you learned, and how you decide when to scale or stop.
5 How you build trust and adapt strategy across different issue areas, constituencies, and organizational contexts, especially with grassroots partners and funders.
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Presenting yourself as a single-issue expert: this role requires flexibility across issue areas, constituencies, and organizational contexts, so over-specializing can signal you can’t hold complexity.
  • Focusing only on strategy development without showing action: Narrative Initiative wants someone who puts narrative into action, tests distribution, and learns from what happens.
  • Neglecting team leadership: this is a management team role that shapes vision, structure, and staffing, so failing to demonstrate how you’ve led, mentored, or built a research/strategy team is a major gap.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Narrative Initiative!

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