Director, Content

ABOUT BCRF

Breast cancer is a complex disease with no simple solution. Every diagnosis is unique and puts lives at risk. We must stop breast cancer in its tracks, and research is the answer. Founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation is the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world. We invest in a wide range of research—including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and metastasis—because each area of investigation informs another, propelling us toward the solutions we urgently need.

We convene and connect the best minds in science—giving them the opportunity to pursue their most innovative ideas. Our combination of investment and cross-disciplinary collaboration accelerates the entire field and builds momentum for new discoveries. BCRF-funded investigators have been behind every major breakthrough in breast cancer research, and the field is moving faster than ever. We are fueling the world’s most promising research and we can’t stop now.

About the Role:

Reporting to the Managing Director, Communications & Content, the Director, Content leads and develops a multidisciplinary content team, including social media and editorial staff, setting priorities, workflows, and standards while mentoring staff in journalistic excellence and audience-first storytelling.

A member of Marketing & Communications team, the Director, Content plays a critical role in increasing visibility and awareness of BCRF and its mission. The Director, Content will partner with the Managing Director, Communications & Content on developing content strategy to complement the organization’s overall priorities. The Director, Content will lead the creation and execution of strategy across multiple channels and platforms, both internally and externally.

Collaborating with teams across the organization and with agency partners to set strategy, develop and hone impact narratives and audience-tailored messaging, infuse creativity into ideas, and multiply and amplify our content across platforms and channels, the Director uses various analytics reporting tools to continuously monitor content performance and make necessary improvements to increase engagement.

Primary Responsibilities:

Digital Communications Strategy

• Develop and manage a pipeline of timely and relevant content across BCRF’s digital and social platforms to achieve team and organizational awareness goals. Ensure content and channels are aligned with the larger BCRF mission, tone, and strategy in partnership with key stakeholders and Communications leadership team.
• Create and maintain BCRF editorial calendar and publishing cycles.
• Oversee BCRF’s overarching content strategy across web, social, and publications, ensuring message consistency while optimizing storytelling and format for each platform.
• Identify new opportunities for storytelling by leveraging BCRF’s scientists, thought leaders, ambassadors, and those impacted by breast cancer.
• Guide platform-specific adaptations of core narratives (e.g., how a scientific breakthrough is expressed on BCRF.org vs. Instagram vs. fundraising email).
• Partner with campaign, fundraising, social, partnerships and PR teams to conceive, shape and execute integrated content plans.
• Set the vision and priorities for organic search and website growth, in partnership with the Senior Manager of Content and external SEO vendors.
• Set the vision and priorities for social media content and growth plan in partnership with the Social Media Manager across all social media platforms.
• Leverage data and analytics across social media, web traffic and SEO metrics to guide strategy, measure engagement, and improve performance.
• Stay current on and have a deep understanding of the communications landscape and how to address complex issues across online platforms.
• Serve as member of Marketing & Communications leadership team advising on messaging, strategy, and tactics for team and the organization at large.

Content Creation and Audience Engagement

• Create and maintain content for BCRF.org and BCRF blog, ensuring accuracy and finding new ways to inspire supporters and donors, share scientific advancements, highlight and champion BCRF corporate partners and Shop Pink program, and reinforce our mission.
• Work with BCRF’s Research Team to write and edit blogs for promotion and adaptation on social media, annual publications, and for other uses.
• Engage, manage, edit, and fact-check blogs and other content written for BCRF by freelancers.
• Fact-check medical and scientific information on content created for BCRF platforms and external publications.
• Write story copy for BCRF’s storytelling campaign, interviewing and profiling people who are impacted by breast cancer.
• Craft and/or edit scripts for BCRF campaign videos and provide feedback in post-production.
• Report from scientific conferences and cover BCRF events.
• Supervise and mentor direct reports, utilizing an empathetic and supportive leadership style to maintain a high level of performance across the department.

Driving BCRF Brand, Voice, and Style

• Create and manage an organization-wide digital content style guide, including guidelines on tone, voice, style, grammar, punctuation, and organizational norms.
• Serve as in-house copyeditor on content and collateral created by Marketing & Communications team and other departments across the organization. Provide feedback on BCRF style, tone, grammar, and accessibility of scientific content.

About You:

You are a senior, editor-first content leader with deep roots in journalism and a proven ability to shape strategy across platforms, teams, and campaigns. You bring a newsroom mindset to your work—strong editorial judgment, rigorous fact-checking standards, and an instinct for what makes a story both accurate and compelling—while also understanding how content functions as a strategic driver of awareness, engagement, and fundraising.

You excel at setting vision and priorities, guiding teams toward cohesive storytelling, and making strategic decisions informed by performance data without losing sight of narrative quality or audience trust.

As a leader, you are collaborative, decisive, and invested in developing others. You enjoy mentoring writers, editors, and social media professionals, and you are comfortable partnering with cross-functional colleagues and external agencies to align content strategy with organizational goals. You have a passion for the mission and work of BCRF.

In addition, you have the following qualifications and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in journalism, communications, English, scientific communications, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in journalism, editorial leadership, or content strategy roles, with a strong preference for candidates who have worked in newsrooms, magazine, or newsroom-adjacent environments.
• At least 5 years of editing experience; including line editing, developmental editing, and copy editing, with a strong command of AP style or equivalent editorial standards.
• Demonstrated experience leading content strategies across multiple digital platforms, including websites, blogs, social media, email, and integrated campaigns.
• Proven ability to translate complex scientific, medical, or technical information into clear, engaging, and accurate content for non-expert audiences.
• Experience managing and mentoring writers, editors, and/or social media professionals, including setting priorities, providing constructive feedback, and maintaining editorial quality at scale.
• Strong understanding of digital content performance and analytics, with the ability to interpret data and partner with specialists (e.g., SEO, social media) to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a keen eye for voice, tone, clarity, and consistency.
• Highly organized and able to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
• Experience in nonprofit, health, science, or mission-driven organizations strongly preferred.

Travel:

This role may require travel 1-2 times per year to attend scientific conferences or BCRF events.

Compensation and Benefits:

This is a full-time exempt role. The salary range for this role is $125,000-$140,000. Our compensation package includes an exceptional benefits package focusing on employee physical, mental and financial wellness. More specifically we offer:

• Medical, dental and vision coverage from the first day of employment; with the election of certain medical plans, BCRF helps significantly defray the cost of out-of-pocket expenses with contributions to a health reimbursement account or heath savings account.
• The opportunity to enroll in pre-tax Commuter Transit, Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account and Dependent Care Account from the first day of employment.
• 401K, with up to a 5% match each pay period; employee contributions and any match are immediately fully vested
• Paid parental leave offering 18 weeks of 100% paid leave for a birthing parent and 12 weeks 100% paid leave for non-birthing parent
• Paid Time Off including
  • 15 days of annual vacation time, increasing with length of service
  • 7 days of annual paid sick time
  • Paid holidays along with BCRF wide half days and summer Fridays