Cross Catholic Outreach is seeking a motivated Staff Writer I who can communicate our ministry and organization’s passion for serving the poor in Christ’s name. As a member of our Communications & Creative Services team, you will supply in-house stakeholders with inspirational and effective marketing materials in a variety of formats, such as fundraising appeals and campaigns (proposals), donor updates, letters, speeches, blogs, landing pages, emails and press releases. You will have opportunities to travel to developing countries to gather stories about our life-changing work and share those stories with our donors. If you are a committed Christian excited by the prospect of working in a faith-infused office environment, participating in daily staff devotions and promoting Christ-centered relief and development projects, send us your resume today!

*** Please include a cover letter detailing your Christian background ***

Job Description: Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Write insightful, creative, faith-minded, and effective marketing and storytelling content in a variety of formats.
• Research, write, and produce marketing content, ensuring consistency with corporate identity, brand messaging, and Cross Editorial Standards Style Guide.
  • Write promotional, advertising, and fundraising material as required.
  • Write blogs, emails, website material, and social media content as required.
  • Write letters, scripts, speeches, and editorials for staff members as required.
• Meet all deadlines for assignments as required.
• Develop and pitch creative themes for major marketing campaigns and initiatives, collaborating interdepartmentally to create cohesive campaign materials.
• Select photos and other pertinent materials to enhance writing and work with graphic artists to create effective marketing material.
• Work closely with in-house marketing strategists and fundraising stakeholders to develop and edit materials.
• Engage in ongoing research on global issues related to Cross, Christianity, poverty, etc.
• Develop deep knowledge of Cross history, philosophy, ministry partners, projects, and locations through active information seeking, project meetings, and field visits.
• Work with freelance photographers and videographers to establish content gathering strategies and ensure capture of relevant in-field assets.
• Travel internationally and conduct interviews to gather human-interest stories of ministry partners and beneficiaries.
• After traveling, write up and file harvested stories and trip notes to shared network folders in a timely manner.
• Develop, plan, and present “mission reports” to staff, providing useful details for fundraising teams.
• Provide support to all departments to ensure all material reflects the cohesive and consistent “voice” and style of Cross.
• Proof and edit all of your own written communications.

Secondary Duties and Responsibilities

• Catalog and identify (tag) photos in shared network files/resources (Photobase) using keywords, captions, and descriptions.
• Assist in training/onboarding of new staff, as needed.
• Serve as interim editor, as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Knowledge/familiarity with the teachings and values of the Catholic Church.
• Ability to incorporate strong Catholic, biblical and spiritual themes and ideas into writing.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a strong proficiency in grammar.
• Expert on conducting field interviews; how to engage subjects, foster quick rapport/relationships to harvest human-interest stories.
• Strong storytelling and reporting skills.
• Strong proficiency in MS Word, Excel and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Must be able handle deadlines under pressure and prioritize accordingly.
• Must have a keen eye for detail.
• Candidate must demonstrate excellent time management skills.
• Must be able to consistently produce quality content that meets ministry standards; strong capability to receive and effectively apply stakeholder edits; able to interpret and apply constructive feedback to enhance materials.
• Possess a positive, service-oriented attitude and be a proven team player.
• Working knowledge of SEO strategy/practices a plus, as well as digital writing tactics.
• Ability and experience in using a DSLR camera to capture photography preferred.
• Bilingual intermediate Spanish, Haitian Creole or French preferred; at a minimum, the ability to understand and to make oneself understood to all Spanish, Haitian Creole or French speaking individuals.

Other Requirements:

• Ability and willingness to travel internationally

• 5 years of experience in professional or marketing agency-based writing required.
• Ability to tell a story using words (with and without support of images and video) and an understanding of how to create content that draws an audience.
• Experience writing promotional or marketing copy.
• Experience writing for a digital/web audience.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and take on multiple tasks.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision.

• Bachelor’s degree in Creative writing, Journalism, English or related communications
  field.
• Marketing and/or non-profit organization experience is a plus and strongly desired, but not required for this role.

Application Process

Please submit your resume by email to HR@CrossCatholic.org and include the title of the position in the subject line. Please be sure to include a cover letter detailing your spiritual background.