About the role

As we expand our Marketing Services practice, we are seeking an Associate Director, Content Strategy: a senior, client-facing content strategist who can lead enterprise content programs across discovery, design, build, migration, governance, AI search, personalization, and performance.

This role sits within the Marketing Services team and reports to the VP, Content Strategy. The Associate Director will help turn content strategy from a project deliverable into a governed content system that fuels discoverability, relevance, and measurable business impact across human and AI-driven journeys.

The ideal candidate is strategic and hands-on. They know how to build content strategy into complex digital programs, integrate it with design, technology, analytics, SEO, AI search, and personalization, and produce polished client-ready deliverables. They must also be AI fluent and ready to build practical solutions using AI tools, not simply experiment with them.

Verndale is fully remote enabled. This position can be remote, with a preference for candidates based in Canada.

Responsibilities

• Lead content strategy workstreams across discovery, design, build, migration, and optimization programs.
• Oversee and execute editorial content strategy, including content inventories, content assessments, transformation strategy, message planning, and editorial planning.
• Oversee and execute UX content strategy, including content audits, gap analyses, taxonomies, content hierarchies, copy planning, and content planning for design and migration.
• Oversee and execute delivery content strategy, including content matrices, governance models, workflows, guidelines, migration support, and authoring guidance.
• Facilitate client workshops, stakeholder interviews, content working sessions, and alignment meetings that connect content decisions to business goals and audience needs.
• Present polished deliverables, recommendations, project updates, and decision points to marketing, digital, technology, and executive stakeholders.
• Design content approaches that support AI Search, Answer Engine Optimization, Generative Engine Optimization, personalization, site search, related content, filtering, and content reuse.
• Develop structured, governed, machine-readable content strategies, including taxonomy, metadata, schema guidance, content models, prompt-ready source content, and reuse patterns.
• Use AI tools to improve content inventories, audits, gap analyses, taxonomy exploration, migration mapping, content QA, prompt testing, answer testing, and content performance review.
• Build repeatable AI-assisted workflows, prompts, QA routines, documentation, and review protocols that improve speed and quality without sacrificing judgment, accuracy, or governance.
• Influence the pilot, adoption, and improvement of content-related AI tools in partnership with Strategy, SEO and AI, Personalization, Analytics, Experience Design, and Technology teams.
• Help clients understand where AI can improve content operations, where human review is required, and how to govern AI-enabled content workflows responsibly.
• Define and improve content lifecycle processes across planning, creation, review, approval, publishing, optimization, maintenance, and retirement.
• Set content quality standards, review criteria, performance indicators, and documentation practices that can be used consistently across programs.
• Identify process gaps, quality risks, content ownership issues, and workflow blockers, then recommend practical improvements.
• Create content governance models that clarify roles, responsibilities, decision rights, approval paths, editorial standards, and maintenance cadences.
• Support compliance-aware content processes for clients in regulated, brand-sensitive, or multi-stakeholder environments.
• Use analytics and performance data to assess content effectiveness and inform future content planning, optimization, and governance decisions
• Develop taxonomies, metadata models, tagging strategies, and structured data approaches that help power navigation, search, personalization, content relationships, and reporting.
• Guide information architecture work including navigation strategy, sitemaps, content hierarchy, page-level content planning, and content inputs for wireframes and visual design.
• Lead content migration strategy, including inventories, keep/edit/kill analysis, migration mapping, content matrices, content models, authoring requirements, and migration readiness.
• Help establish repeatable methods and level-of-effort guidance for taxonomy, information architecture, and migration work so these activities can be scoped and delivered consistently.
• Partner with Business Development, Client Services, and Practice Leads to shape content strategy solutions for proposals, pitch meetings, and active accounts.
• Scope and estimate content strategy activities across discovery, redesign, migration, AI search, personalization, content operations, and optimization programs.
• Contribute to packaged content strategy offerings, delivery standards, internal templates, case studies, POVs, and thought leadership.
• Serve as a senior content strategy voice on strategic accounts and as an escalation point for content strategy delivery and quality.
• Help identify opportunities to grow content strategy revenue within broader Marketing Services and Experience engagements.
• Coach cross-functional teammates on content strategy methods, client facilitation, deliverable quality, and content decision-making.
• Create enablement materials that help internal teams understand content strategy, AI-ready content, taxonomy, migration, and governance.
• Lead through example, advocacy, and mentoring while supporting a collaborative, high-performing team culture.
• Help build fluency in AI-assisted content workflows across the practice, including prompt development, source evaluation, quality review, and responsible tool use.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in content strategy, content design, content operations, digital strategy, or a closely related discipline.
• 3+ years of experience leading workstreams, mentoring content strategists, enabling cross-functional teams, or guiding client stakeholders.
• Deep experience across editorial content strategy, UX content strategy, delivery content strategy, content governance, and content operations.
• Strong knowledge of digital redesigns, platform implementations, CMS programs, content migrations, and enterprise digital transformation activities.
• Experience with content management systems and digital platforms such as Sitecore, Optimizely, Adobe Experience Manager, Contentstack, Drupal, WordPress, or similar systems.
• Demonstrated ability to create taxonomies, metadata models, content models, information architecture inputs, content matrices, migration plans, and governance documentation.
• AI fluency, including practical experience using generative AI and LLM-based tools to support content strategy, content operations, research synthesis, content QA, taxonomy development, migration planning, and optimization.
• Readiness to build AI-assisted tools and workflows, including reusable prompts, review protocols, QA checklists, source-of-truth practices, and team enablement materials.
• Working knowledge of how content strategy supports AI Search, AEO, GEO, site search, personalization, structured content, and measurable experience performance.
• Experience defining content quality standards, performance measures, review criteria, and lifecycle processes for complex content programs.
• Comfort using analytics, search data, content performance data, and qualitative research to inform recommendations.
• Proven ability to facilitate workshops, lead client conversations, influence stakeholders, and present executive-ready recommendations.
• Experience scoping and estimating content strategy work for proposals, statements of work, and active engagements.
• Strong writing, storytelling, documentation, and communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience in an agency, consulting, enterprise, healthcare, financial services, higher education, or other complex stakeholder environment preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, English, Journalism, Digital Strategy, UX, Information Science, or a related field preferred, or commensurate experience

Compensation & Benefits

In accordance with applicable law, the salary range provided is Verndale's reasonable estimate of the salary for this role. The actual amount may vary, based on non-discriminatory factors such as location, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. In addition to salary, Verndale also offers a competitive benefits package.

Verndale is proud of the fun, diverse, and respectful company environment we enjoy on a daily basis. Competitive compensation and comprehensive coverage for medical, dental, life, disability and an RRSP savings plan are offered to all salaried, full-time employees. Ample company paid holidays and personal time off make having a work-life balance possible. For some roles, remote work is a definite possibility; we believe in hiring the best and keeping our own happy and motivated.