Managing Digital Strategist

Forward Financing LLC; Washington (District of Columbia); Remote; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Platinum health, dental, vision

Generous vacation and sick leave

Flexible hours

Home office stipend

100% remote, nationwide

Job summary

Forward Blue is seeking a Managing Digital Strategist to lead our digital program, owning revenue targets, list growth, and calendar management. You will oversee email, SMS, and vendor relationships, reporting results to leadership, with a cycle role to become permanent.

You’ll build strategy, manage a team, and lead rapid-response efforts, including nights and weekends. This role demands strong data-driven decision making and hands-on production work.

Qualifications

• 4 to 5 cycles in digital fundraising for campaigns, PACs, committees, advocacy groups, or digital firms.
• At least one cycle owning an email or SMS fundraising program with revenue responsibility.
• Hands-on fluency in at least one mass email platform or CRM and ability to build/QA a send.
• Record of running A/B tests and turning results into strategy.
• Deliverability experience: diagnosing inbox placement problems and fixes.
• Experience managing staff, consultants, or vendors.

Responsibilities

• Build the annual and monthly digital plan with revenue targets and calendar of pushes.
• Forecast revenue by channel and month, track actuals, and adjust plans.
• Own the email and SMS calendar and every send from concept to QA.
• Set production standards: segmentation rules, suppressions, QA checklists, approvals.
• Lead rapid response when news breaks, including nights and weekends.
• Run a standing testing roadmap across copy, asks, formats, audiences, cadence, and send times.
• Own reporting to the Executive Director: weekly dashboards and quarterly reviews.
• Manage deliverability and list health, onboarding, reactivation, and sunset programs.
• Plan and evaluate paid list growth with cost-per-acquisition targets.
• Manage junior staff and contractors; oversee vendors and consultants.

Skills

Digital fundraising

Leadership

Campaign analytics

Vendor management

Email marketing

Tools

ActionKit

NGP/EveryAction

Action Network

Switchboard

Job description

About the role

Forward Blue is a grassroots-funded progressive PAC that raises money and builds power for bold Democrats across the country and turns out low-propensity young voters.

We're hiring a Managing Digital Strategist to lead our digital program. You will set the strategy, own the revenue and list-growth goals, manage the calendar and the people who execute it, and report results directly to the Digital or Operations Director. Email, SMS, list growth, testing, deliverability, and our digital vendors all sit with you. This is a cycle role with the opportunity to become permanent, with an estimated end date of November 31, 2028.

What you'll own

Strategy and goals

• Build the annual and monthly digital plan: revenue targets, list-growth goals, and the calendar of pushes, deadlines, and rapid-response windows.
• Forecast revenue by channel and month, then track actuals and adjust the plan when results move.
• Decide where our attention and budget go across email, SMS, list growth, and new channels.

Program execution

• Own the email and SMS calendar and every send on it, from concept to final QA.
• Set and enforce production standards: segmentation rules, suppressions, QA checklists, and approval steps.
• Write and edit high-stakes copy yourself, and set the house voice for the rest of the team.
• Lead rapid response when news breaks, including nights and weekends.

Testing and data

• Run a standing testing roadmap across copy, asks, formats, audiences, cadence, and send times.
• Own reporting to the Executive Director: weekly dashboards, campaign readouts, and a quarterly program review.

List health and growth

• Own deliverability and inbox placement, including sender reputation, list hygiene, and bulk-sender compliance.
• Run onboarding, reactivation, recurring-donor, and sunset programs.
• Plan and evaluate paid list growth, with cost-per-acquisition and payback targets.

Team, vendors, and platforms

• Manage and develop junior staff and interns, including assigning work, giving feedback, and reviewing their drafts and builds.
• Manage digital consultants and vendors: scopes, budgets, targets, and performance reviews.

What you bring

Required

• 4 to 5 cycles (or 6+ years) in digital fundraising for campaigns, PACs, committees, advocacy groups, or digital firms.
• At least one cycle owning an email or SMS fundraising program, or running a client book at a firm, with responsibility for revenue goals.
• Hands-on fluency in at least one mass email platform or CRM (ActionKit, NGP/EveryAction, Action Network, Switchboard, or similar). You can build and QA a send yourself.
• A record of running A/B tests and turning results into strategy.
• Deliverability experience: diagnosing inbox placement problems and fixing them.
• Experience managing staff, consultants, or vendors.

Preferred

• Experience with seven- or eight-figure digital fundraising programs.
• Broadcast SMS strategy and compliance experience.
• Paid list growth and acquisition budgeting.
• SQL or a BI tool for self-serve analysis.
• Experience leading a platform migration.

This role is probably not a fit if

• Your experience is mainly paid media, social, communications, or press. We value those skills, but this job is email and SMS program leadership.
• You have supported a program but never owned its goals and results.
• You want to set strategy without touching production. On a small team, you'll still build, edit, and QA when it matters.
• You have fewer than four cycles of digital fundraising experience. Our Digital Fundraising Associate role may be a better fit.

Compensation and benefits

• Employer-paid Platinum health, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid vacation and sick leave
• Flexible hours outside peak periods
• Home office stipend
• 100% remote, open to candidates anywhere in the United States

At Forward Blue, we’re building a team as bold and diverse as the movement we’re fighting for. We’re looking for creative thinkers, problem-solvers, and passionate advocates — especially young folks, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals — to join us.