Mellon Foundation
Content Apprentice Communications
The Mellon Foundation (“Foundation”) believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas—Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place—and through its signature Presidential Initiatives. The Foundation seeks a Content Apprentice for our Communications team.
Team/ Program Overview:
The Mellon Foundation's team of communications professionals are responsible for building and stewarding the Foundation brand, telling its story, and driving outreach and engagement efforts both internally and externally. Our work strives to:
- Build broad brand affinity and connection with the Mellon Foundation's work
- Encourage appreciation, understanding of, and engagement with the work of our grantees
- Broadly advocate for the centrality of the arts and humanities in culture
Position Summary:
Reporting to the Senior Producer, the Content Apprentice will participate in a highly collaborative, one-year apprenticeship supporting the content team—a division of Mellon’s broader Communications department—by providing a wide range of administrative, organizational, editorial, and research support. This is an opportunity for the apprentice to expand communications, storytelling, and digital marketing skills by immersing in the content development process—from idea to execution, publishing and distribution, to measurement and analysis—with a fun and energetic team that is committed to the values reflected in our mission statement. The apprentice will work independently and with the team to support the development and execution of digital campaigns and other ongoing content projects, including managing aspects of the digital newsletter, sourcing and organizing digital assets, writing and proofreading copy, and helping generate story ideas in accordance with an editorial calendar.
This is a 12-month position with a start date in June 2025.
Position Description:
Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to the following:
- Assist with drafting, editing, and sourcing/licensing a variety of content including grant stories, social media posts, and other materials.
- Assist with curating content and drafting copy for the recurring Mellon digital newsletter.
- Conduct secondary research, compile data, and create project briefs concerning existing grantees, as well as arts and humanities more broadly; create research briefs to support story development.
- Support social media efforts and campaigns through grantee research, image sourcing, and data reporting, among other tasks as needed.
- Help conceive, pitch, create, and edit original content ideas for Mellon’s digital channels.
- Assist with tagging and managing assets within Mellon’s digital asset management system
- Support the promotion and execution of virtual events as needed.
- Help maintain an organized system of tracking, monitoring, and prioritizing tasks using the Foundation’s primary project management tools: Monday.com and Box.com.
- Handle confidential and non-routine information with sensitivity.
- Perform other duties related to content projects as needs arise.
Qualifications:
Required:
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, with an interest in thinking about content from both a strategic and creative perspective.
- Flexible, highly organized, and able to juggle multiple and competing tasks with exceptional follow-up and attention to detail.
- Strong interest in arts, humanities, and the Mellon mission, as well as learning about communications and marketing in a nonprofit setting.
- Interest in developing hands-on experience with social media management and newsletter management.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- High level of interpersonal skills and discretion to handle sensitive and confidential situations.
- Ability to be highly productive working independently and as a member of a team.
- Either: currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program, or: within one year of graduation.
Preferred:
- Work history that demonstrates an ability to anticipate next steps, take initiative, exercise discretion, and apply sound judgment.
- Familiarity with Monday.com, Contentful, Mailchimp, Sprout Social, Figma, and/or Google Analytics.
- Article or blog writing experience, especially on topics of arts, culture, and the humanities.
- Experience with content curation or content distribution (i.e. electronic newsletter management or social media posting).
Mellon Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. Mellon offers a generous total reward package that includes base salary and a comprehensive benefits program, as well as an excellent working environment. Mellon is committed to providing compensation that is competitive and equitable within the philanthropic sector. The estimated salary for this year-long role is $27-30/hour, and the apprentice will be expected to work between 22.5 and 37.5 hours per week. The amount of pay offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to qualifications, unique skills, credentials, or experience that is expected to impact the candidate’s contribution to the role. We will also consider market data as well as the Foundation’s internal pay equity framework.
The Mellon Foundation is committed to access and inclusion for our applicants. If you have accessibility requests to support your participation in the hiring process, please let us know at your earliest convenience.
Please note that Mellon maintains a hybrid work schedule, with three days per week in person at the Foundation’s Manhattan offices.
Candidates should apply by submitting a cover letter describing fit for the position and a resume by Monday, March 10, 2025. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
The Foundation will consider each complete application carefully but only contact those individuals it believes are most qualified for the position.