Job Description
Notice to applicants:
We have seen a rise in recruitment scams. Please note that outreach from Khan Academy recruiters will only come from the @khanacademy.org domain. Our team does not use Gmail or other personal accounts for contacting potential candidates. Khan Academy will never solicit money, equipment fees, or sensitive financial information at any stage of the hiring process. We also do not work with external recruiting agencies, so outreach from headhunters presenting opportunities on behalf of Khan Academy is illegitimate. Please always check the email domain and cross-reference the position with the official Khan Academy Careers page to confirm an opening is valid.
ABOUT KHAN ACADEMY
Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission to deliver a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Our proven learning platform offers free, high-quality supplemental learning content and practice that cover Pre-K - 12th grade and early college core academic subjects, focusing on math and science. We have over 181 million registered learners globally and are committed to improving learning outcomes for students worldwide, focusing on learners in historically under-resourced communities.
OUR COMMUNITY
Our students, teachers, and parents come from all walks of life, and so do we. Our team includes people from academia, traditional/non-traditional education, big tech companies, and tiny startups. We hire great people from diverse backgrounds and experiences because it makes our company stronger. We value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as necessary to achieve our mission and impact the communities we serve. We know that transforming education starts in-house with learning about ourselves and our colleagues. We strive to be world-class in investing in our people and commit to developing you as a professional.
THE ROLE
The Philanthropy team is responsible for raising the funds that sustain and advance Khan Academy’s ambitious mission. We are seeking a seasoned Interim Email Marketing Consultant(25 hours week / 2 month contract) to sustain and advance our digital fundraising efforts during a staff leave of absence (May 26 – July 20).
Reporting to the Director of Philanthropy, this role is pivotal in managing a high-volume email program (100M+ emails annually) aimed at converting learners into lifelong donors. While technical execution within Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) is handled by a separate consultant, this role serves as the primary strategic and creative lead.
What You’ll Do
As the interim lead, you will focus on high-level strategy, copywriting, and segmentation across the following areas:
Content Strategy & Copywriting
- Voice Governance: Draft compelling fundraising appeals using distinct organizational personas, including Sal Khan, the Chief External Affairs Officer, and the Community Giving Manager.
- Campaign Execution: Write and edit all email copy for May, June, and July outreach, including support for mid-level emails and other emails as necessary.
- AI Optimization: Refine and train a custom GPT or AI assistant to streamline the drafting and copy-editing process for future campaigns.
“Back to School” (BTS) Campaign Strategy
- Strategic Roadmap: Develop the email testing and messaging strategy for the critical August/September BTS campaign.
- Creative Direction: Collaborate with the design team to ensure visual assets align with the strategic narrative for the BTS season.
Advanced Segmentation & Testing
- Optimization: Build a comprehensive segmentation testing strategy for June–September. This includes identifying new segments to test and refine ahead of the End-of-Year (EOY) giving season. A partial plan has been drafted but needs to be refined, updated and implemented.
- A/B Testing: Maintain a rigorous testing schedule (subject lines, CTA, layout) and document learnings.
- Analysis: Evaluate the results of the May fundraising campaign and other emails to identify insights.
Pilot Programs & Collaboration
- Paid Acquisition: Collaborate with Senior Community Giving Manager to design a “Test and Learn” campaign for paid donor acquisition.
- Cross-Functional Partnering: Partner with the Paid Ads Manager on buying strategy and provide creative direction for ad assets.
- Project Management: Manage email production and campaigns across functions, ensuring work is delivered on time and flagging potential blockers.
Analytics & Reporting
- KPI Tracking: Monitor and report on campaign performance, delivery rates, and conversion metrics.
- Actionable Insights: Produce concise campaign recaps that translate data into insights for the Community Giving Manager and other stakeholders.
WHAT YOU BRING
- Fundraising Expertise: Proven track record in digital fundraising or marketing, specifically in “engagement-to-donor” conversion.
- Strategic Copywriting: Ability to pivot between different executive voices and write high-converting, empathetic copy.
- Data Literacy: Deep experience in audience segmentation and A/B testing methodologies.
- Marketing Tech Savvy: Understanding of Salesforce Marketing Cloud capabilities to effectively direct the technical build consultant.
- Collaboration: Experience working with design and paid media teams to create a cohesive multi-channel experience.
- Passion for Education: A desire to make a difference in the lives of learners everywhere.
- Proven cross-cultural competency skills demonstrating self-awareness, awareness of other, and the ability to adopt inclusive perspectives, attitudes, and behaviors to drive inclusion and belonging throughout the organization.
- Motivated by the Khan Academy mission “to provide a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere.”
COMPENSATION
This is a contract position with an hourly rate of $65 USD /hour.
MORE ABOUT US
- Sal’s TED talk from 2011
- Sal’s TED talk from 2015
- Sal’s TED talk from 2023
- Our team: http://www.khanacademy.org/about/the-team
OUR COMPANY VALUES
Live & breathe learners
We deeply understand and empathize with our users. We leverage user insights, research, and experience to build content, products, services, and experiences that our users trust and love. Our success is defined by the success of our learners and educators.
Take a stand
As a company, we have conviction in our aspirational point of view of how education will evolve. The work we do is in service to moving towards that point of view. However, we also listen, learn and flex in the face of new data, and commit to evolving this point of view as the industry and our users evolve.
Embrace diverse perspectives
We are a diverse community. We seek out and embrace a diversity of voices, perspectives and life experiences leading to stronger, more inclusive teams and better outcomes. As individuals, we are committed to bringing up tough topics and leaning into different points of view with curiosity. We actively listen, learn and collaborate to gain a shared understanding. When a decision is made, we commit to moving forward as a united team.
Work responsibly and sustainably
We understand that achieving our audacious mission is a marathon, so we set realistic timelines and we focus on delivery that also links to the bigger picture. As a non-profit, we are supported by the generosity of donors as well as strategic partners, and understand our responsibility to our finite resources. We spend every dollar as though it were our own. We are responsible for the impact we have on the world and to each other. We ensure our team and company stay healthy and financially sustainable.
Bring out the joy
We are committed to making learning a joyful process. This informs what we build for our users and the culture we co-create with our teammates, partners and donors.
Cultivate learning mindset
We believe in the power of growth for learners and for ourselves. We constantly learn and teach to improve our offerings, ourselves, and our organization. We learn from our mistakes and aren’t afraid to fail. We don’t let past failures or successes stop us from taking future bold action and achieving our goals.
Deliver wow
We insist on high standards and deliver delightful, effective end-to-end experiences that our users can rely on. We choose to focus on fewer things — each of which aligns to our ambitious vision — so we can deliver high-quality experiences that accelerate positive measurable learning with our strategic partners.
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or Veteran status. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we encourage candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply. As part of this commitment, Khan Academy will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact careers@khanacademy.org
