A palm tree

Humbly Confident Product Marketing Writer at You Need A Budget (YNAB)

Remote(Worldwide)
fulltime
2 years ago
This job posting is over 30 days old, but the application is still open.

About Us and Why We’re Hiring

We build “You Need a Budget,” the best budgeting software and educational resources around. (But people in the know call us YNAB, which is pronounced “why-nab.”) For more than a decade, people have been using YNAB and then telling their friends what a difference it has made in their lives. Google us, or read some of our reviews on the app store, and you’ll see what we mean. We love building something that has a huge positive impact on people’s lives.

Teaching people how to get control of their money is what gets us up in the morning. Well, that and a hot beverage. We’re looking for a versatile Product Marketing Writer to help us teach others about the life-changing power of YNAB and all of its awesome features.

You are a natural writer and collaborator—funny and creative—and you’re always wondering how stuff works. You’ve also got a knack for turning technical speak into easily understandable metaphors—which your less-than-tech-savvy aunt loves you for. 

Not only are you swift and mighty with your pen, it comes in a red ink variety too. Your editing prowess would make your 9th-grade English teacher proud (this one’s for you, Mrs. Wilson!). You know that writing is rewriting and welcome constructive feedback with open arms. You thrive working in teams, and the time you get to collaborate with other people in the company is when you feel most yourself. You’re not shy to reach out to clarify, gather, collate, or offer ideas and feedback no matter the role or department.

You have a solid understanding of product marketing, copywriting on the web, and technical writing in the software space. Of course, you are an excellent writer and editor, but even more than that you understand that it is the right content, for the right audience, in the right context, that converts. 

You take rough drafts of copy—sometimes scribbled on a used napkin (just kidding, we work remotely, we don’t mail each other used napkins) and give it such an impressive spit shine and polish that the marketing and product teams will quickly wonder how they ever got on without you—freeing them up to do what they do best—improving our product.

You can shift gears—blog posts about new features, release notes, in-app copy, emails, ad campaigns, newsletters, reports, and maybe even a script for TikTok or two—because regardless of the format, you can crack yourself up and nail the headline without breaking a sweat. 

Requirements (these are real, actual requirements)

  • At least two years of professional writing experience, ideally in the product space.
  • Prolific and experienced writer with a sense of humor and experience thriving under daily deadline pressure.
  • Did we mention a sense of humor? (Because if you haven’t already thought to yourself how hilarious this job posting reads, well,…) 
  • Unintimidated and energized at the prospect of cross-team collaboration to create fun and new (and sometimes a little bit serious) content every week (the amount depending on variables like story type, length, complexity, weather, etc.).
  • Excellent time management skills which make juggling—multiple projects, daily, weekly and monthly deadlines, and an always changing assortment of story types—look easy.

That’s a super-brief intro to what you’ll be working on. But first, you need to know if you’ll even like working with us. Let’s talk a bit about life at YNAB, and then we’ll go into more detail about what we’re looking for. 

We’re profitable, bootstrapped, and growing. YNAB started in 2004 and we haven’t taken any outside funding—we’re in it for the long haul. We have one overarching requirement when it comes to joining our team: our original Core Values Manifesto has to really click with you. If you’re nodding emphatically while reading it, you’ll probably really like it here, and we can’t wait to hear from you!

We live our Core Values every day at YNAB, and we mean it when we say we are an equal opportunity employer. We believe that a diversity of backgrounds, abilities, beliefs, and experiences are critical to our success, and we are passionate about creating a welcoming, supportive, and collaborative environment for all employees. All are encouraged to apply as we continue to grow a smart, hard-working, and diverse team who loves working together to build something that matters.

We also work really hard, together, to make working at YNAB an amazing experience, and we were (humbly) proud to be named Fortune’s #1 Best Small Company to Work For for the last two years. We have a team full of truly exceptional people—the kind you’ll be excited to work with. We’d love to introduce you to a few of them!

Who you’d be working with:

Lindsey & The Gang aka the Marketing Team aka just a rag-tag but lovable bunch of underdogs who defy the odds—making budgeting software hilarious, emotional, and accessible—day in and day out. (Disney, are you listening?) 

We love musical theater, board games, stand-up comedy, the Enneagram, video games, and art, to varying degrees, depending on who you talk to first. Our internal Slack channel is so much fun, it has a growing fanbase. 

Lindsey, our Head of Marketing, will be the first to delete something very important, but also the first to celebrate your wins—big and small. Ryan, our Lead of Growth Marketing, will quickly become your lifeline in any type of bracketology-related emergency and even under website-launch-level-stress, he can sneak in the jokes that make you feel like, “if Dad’s OK, we’ll all be OK.” There’s Reema, our Lead of Marketing Operations, who keeps all the balls in the air, while wearing many different hats, basically, if there is a need, yo, she’ll solve it (and yes, that was a seamless incorporation of Vanilla Ice lyrics).

Rachel, our Content Lead and writer-of-all-of-the-things spells prolific with a capital P…no she doesn’t…unless it’s at the start of a sentence. She’s what those in the sports world (don’t worry, there are only three people in all of YNAB who even pays attention to sports) call a “generational talent.” It’s like how Lebron James can shoot, rebound, block and take over a game, but her game is content creation and strategy and she DOES. IT. ALL. Also, you can tell she didn’t write this because it’s both not concise and it rambles a ton…which is where you come in. Help her, please!

Ashley, our Content Marketing Writer, has cracked the code to make our Google search results sing our praises. If you’re not laughing at her sharp wit and dry humor by the end of the meeting, she must be on mute. But it’s not just her incredible writing prowess that’ll wow you, she absolutely cranks on content and you’ll probably increase your writing VO2max just by occupying the same virtual air space as her. Did we give you enough reasons to want to have a meeting with Ashley? Oh, here’s one more: cat Zoom bombs from her furry friends. Yeah, you’ll love her.

Kelly, our Product Marketing Manager. She is a compassionate teacher of the YNAB method and exactly the person you want in every meeting. Seriously. No screen sharing issues ever, and she's our in-house Zoom meeting DJ. She has the elusive gift of selecting the perfect song every time. Catch Kelly in our live YouTube show, Fun Money! Feel free to ask her about her chickens.

Ingi, Hannah, Megan, Elena, Lee, Jacob, Caitlin, and Milène make up the leaders of our product team, and these are the folks that have all the balls in the air, color-coded, timed, and with a plan for what to do with said balls five years from now. To say they’re good at life would be an understatement. They’re the honors students of the company—at a company of honors students. All that to say, you’ll be crafting copy for some smart cookies on product features and crossing paths quite a bit. The best kind of crossing. Criss crossing, Applesauce-ing with a scoop of ice cream on the side.

How You’ll Work at YNAB

Now that you’ve met some of your potential future teammates, let’s talk more about YNAB as a company. Here’s how we operate:

Live Where You Want

We’ve always been a fully remote team, and have people all over the world. For this particular position, however, we're looking for someone within +/- two hours of Central Standard Time (UTC-6), due to the high amount of synchronous coordination needed with the Marketing and Product teams. Anywhere within those time zones is okay, though. Just make sure you have a reliable internet connection.

No Outrageous Hours

We want everyone to have a full life outside of YNAB, and we seldom work more than 40 hours per week. There have been a few occasions where things got busy and people had to put some extra time in. But then they took some extra time off, so it all balances out. We work hard and smart, but we’re in this for the long haul.

Take Vacation (Seriously)

We want you to take vacation. In fact, we have a minimum vacation policy of three weeks per year. Five weeks feels about right (plus two extra weeks for our company-wide December break). It’s important to get plenty of downtime and get out and do something. We’ll look forward to seeing pictures of your adventures in our #office_wall Slack channel!

The YNAB Retreat

When the pandemic isn’t keeping us from traveling, we get the teams together once a year to catch up on spreadsheets and powerpoints in a Best Western conference room. Just kidding. So far, we’ve done Costa Rica, a gigantic cabin in the mountains, a beach house in the Outer Banks, a ranch in Montana, and most recently, Laguna Beach. We work together, play together, and reinforce the bonds we’ve made as a team and company. Every year, we leave refreshed, motivated, and excited for the year ahead together.

Up Your Game

We’re serious about helping you improve your craft. We budget for it (hey-o!). Think conferences, online courses and subscriptions, dedicated time away from work to learn something new… it’s really up to you and your manager. But we love to see our people growing.  

U.S. or International? Great!

Our team is spread all over the world, including Switzerland, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and all over the United States. We currently set up team members who live in the U.S. or U.K. as employees, and those who live in other countries as independent contractors. You’re an equal part of the team no matter where you live!

As mentioned, we have some time zone restrictions for this role, but as long as you're within +/- two hours of Central Standard Time (UTC-6), we're good!

Benefits

If you live in the U.S., you’ll be eligible for our health, dental, and vision insurance, where we cover 100% of the premium for you and your family. No need to check your vision, you read that right—100%. Although if you did need to check your vision, NBD, we’ve got you covered!

We also have a Traditional and Roth 401(k) option. YNAB matches your contributions up to six percent, and matches vest immediately. (Are you a personal finance junkie like our founder Jesse? He set up YNAB’s 401k to have the lowest fee structure possible, where all plan costs are paid by YNAB, not your retirement nest egg. The investment funds available are fantastic, passively-managed, ultra low-cost index funds. You’re not a PF junkie? Trust us, it’s awesome.) 

Competitive Compensation

The starting salary range for this position is $63,000-$75,000 annually. We consider raises every year, and have a bi-annual profit-share bonus. YNAB wins, you win—that kind of thing.

Other Tidbits

  • Once you start, we DEMAND (in a friendly, ALL CAPS IS YELLING way) that you fill out your “Bucket List” spreadsheet with 50 items. (That’s harder than it sounds!) 
  • The bucket list really helps in deciding what we should give you for your birthday and the holidays.
  • We’re all adults. There’s no need to punch a clock, or ask for permission to take off early one afternoon to go see the doctor. We look at what you accomplish, not how long you’re in front of a computer.
  • We want you firing on all cylinders so we’ll set you up with a shiny new computer and replace it every three years.
  • Did we mention that YNAB makes a huge, positive difference in people’s lives? You may not think that matters much, but then a few months down the road you’ll realize it’s made your job really, really enjoyable. Don’t underestimate this one!

If this sounds like your ideal environment, read on because now we want to talk about you, and how you’ll play a big part in changing people’s lives.

Now, back to you, our new Product Marketing Writer….

Our product team is cranking out features (maybe you’ve noticed?), and we want to give these releases the best possible content foot forward. Considering the size of our current team, we pump out a remarkable amount of content, but we are looking for a sharp, creative, curious storyteller to help us tell the story of our product and new features.

When you learn about a new feature your brain immediately begins churning out ideas and ways that we can teach, brag (humbly of course), and show it off to our loyal fans. You’re eager to meet with everyone involved with the new feature to become an expert before you write about it, including designers, support specialists, product managers, and the content team. This regularly happens before that feature is even fully functional. 

You’ve got an optimizer's brain and are always working through a quicker, faster, or clearer way to improve a process. You’re fluent with our current customers and somehow manage to delight new ones at the same time.

Some things you might be doing at YNAB:

  • Splash new features with interesting and informative blog posts.
  • Write and curate the weekly newsletter for a devoted and engaged audience.
  • Craft clever and sometimes hilarious release notes to keep our status as the most chuckle-worthy-yet-informative release notes out there.
  • Craft simple yet surprisingly elegant in-app messages.
  • Collaborate on emails and nail the subject line every time.
  • Support the product marketing team to lend your writing and storytelling expertise to their efforts.
  • Act as a backup for our Product Marketing Manager in team communications and documentation.

You’re our ideal candidate if you:

  • Have at least 2 years of professional product writing experience with a portfolio that showcases hitting daily or near-daily publication deadlines. 
  • Have experience explaining technical concepts in an easy-to-understand format.
  • Can nail the YNAB voice, but also have a distinct voice all your own. 
  • Excel at juggling multiple projects and timelines at any given moment, and switching gears keeps you fresh and stimulated.
  • Make us laugh. 
  • Manage your time exceptionally well and are comfortable working remotely. 
  • Are incredibly organized, flexible, and collaborative. Your day gets better when you know you’ll get to meet and work with other team members on a project.
  • Are self-motivated and driven by nature, maybe even a little competitive. 
  • Stay laser-focused on the big picture, without losing sight of every. last. detail. 
  • Are wildly productive and independent, but a team player at heart. 
  • Have a strong interest in money management and budgeting. You don’t have to be a budgeting expert or anything—we’ll help you get there before you know it, but we want your enthusiasm to trickle into our features content. 

How to Apply

  • Apply directly at our site here by 11:59PM PST on Sunday, January 9th, 2022. Firm. It’s a real deadline. The kind you love.
  • Attach a PDF of your cover letter. In your cover letter:
  • Please introduce yourself and explain why this position interests you and why you would be a great fit. Cover letters are meant to sell, so sell us!
  • Include a paragraph that tells us what you think the coolest YNAB feature is and why.
  • Attach a PDF resume. If you don’t have a resume because you aren’t even sure you’re looking to change jobs, that’s fine! An informal overview of your work and education history are all we’re looking for.
  • Please let us know if you would like to disclose a need for accommodation in connection with the recruitment and hiring process. If so, contact us at careers@youneedabudget.com and indicate in the subject line that you’re applying for the Product Marketing Writer role.
  • Note: though we know it is customary in some countries, we’d prefer if you didn’t share a headshot in your application materials. Thank you!

We’re excited to hear from you!

P.S. We'll send you a confirmation email once you apply. Please add that email to your safe sender list, to ensure that future emails come through. (If you don’t receive it, please check your Promotions inbox, junk folder, or any filters you may have set up.)

P.P.S. If you’re not interested in or available for this position, but know someone who is, we would really appreciate it if you passed this along!

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