AI Content Strategy Lead Job Chicago area,Illinois USA,Marketing / Advertising / PR

Summary:

Content Strategy is evolving from a discipline that guides individual content experiences to one that shapes the systems through which content is created, governed, and scaled. Our AI content systems are already live. What's needed now is the strategic layer that ensures scale means better, not just more. As AI becomes embedded throughout the marketing ecosystem, organizations need new ways to ensure that strategic expertise is amplified and operationalized through technology.

We are seeking an AI Content Strategy Lead to drive the vision and cross-functional alignment required to embed content strategy into AI-powered marketing systems. This is a highly strategic individual contributor role within Content Strategy that partners across Marketing Technology (including AI platform teams) and creative teams to ensure content expertise is embedded into AI-powered systems. The role will not directly manage teams or own AI platforms, but will influence and align stakeholders across organizations to ensure that strategic content expertise is represented within AI-enabled workflows and capabilities.

The ideal candidate combines demonstrated AI product leadership with a deep understanding of how content strategy creates business value. They have experience translating strategic expertise into clear requirements that enable scalable systems, influencing outcomes through partners who own platform roadmaps, and driving organizational transformation through partnerships, vision, and execution.

This role spans the full breadth of AI-generated marketing content, including copy, image, video, email, web, and advertising creative, in service of campaigns reaching millions of small business advertisers across scaled channels.

Required Skills:

AI Content Strategy Lead Responsibilities:

Define and drive the long-term vision for how Content Strategy is operationalized through AI-powered marketing systems and workflows, including the strategic requirements that preserve critical human judgment and oversight

Partner with Marketing Technology teams to translate content strategy expertise into clear requirements, priorities, and success criteria that inform the AI platform's capabilities

Design the knowledge architecture that structures customer insights, brand voice, audience context, messaging frameworks, and campaign intelligence for real-time access by AI agents and content generation systems. Define how marketing expertise is stored, retrieved, and applied so that AI produces strategically sound, not just grammatically correct, output

Identify and recommend high-impact opportunities where AI can improve content quality, consistency, speed, and strategic alignment

Establish governance guardrails, evaluation frameworks, and quality controls that ensure AI-generated content meets organizational standards while enabling scalable operating models

Serve as a thought leader and advisor on the future of AI-enabled content strategy, helping to shape organizational direction and investment decisions

Measure and communicate the business impact of AI-enabled content systems, including improvements in quality, consistency, efficiency, and strategic fidelity

Minimum Qualifications:

12+ years of experience in content strategy, content operations, content technology, AI product management, marketing technology, marketing strategy, or related disciplines

Track record of driving alignment and outcomes across multiple organizations without direct authority, particularly in environments where technology, strategy, and creativity intersect

Experience translating ambiguous business needs into clear strategic requirements and articulating them to technical and cross-functional partners to inform AI product roadmaps

Strong understanding of generative AI capabilities, limitations, governance considerations, and implementation patterns

Experience defining requirements or shaping product roadmaps for AI, content technology, or marketing automation platforms as a non-engineering stakeholder

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including experience in influencing leaders and executive stakeholders

Experience driving organizational change, workflow transformation, or technology adoption at scale

Preferred Qualifications:

Track record of defining new functions, operating models, or organizational capabilities in emerging technology domains

Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies

Experience developing strategic plans and driving them through to implementation with measurable outcomes

Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)

Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)

Experience with AI agent…