Sr Specialist - Internal Communications

Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to large, Fortune 100 enterprises with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential.

Last year, more than $3.8 billion of work was done through Upwork by skilled professionals who are gaining more control by finding work they are passionate about and innovating their careers.

Senior Specialist, Internal Communications

The Internal Communications team at Upwork acts as the company’s internal connectors and storytellers, building strategies, advising leaders and partners, and executing programs that inform, motivate, and activate team members, Upwork’s most important audience and asset. Plus, we’re fun, kind and enjoyable to work with (if we do say so ourselves!).

The Senior Specialist role (that’s you!) will join us as a high-energy self-starter with runway to creatively contribute ideas, manage critical internal programs and oversee team operations, tools and systems. You’ll support our weekly all-company touchbase, from sourcing speakers and getting agenda approvals to helping run rehearsals to planning future sessions in partnership with leaders that map to strategic company themes and timely opportunities. You’ll manage The U, Upwork’s company intranet, formatting and posting content as well as developing an editorial strategy and calendar and managing our vendor relationship. You’ll help us by chasing stories that support our narrative and business goals while keeping a regular drumbeat of reminders and must-know information. With plenty of activities on the horizon, including our annual Kickoff event, there will be no shortage of cross-functional projects to support in ways large and small. 

 Your responsibilities: 

• Support our weekly, company-wide meeting designed to foster clarity, transparency and a sense of community. That means agenda planning and consultation with leadership, speaker coordination and rehearsals, developing tactical deliverables, and meeting execution and management with supervision.

• Help this team run like a well-oiled machine with general oversight and management of our tools, systems, platforms and team operations.

• Manage The U, our company intranet, ensuring high-quality, consistent, and diverse types of content are regularly posted for employee consumption and connection.

  • Collaborate with The U content owners to define engaging content strategies and provide guidance on creating and organizing content within the intranet platform.

  • Manage and maintain The U’s content architecture, with emphasis on end-users being able to maintain their own content. Offer expertise in structuring and optimizing content for easy navigation, searchability, and user engagement.

  • Expand the aperture for The U into a purposeful editorial engine that features a mix of cultural elements like team member recognition and spotlights, company news, leadership updates, and business/technology developments.

  • Monitor and edit user-generated content for appropriateness, communicating standards and expectations as needed.

  • Promote user adoption through user and site manager training, consultation, and support of existing functionality. Assist users by building training documents and providing guidance with intranet-related tasks to enable self sufficiency.

• Partner closely with the Internal Communications, IT, HR, and leadership teams to increase visibility and awareness of important company news. 

• Partner with cross-functional internal stakeholders to develop workflows and tools to improve the employee experience (e.g., new hire onboarding, internal events, etc.).

• Take point on All Hands logistics, supporting the planning rhythm, ensuring tools and processes are functional, and organizing collaboration between internal partners.

• Help manage Slack channels, keeping them organized, archiving, and bringing best practices as they emerge to bear internally.

• Seek out, suggest and help implement best practices with regard to measuring and analyzing the effectiveness of our current internal communications programs.

• Lead major tactical aspects of our annual company Kickoff, working hand-in-hand with our Multimedia and Creative teams.

• Serve as a resource for Internal Communications for projects that demand a capable and enthusiastic generalist.

What it takes to catch our eye: 

• You have at least two years’ experience in internal communications or a related field; experience in a remote/hybrid work environment is preferred.

• You are highly detail-oriented: super organized with a desire for excellence.

• A strong writer, you are creative and quick at pulling together elevated, engaging, clear content.

• You pull on the threads, able to see beyond the priority of the day to identify opportunities to extend and build on our work – and manage possible risks.

• You are good at building relationships with internal partners and have a “we’re in this together” mindset to solve collective challenges or seize opportunities to make them actionable.

• A critical thinker with the ability to understand the end user experience, you know how to translate technical language into layman’s terms that is intuitive for a global audience.

• You’re an advocate for technology and change with a passion for supporting remote organization effectiveness through enabling collaboration and communication technology. 

• A strong project and program manager, you have a demonstrated project management skillset, including the ability to meet deadlines and ensure others do the same.

• You’re comfortable working collaboratively, virtually, and independently in a complex, global organization, across time zones and with different cross-functional teams – and you’re familiar with the collaboration tools that make this happen: Slack/Teams, Google Workplace, Zoom, Asana, and intranet platforms such as Haystack.

Come change how the world works.

At Upwork, you’ll shape talent solutions for how the world works today. We are a remote-first organization working together to create exciting remote work opportunities for a global community of professionals. While we have physical offices in San Francisco and Chicago, currently we also hire full-time employees in 19 states in the United States.

At the core of our vibrant culture are shared values that form the foundation of our organization. These values revolve around trust, risk-taking, customer focus, and excellence. Our overarching mission is to create economic opportunities so that people have better lives. We foster an environment where individuals are encouraged to bring their authentic selves to work, nurturing personal and professional growth through development opportunities, mentorship programs, and participation in Upwork Belonging Communities.

We take pride in providing exceptional benefits to our employees. These include comprehensive medical insurance coverage for both you and your family, unlimited paid time off, a 401(k) plan with matching contributions, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. To explore these benefits in detail, as well as gain insights into our company values, working principles, and the overall employee experience, we invite you to visit our Life at Upwork page.

Check out our Careers page to learn more about the employee experience.

Upwork is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Additionally, a criminal background check may be run on a candidate after a conditional offer of employment is made. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered in accordance with applicable law, including the California Fair Chance Act and local Fair Chance ordinances.