Sr. Director, Web Experience and Digital Strategy

Major Function

Lead the strategic vision, digital experience design, and operational management of WWF-US's web presence, including worldwildlife.org and associated digital properties. The Senior Director will oversee the web experience strategy, user experience design, digital discoverability, and web performance — and serve as the primary strategic owner of WWF's relationship with its external development partner. This role will shape how WWF shows up digitally across search, AI-powered platforms, and emerging discovery channels. 

Partners with the Director, Digital Content; the VP, Digital Platforms; and leaders across Integrated Marketing, Conservation, and Development to advance WWF's digital strategy, audience engagement, and fundraising goals. Translates organizational priorities into a coherent, measurable web experience strategy and ensures the website consistently reflects WWF's brand, values, and mission. 

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership 

• Define and drive the long-term strategic vision for WWF's organizational website worldwildlife.org, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, audience needs, and fundraising goals. 

• Setting standards for user experience, interaction design, information architecture, and web performance across all digital touchpoints. 

• Lead the evolution of WWF's web presence into emerging discoverability channels, including AI-powered search, answer engine optimization (AEO), generative engine optimization (GEO), and large language model (LLM) discoverability. 

• Anticipate and respond to shifts in the digital landscape, translating trends in AI, search, and audience behavior into actionable strategies and platform investments. 

• Champion an evidence-based approach to web strategy — establishing a culture of analytics, experimentation, and continuous improvement grounded in robust data and user research. 

Vendor and Partnership Management 

• Serve as the primary strategic owner of WWF's relationship with its external development partner (currently Torchbox), including oversight of the business as usual development work, one-off project work, support and development agreement, roadmap prioritization, and performance accountability. 

• Lead vendor governance: manage contracts, service level agreements, development prioritization, and budget stewardship to ensure the organization receives maximum value from external partnerships. 

• Evaluate, recommend, and onboard additional vendors and technology partners as needed to advance web strategy and platform capabilities. 

Digital Experience and Platform Oversight 

• Oversee the design, user experience, and operational health of worldwildlife.org, built on Wagtail CMS, ensuring accessibility, performance, security, and compliance with applicable legal standards. 

• Lead the web design system and ensure consistent application of brand standards, accessibility requirements (WCAG), and mobile-first responsive design across the site. 

• Guide the organization's approach to technical SEO, structured data, and metadata strategy to maximize organic discoverability and search performance. 

• Oversee web analytics infrastructure and reporting, ensuring web strategy, updates, and investments are grounded in user data and organizational performance metrics. 

Cross-Functional Partnership and Organizational Influence 

• Partner with the Digital Content team to ensure the web experience and content strategy operate as an integrated system — from information architecture to content workflows to discoverability. 

• Collaborate with Integrated Marketing, Development, Programs/Goals, and Communications teams to ensure the website meets acquisition, fundraising, and engagement goals. 

• Provide thought leadership and serve as an organizational resource on digital experience strategy, emerging platforms, and the evolving role of the web within a multi-channel digital ecosystem. 

• Lead CMS training and adoption across editorial and content teams, enabling staff across the organization to contribute effectively to the web. 

Team Leadership and Development 

• Manage, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of web professionals, fostering a culture of strategic thinking, craft, and continuous learning. 

• Model and reinforce a team culture aligned with WWF's values and the web team's vision: collaborative, curious, impact-driven, and deeply committed to inclusion. 

• Lead workforce planning and talent development in partnership with the VP, Digital Platforms, to ensure the team has the skills and capacity needed to execute the web strategy. 

• Perform other duties as assigned.