Job Description

POSITION: Copywriter

LOCATION: Adelaide Fringe Head Office

REPORTS TO: Head of Marketing

EMPLOYMENT: 1.0FTE full time, flexible [Contract to July 2027]

The Copywriter is Adelaide Fringe’s dedicated wordsmith. A versatile, audience-obsessed writer who can shift between long-form editorial, conversion-driven EDM copy, punchy social captions and powerful fundraising impact stories, without breaking stride. This is a specialist craft position for
someone who understands that every word is a decision and that great copy changes what people do, not just what they think.

The Copywriter works across the full Adelaide Fringe marketing program, writing for the main festival brand and the Adelaide Fringe Foundation’s philanthropic program and all external key communications. They bring a UX mindset to all content; understanding where audiences are in their journey and writing to move them forward. They write for humans first, but they also know how to structure content that performs in AI-powered search environments.

Adelaide Fringe is Australia’s largest open-access arts festival, a genuine cultural and
economic force for South Australia. Our copy needs to match that: bold,
inclusive and always honest, written in service of the people who make and
experience the Fringe.

ORGANISATIONAL RELATIONSHIP

Department: Digital, Marketing and Ticketing

Supervises: Nil

Internal Liaisons: Heads of Department, Marketing Coordinators, Design Studio, Partnership Account Managers, Artist & Venues team, Finance team, Ticketing team and any other Adelaide Fringe staff as required.

External Liaisons: Adelaide Fringe stakeholders including artists, venues, partners, gencies, photography/videography contractors and external stakeholders, Adelaide Fringe corporate partners, government bodies, local businesses, corporate membership groups.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Core Copywriting Across Channels

• Write copy across all Adelaide Fringe digital and marketing
  channels, adapting tone, format and length for each platform and audience
  without losing the brand voice.
• Produce long-form content including website articles, editorial
  features, blog posts, artist stories, program guides and event overviews.
• Write social media captions and short-form copy for Instagram,
  Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube, with a feel for what performs on each
  platform.
• Write and edit EDM copy across audience segments; including
  campaign announcements, partnership communications, artist updates, donor
  appeals and newsletter content - with a strong focus on engagement and
  conversion.
• Develop subject line variants for A/B testing across EDM
  campaigns, using data and iteration to continuously improve open rates.
• Write LinkedIn ghostwriting for Adelaide Fringe leadership,
  capturing individual voice while maintaining brand alignment.

Brand and Key Messaging

• Own and champion Adelaide Fringe’s tone of voice across all
  written content, ensuring copy is consistent, distinctive and resonant across
  every channel and audience segment.
• Write with nuance and care across Adelaide Fringe’s key values and
  impact areas; including sustainability, reconciliation, inclusivity and public
  safety.
• Develop and maintain copy frameworks and messaging guides for key
  areas including the main festival, Adelaide Fringe Foundation and all external key
  communications.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of Adelaide Fringe’s
  brand voice and messaging hierarchy in partnership with the Head of Marketing
  and Digital Content Lead.
• Write compelling philanthropic copy for the Adelaide Fringe
  Foundation including donor appeals, impact stories, grant recipient features,
  stewardship communications and event materials.
• Support fundraising campaign copywriting including digital
  appeals, major donor communications and sponsorship proposals.

UX and Conversion-Focused Writing

• Apply a UX copywriting lens to all written touchpoints; website,
  app, EDMs and landing pages, writing to drive audience action.
• Write and refine calls to action, button labels, onboarding copy
  and microcopy that guides audiences through the ticket purchase journey and
  other key conversion pathways.
• Collaborate with the Performance Marketing Lead and Digital
  Content Lead to align copy with campaign objectives, paid media messaging and
  audience segmentation strategies.
• Contribute to A/B testing of copy across digital channels,
  analysing results and iterating to improve performance.

AI Search and Discoverability

• Stay current with developments in generative search and AI content
  consumption, bringing recommendations to the team on how to adapt Adelaide
  Fringe’s content strategy accordingly.
• Write content structured for discoverability in AI-powered search
  environments.
• Work with the team to develop an approach to content that earns
  visibility beyond traditional SEO, including through featured snippets,
  knowledge panels and AI-generated responses.

General Responsibilities

• Proofread and edit copy produced by others in the Marketing team
  as required, maintaining a consistent quality standard.
• Manage a high volume of concurrent copy requests across the team,
  prioritising effectively and communicating clearly on timelines and capacity.
• Embrace and utilise organisational project management and digital
  collaboration tools.
• Act as an ambassador for Adelaide Fringe’s culture, values and
  brand across all communications and interactions.
• Observe and comply with all Work Health & Safety policies and
  workplace procedures.
• Undertake additional duties as reasonably directed in a fast-paced
  festival environment.

ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLE CRITERIA

Education & Experience

• 3+years of professional copywriting experience across multiple formats and channels; long-form, social, EDM and digital.
• Demonstrated portfolio showing versatility across tone, audience and format, including both
  conversion-focused and editorial writing.
• Proven experience writing EDM copy, including segmented campaigns, and optimising
  subject lines through A/B testing.
• Experience writing social media copy that performs; captions, hooks, CTAs, with an
  understanding of what works on each platform.
• Demonstrated UX writing capability, including writing for digital journeys and conversion.
• Experience managing multiple briefs and deadlines in a fast-paced marketing environment.
• Understanding of SEO principles and experience writing content that performs well in search,
  including emerging AI search environments. (desirable).
• Experience writing across values-driven or socially complex messaging areas such as
  reconciliation, sustainability, inclusivity or community impact (desirable).
• Experience writing philanthropic, not-for-profit or fundraising copy (desirable).
• Experience in the arts, events or entertainment sector (desirable).
• •Tertiary
  qualifications in communications, journalism, marketing, English or a related
  field (desirable).
• Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.