[Hiring] Copywriter – Concept (EN/FR) @New York Holdings

Role Description

We're looking for a concept-driven freelance copywriter who can turn strategy into ideas and ideas into work people remember. This isn't a content-writing role. We're looking for someone who starts with the big idea and can carry it through campaigns, taglines, scripts, social activations, brand platforms, and messaging systems. Someone who can move comfortably between concept development and execution, and who understands that great copy doesn't just sound good—it solves a communication problem.

Our projects span brand identity, advertising, experiential, social, digital, and motion. Some briefs arrive fully formed; others arrive as a challenge that needs to be unpacked before the creative work can begin. We need someone who can navigate both.

This is a freelance partnership for recurring project work. Some assignments will be planned well in advance; others will require quick turnarounds and rapid ideation. We value responsiveness, flexibility, and people who can jump into a creative sprint without needing a long runway.

What You'll Own

• Creative Concepts: You develop campaign ideas, creative territories, and narrative frameworks that can scale across multiple channels and touchpoints.
• Messaging Systems: You create the strategic language behind the work, from brand platforms and positioning statements to campaign messaging and audience-specific adaptations.
• Copy Development: You write headlines, taglines, scripts, manifestos, social content, presentations, and long-form copy when required.
• Creative Collaboration: You partner closely with creative directors, designers, strategists, producers, and account teams to shape work from brief to final delivery.
• Bilingual Execution: You write and think creatively in both English and French, understanding that strong bilingual work requires adaptation, not translation.
• Rapid Ideation: You generate multiple creative routes, explore different angles, and help teams evaluate which ideas are strongest before moving into production.
• Creative Problem Solving: You ask the right questions when a brief is unclear, challenge assumptions when needed, and help sharpen the thinking before the work begins.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience writing concept-driven creative work for brands, agencies, studios, or production companies
• Exceptional writing skills in both English and French
• A portfolio that shows strong campaign thinking, not just execution
• Experience writing across multiple formats, including advertising, social, digital, video, experiential, and brand communications
• Ability to move quickly without sacrificing strategic thinking or creative quality
• Comfortable receiving feedback, presenting rationale, and iterating on work collaboratively
• Strong understanding of brand voice, audience behavior, and creative storytelling
• Availability for recurring freelance mandates, including occasional short-notice creative sprints

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience writing for integrated 360 campaigns
• Agency experience within fast-paced creative environments

What Success Looks Like

• Creative teams want you involved early because your thinking improves the brief before the writing even begins.
• Your concepts are strong enough to open conversations, not just fill layouts.
• Clients and internal teams have options to react to, not a single route that's difficult to evolve.
• Ideas survive the journey from presentation to production because they're built on strategic foundations.
• You can move between English and French without losing the strength, nuance, or intent of the original idea.
• Feedback makes the work better, not slower.
• When a last-minute brief arrives, the team knows you can jump in, find the signal in the noise, and help create a path forward.

Engagement Details

• Freelance / contract-based
• Project-based work with the potential for ongoing collaboration
• Remote-friendly, with preference for candidates located in Montreal or Eastern Time Zone
• Workload will fluctuate based on project needs, with some weeks requiring significant involvement and others requiring little or no time commitment