Job Opening: Branding and/or Marketing-Communications Intern

Semester/Start: Summer or Fall 2024 

Location: Part-time, Hybrid (w/weekly meeting in Monticello, Illinois) 

Hours: 8-10 hours/week 

Paid: $12/HR (Eligible for increase at the end of each semester.) 

Eligible for credit: Yes 

About Our Independently Owned Consultancy 

We are a Monticello, Illinois-based woman & Latina owned Brand Strategy + Corporate Communication + Facilitation consultancy with clients and partners in Illinois, California, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Puerto Rico, and South America. 

At Santos McLeese, we believe...  

• Data drives creative brand and communication solutions with measurable business results. 
• Conscious, heart-centered leadership fosters impactful collaboration at all levels.  
• Authentic, purpose-driven brands and leaders always “win.”  

In addition to delivering brand strategy and corporate communication counsel, Stefanie Santos McLeese is also a sought-after facilitator, moderator, speaker, and workshop leader with endorsements and testimonials from her executive and C-suite clients. 

At Santos McLeese, our brand promise is to come alongside our clients as a business partner, helping them clearly articulate and live their brand with authenticity and integrity across their operations, multiplying their business value now and in the future. 

About the Role 

We are searching for enthusiastic, skilled, and confident students who are eager to dive in, learn, and practice fundamental, valuable brand, marketing, and communications skills. Applicants should have a strong writing background and analytical skills with a marketing or communications major (or related field), and some psychology and business credits preferred.  

We are business partners to our clients, using communication as an instrument of strategy to achieve measurable business objectives. We are a consultancy, not a deliverables-based creative agency (i.e., we are not making the pretty things; we are developing and directing the entire brand narrative that informs those pieces, developed by in-house client teams or other creative services teams).  

Your role as an intern is designed to observe and practice the brand development process and understand reputation management principles. Our last intern came to us from the ISchool at the University of Illinois and through her internship experience with our consultancy, she landed a job in Chicago with one of the world’s legacy PR firms, FleishmanHillard.  

Students must be able to commit to a two-semester minimum and sign a legal non-disclosure privacy agreement. They also must be available to routinely meet in person in Monticello, IL once a week between Monday and Thursday, 9 AM - 3 PM. The exact date and time TBD based on student and Santos McLeese team availability. 

Responsibilities will include (but are not limited to) the following: 

• Participate in brainstorming communications solutions 
• Note-take during client meetings and drafting executive summary notes  
• Draft graphics using Canva 
• Secondary market research 
• Use online database to pull media lists or add to existing lists for press announcements 
• Assist in drafting press releases, pitches and other communications assets 
• Document and track client media coverage 
• Drafting/updating new business pitch decks 

Required Skills

• Strong written and verbal communications skills 
• Willingness to learn and adapt on the go 
• Ability to multi-task and work with strict deadlines on short notice 
• Excellent proofreading and editing skills; superior attention to detail 

Application Instructions

To apply, please send a resume, cover letter, and a short writing sample to Stefanie Santos McLeese at stefanie@santosmcleese.com; CC Hannah@santosmcleese.com using the subject line: Intern Candidate + [Insert Name]. You are welcome to attach any additional supporting files you think would be appropriate for consideration in your candidacy. 

Schedule

SUMMER INTERNS 

April 19 – Application deadline 

Week of April 22 – Internal review / applicant notifications  

Week of April 29 – Zoom and in-person interviews 

Week of May 6 – Offers extended 

June 5 – Report for first day in office (in Monticello, IL) 

FALL INTERNS 

July 8 – Application deadline 

Week of July 15  – Internal review / applicant notifications  

Week of July 22 – Zoom and in-person interviews 

Week of July 29 – Offers extended 

August 21 – Report for first day in office (in Monticello, IL)