The Assembly is seeking an audience-minded editor to drive our newsletter strategy.
Our director of audience and newsletters will report to our managing editor and work closely with our director of revenue and growth to build our audience and think strategically about how to move readers further into our audience funnel. This person will oversee our social media and SEO efforts, take charge of our newsletter products, and help us launch new beat- and region-specific products in 2023 and beyond.
The ideal candidate has at least 3 years of experience in journalism, including work on audience and newsletters. They should be excited to work in a dynamic news startup serving the state of North Carolina.
Responsibilities
- Writing our flagship newsletter and working with others to edit and optimize other newsletters
- Growing and retaining our readership through both on-platform and off-platform strategies, including SEO, social media, newsletters, and reader engagement (and more we haven’t thought of yet!)
- Developing goals and objectives for engagement and audience using our existing baselines and future targets
- Writing, designing, and posting social media content for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
- Collaborating with reporters and editors to shape our content and delivery
- Launching new newsletters, news products, and reader-engagement initiatives
- Working with our tech stack (Newspack and ActiveCampaign) and collaborating with our revenue and growth director to create seamless user experiences
Qualifications
- Able to write in a clear, engaging voice that connects with our readers
- Can edit yourself and others
- Familiarity with the standards and ethics of journalism, as well as The Assembly’s style of long-form, narrative reporting
- Demonstrated experience conceiving of and executing social and product strategy
- Able to work both independently and collaboratively
- At least three years experience in journalism, in either an editorial or audience capacity
Salary and Benefits
The starting salary is $60,000, though we are open to higher salaries for more experienced candidates. We’ll ask you to be upfront about your needs during the interview process, and we’ll do the same about our abilities.
We offer a competitive benefits package, including health care, parental leave, and life insurance.
This position will report to managing editor Kate Sheppard and will work closely with the rest of our team.
How to Apply
To apply, we invite candidates to submit answers to the following questions:
- Tell us about your experience in audience development, whether that is in newsletter writing specifically, or social media, or promoting your own journalistic work.
- What gets people to read good journalism? What gets them to subscribe?
- How would you grow The Assembly’s email subscriber list?
- Provide a critique of a recent Assembly newsletter. What would you cut? What would you keep? What should we add?
Email answers in a PDF or Google Doc to jobs@theassemblync.com, along with a resume, the names and contact information for three references, and links to three writing samples or clips. You do not need to send a cover letter.
We anticipate hiring for this position this fall, but will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis.
About The Assembly
The Assembly is a news start-up with a rapidly growing reputation for reporting the kind of stories that you won’t find covered anywhere else in the state. Launched in February 2021, we are now a team of nine full-time employees with ambitious growth plans over the next few years.
We’re a subscriber-supported, for-profit outlet focused on great magazine-style journalism at the state-level.
We partner with other outlets in the state and nationally, and our stories are regularly cited in outlets such as Politico, The Washington Post, the Sunday Long Read, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Axios.
We aim to be a reflection of the state, with reporters from – and based in – diverse communities across North Carolina. We also aim to bring national talent to North Carolina who can help us improve the journalism ecosystem in a growing and important state.
We want a newsroom that reflects a diversity of talent and perspectives. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people who were formerly incarcerated, veterans, and people with disabilities.