Senior Audience Editor, Well

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Audience Editor to partner with the Well desk and other Culture & Lifestyle desks to reach new readers and deepen our engagement with existing readers. You will help lead our cohort of audience editors who are embedded directly on desks, and propagate best practices to the wider group of desk audience editors. You will also help inform coverage decisions, optimize distribution strategies, and leverage data to drive growth. This role is crucial for expanding our reach to new readers and deepening engagement with our existing audience.

This is an excluded, hybrid position, based in New York City and includes regular attendance in the office each week per your departmental guidance. You will report into the Audience Deputy, Coverage & Search with a dotted line to the Well Editorial director.

Responsibilities

• Audience strategy and growth:
• Partner with Well senior editors to inform coverage decisions, suggesting stories, evergreen topics, and longer-term franchises that resonate with reader interest and important news moments.
• Identify coverage and format opportunities to attract new readers, including those who may not view The New York Times as a regular news source for Well, Culture & Lifestyle coverage.
• Maximize content distribution through sophisticated search strategies, strategic social programming, and by coordinating publication with the homepage, newsletters, and notifications.
• Identify trending topics and competitive trends, along with coverage and format opportunities that will drive growth and performance with a deep understanding of the off-platform landscape, trends and what's driving conversation, particularly in the pop culture and news space.
• Data analysis and reporting:
• Interpret data and audience signals to strategically shape how we present stories both on and off our platforms.
• Deliver actionable daily, weekly, and monthly reports for the Well desk and support and inform similar reporting for the broader C&L department.
• Contribute to regular audience performance updates, including morning audience notes, weekly C&L reports, monthly masthead presentations, and quarterly and annual audience reports to company leadership.
• Partner with the newsroom audience analytics team on deep and actionable analysis specific to Well, Culture & Lifestyle coverage.
• Team leadership and development:
• Manage a team of desk audience editors who report directly into the Audience team.
• Help lead our cohort of audience editors embedded directly on desks, and propagate best practices to the wider group of desk audience editors.
• Train desk editors on optimizing and promoting stories, ensuring all staffers on the Well desks have basic data literacy and know how to use data to inform coverage decisions, including an understanding of key metrics.
• Social media and engagement:
• Write compelling social copy, analyze our presence and strategy on existing platforms, and evaluate opportunities for potentially launching new accounts on social platforms.
• Work with journalists on best social media practices, including framing pieces for specific audiences and effectively using the Reporter Reply commenting feature.
• Cross-functional collaboration:
• Work with desk leadership to identify and execute on longer-term opportunities, including coverage, promotion, training, and workflow.
• Partner with the main search, social, community, home, notifications, and newsletter teams on breaking news and enterprise, coordinating overlapping coverage with Well and other relevant desks.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.

Basic Qualifications

• Deep knowledge of competitors in the wellness and lifestyle space.
• Proven skill at bridging specialties, including reporting, editing, product, analytics, design, and user research.
• A strong willingness to collaborate with colleagues across the newsroom, strategy, product, data, and marketing teams, and beyond.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and efficiently in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with diverse stakeholders at all levels.

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive experience in digital journalism, with a demonstrated track record in audience development.
• Knowledge of, or demonstrated interest in, wellness, lifestyle and culture topics.
• Experience managing and mentoring a team of editors or content professionals.
• In-depth knowledge of the search landscape, with the ability to spot trends and identify misinformation.
• Experience with all mainstream and emerging social channels, with a curiosity to explore new platforms.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills, with knowledge of Times style.
• A highly strategic mind; comfortable with data, A/B testing, and iterating to find what resonates with various audiences.