Director of Audience Engagement
Director of Audience Engagement
The director of audience engagement will be responsible for helping shape our daily editorial content and presentation. The director must understand how audiences consume content across platforms and use those tools to help bring our journalism to an ever-wider readership. The director will oversee the home page, contributors’ network, social media, video and other digital assets, manage partnerships within and outside of the organization, use metrics to evaluate and shape our content, and work closely with hub editors to expand the reach of our journalism. The director reports to the Managing Editor and is part of the editorial leadership team.
Qualifications
- Deep interest in innovative story-telling and an eagerness to work collaboratively in a Jewish media environment
- Ability to analyze numbers quickly and come to the right conclusions with the right questions
- Extensive knowledge of all mainstream and emerging social channels: Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, Periscope, Snapchat, Tumblr, Vine, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. (and ones we haven’t heard of yet) - Experience with social media publishing and analytics tools (such as Tweetdeck, SocialFlow, Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, YouTube Analytics, Omniture and Google Analytics)
- Mastery of major social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat)
- Strong grasp of basic digital media metrics and the ability to translate metrics into tactics
- Ability to properly execute a test and use data to inform future decisions
- 3-5 years experience working with social media for a news organization or publisher
Responsibilities
- Manage the home page of forward.com and serve as the digital point person in newsroom
- Oversee a team with responsibility for video production and strategy, social media, our new contributors’ network and audience development across multiple platforms
- Design and execute plans for growth through various platforms
- Utilize sophisticated analytics tools to form actionable insights from data to share with the newsroom, marketing and development efforts.
- Identify trends and deliver real-time insights and tactics to our newsroom
- Find opportunities for growth by analyzing both internal and external data sources
- Present actionable insights to improve our editorial, distribution and product performance
- Participate in overall editorial strategy as part of the Forward leadership team
Send cover letter and resume to Dan Friedman, [email protected], or Jane Eisner, [email protected]
Social Media Manager
Reporting to the Director of Audience Engagement, this position will be responsible for growing audiences for The Forward, including creating and executing digital marketing and distribution strategies across The Forward’s own sites and all social media channels, growing the size and quality of our communities.
Essential Job Functions
- Create content for social media, including images and graphics. Monitor and jump on trends.
- Grow and manage KPI’s for traffic goals, email campaigns and community and social media engagement tactics
- Using industry best practices, grow and leverage The Forward’s social media followers to drive increased audience for its content across all channels and platforms
- Prospect, manage and partner with distribution and social media platforms with the goal to increase audience reach, engagement and other core KPI’s
- Work with the newsroom to develop and execute audience engagement/retention tactics
- Work with product development to develop new tools on forward.com to drive audience acquisition and engagement
- Work with editorial staff to devise strategies for content partnerships, audience engagement, and search engine optimization.
- Set the tone for the Forward with the social follower community and help members to engage with one another
Minimum Qualifications and Job Requirements
Bachelor’s Degree followed by 2+ years editorial or social media marketing experience at a digital publication
Specific Knowledge, Skills And Abilities
- Exceptional writing and editing skills
- Understanding of social media and how to craft content that will perform well on each platform, as well as SEO including tools like Ad Words and Advanced Web Ranking (AWR)
- Ability to manage several tasks at once and switch seamlessly between them without missing a deadline
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills
- Strong visual and photo research skills, including graphics and design
- “Tactful newsjacking:” the ability to tactfully capitalize on a new story
- Comfortable and confident backing up editorial decisions with both data and judgment
- Basic HTML, Photoshop, and CMS skills
- Versed in using digital analytics tools such as Google Analytics
Send cover letter and resume to Dan Friedman, [email protected]
Contributor Network Editor
The Contributor Network Editor will be responsible for launching, managing and growing The Forward’s first contributor network.
This Contributor Network is being established to broaden the editorial footprint of The Forward and forward.com. The network will be a group of cultural experts, bloggers, entrepreneurs, influencers, politicians and service professionals that add to and broaden the conversation around issues important to American Jews.
The Hub and other editors, as domain experts, will be closely involved in recruiting contributing writers and in oversight and any editing of their submissions. The Contributor Network Editor, with input and close involvement of the Editor-In-Chief, will set the tone for the Network and establish and administer the processes by which it operates. The Contributor Network Editor will also will work closely with the management team, and sales and marketing.
The goal of this position is to build mutually beneficial relationships with the contributors, integrate the contributor content into the Forward’s routine and daily content schedule, and grow traffic from outside influencers with a focus on extending the Forward’s reach and engagement. The editor will report to the Director of Audience Engagement.
Essential Job Functions
- Manage day-to-day administration of the contributor network, supporting the rest of the editorial team
- Develop rules of engagement for the network including which content verticals to prioritize, criteria for acceptance into the network, and quality control for each article to be posted.
- Recruit new members to the network, manage relationships with contributors once they are onboard to increase traffic and content output for both sites
- Ensure the Contributor Network achieves its goals for monthly unique visitors and site engagement
- Compile metrics and share with digital leadership team to assist with strategic content decisions
- Troubleshoot production issues contributors encounter; complete photo research
Minimum Qualifications and Job Requirements
Bachelor’s Degree followed by 2+ years editorial or social media marketing experience at a digital publication with an established contributor network
Specific Knowledge, Skills And Abilities
- Exceptional writing and editing skills
- Understanding of social media and how to craft content that will perform well on each platform, as well as SEO including tools like Ad Words and Advanced Web Ranking (AWR)
- Ability to manage several tasks at once and switch seamlessly between them without missing a deadline
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills
- Familiarity and interest in the major themes and issues facing American Jews
- Versed in using digital analytics tools such as Google Analytics
Send cover letter and resume to Dan Friedman, [email protected]
Major Gifts Officer
Background
The Forward delivers incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews. Now in its 119th year of operation, the Forward’s rigorous reporting and balanced commentary on politics, arts and culture have won numerous awards year after year. Today, with our digital and print editions in both English and Yiddish, the Forward reaches more than 1.2 million average monthly users and our readership is growing rapidly. Our public service mission, unchanged since our founding, is to promote an informed, connected and inspired American Jewish citizenry through outstanding journalism.
Position Summary
The Forward’s new strategic plan calls for a significantly expanded role for philanthropy in our revenue strategy, and we are growing our development function accordingly. We are currently seeking an experienced Major Gifts Officer (MGO) to work closely with our Chief Development Officer, our Chief Executive Officer and our board leadership to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward a growing portfolio of major individual donors and prospects. The MGO will be responsible for reaching annual targets in terms of both dollars and donor contacts; he or she will oversee the Forward’s major donor giving societies and pursue strategies to expand the pool of major donor prospects. The MGO will plan events and engagement/recognition opportunities. Some travel is required. The position reports to the Chief Development Officer.
Qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree and 4 years’ progressively responsible experience in nonprofit development, specifically in a major gifts environment
- Significant experience, and proven success, in personally soliciting gifts of $5,000 and higher
- Superior oral and written communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to manage and take ownership of multiple projects and to meet deadlines
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and fundraising database software, preferably Raisers’ Edge
- Knowledge of, and continuing interest in, American Jewish culture and community
To apply for this position, please email your cover letter and resume to [email protected] with the subject line “Major Gifts Officer.”
Digital Intern
Job Description
The Forward seeks an aspiring journalist for a paid internship on its digital team. The internship would run for at least 10 weeks. A minimum of 15 hours per week is desired, although work hours are flexible.
The ideal candidate will create content and write stories for the Forward.com website, across a broad range of topics from news and opinion to arts and features. He/she would help a growing team of five editors run the Forward’s vibrant and fast-growing web site. He/she will also play a key role managing our presence on a number of social media and other platforms.
Requirements
- Proven experience in journalism.
- Outstanding oral and written communication, collaboration and team leadership skills.
- Some experience with content management systems and other web-based publishing tools.
- Experience in social media management.
- Superior writing and editing skills — and great nose for news.
- Knowledge of the Jewish world is a plus.
- Working knowledge of either Hebrew or Yiddish would be a plus.
Compensation
Forward interns are paid $10 an hour or may receive academic credit.
About The Forward * The Forward is American Jewry’s essential, independent news organization, delivering incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews with rigorous, unbiased reporting and balanced, thoughtful commentary on news, politics, arts and culture that are acclaimed in the news industry. The Forward produces enlightening and entertaining multimedia content in English and Yiddish through a variety of newspapers, websites, blogs, videos, podcasts, e-books and apps.
Founded in 1897, the Forward has the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup. It occupies a unique position of independence as a nonprofit news organization, beholden to no institution, denomination or political faction.
To Apply
Send a resume, cover letter and samples of work (including graphics) to Helen Chernikoff at [email protected].
The Forward Association, Inc., is an equal opportunity employer.
About the Forward
The Forward delivers incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews. Its rigorous reporting and balanced commentary on politics, arts and culture have won numerous awards year after year, including repeated recognition by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily, the Forward soon became the most widely read Jewish newspaper anywhere, with a larger circulation in the 1920s than the New York Times. It chronicled the events that affected a population of immigrants eager to take their place in American life, and published regional editions around the country before any other newspaper.
The English Forward was launched as a weekly in 1990. Its perspective on world and national news, and its unparalleled coverage of Jewish arts and culture, have made it the most influential nationwide Jewish media outlet today. More than half a million readers visit forward.com each month for award-winning news, thoughtful commentary, and captivating videos. And more than 40,000 subscribers receive e-newsletters that highlight the latest stories and areas of special interest like Arts & Entertainment and Food & Drink.
The Forward has always been a nonprofit association and is supported by the contributions of its readers.
