Director of Audience

Job Description

Director of Audience

Job Description

The Director of Audience will craft initiatives that introduce the Houston Chronicle to new readers across Texas and build loyalty with the newsroom's existing subscribers. The Director of Audience will be responsible for developing and implementing a content distribution strategy that will amplify the Chronicle's reach across search, newsletters, social networks, and more. The successful candidate will have an expert grasp of content analytics to make data-informed decisions that guide content and distribution strategies, with an eye toward building on a sustainable subscription business.

The Director of Audience will manage a team of strategists and producers who will work collaboratively across the newsroom to promote our journalism through various platforms and formats. The Director should expect to be hands-on and be willing to perform a range of duties including analyzing audience data, preparing trainings for the newsroom, and working directly with social producers or newsletter writers to draft and edit copy.

The Director of Audience will play a key role in the newsroom leadership team and must work collaboratively with editors, reporters and audience specialists, along with Hearst Newspapers' marketing and content strategy teams. The ideal candidate is highly analytical and demonstrates an ability to craft creative strategic plans, execute them and adapt based on testing and experimentation.

The Responsibilities

• Develop, execute and evaluate strategies across platforms that extend the reach of the Houston Chronicle via SEO, newsletters, social, and more.
• Manage a team of strategists and producers focused on newsletter, social and SEO strategies that drive audience growth, engagement and retention.
• Work with newsroom leadership to translate audience goals into clear and actionable metrics of success that are rooted in strong journalistic principles.
• Provide regular insights and training to journalists and leaders across the newsroom so they can contribute to audience-building goals.
• Work closely with newsroom leadership, editors and reporters to identify new content strategy opportunities and advise on day-to-day optimizations, such as with headlines for search and social media.
• Overseeing outreach to third-party platforms, such as Apple News, and building relationships with partners there.
• Explore new distribution platforms and evaluate whether the Houston Chronicle should dive in.

What will it take to be successful?

The successful candidate will be a collaborative leader with an expert grasp on audience development strategies.

Ideal candidates will be able to showcase one or more of the following; we do not expect candidates to be proficient in every area:

• At least seven years of news experience with at least two years of experience as an audience lead over one or more major distribution channels.
• An obsession with digital metrics, with expertise in mining Google Analytics, Parse.ly, Chartbeat, Looker and other tools for analytics.
• An expert ability to translate metrics into actionable insights that change content and distribution practices.
• Expert knowledge of SEO optimization, social media trends, and the building of newsletter products.
• A collaborative self-starter who can organize, prioritize and work under pressure.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with keen attention to detail.
• Be organized, with experience using content-planning software such as Airtable a plus.
• Bachelor's or master's degree in journalism preferred.
• Comfort with constantly evolving technology, and ability to adapt quickly and bring others along.

About the Houston Chronicle:

The Houston Chronicle serves Houston's 2.3 million residents - as well as all of Texas - with content and marketing solutions across two of Houston's largest websites, HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com, along with our newspaper. The content and innovative business solutions we provide invite readers to join conversations about communities we've been helping prosper for more than 120 years.

About Hearst Newspapers:

With 2,500 employees across the nation, HNP encompasses a network of 24 daily and 52 weekly publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Albany Times Union, several top digital-only news and lifestyle sites, marketing services businesses, and entertainment businesses such as King Features Syndicate.

At HNP, we are investing in new and innovative ways to tell stories - growing newsrooms, diversifying tools, evolving platforms - to support the millions of people who trust us each month to help them make decisions, take action and be inspired.

Be a part of something bigger - your headline awaits.

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