Director of Performance Content

Why Hearst Magazines?

Hearst Magazines' portfolio of more than 25 powerful brands in the U.S. - including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper's BAZAAR, Popular Mechanics - inspires, entertains and builds new and bold experiences for an engaged and growing audience across digital, video, social and print, reaching nearly 139 million readers and site visitors each month. With sophisticated content creation, cutting-edge technology and industry-leading data capabilities, we make media and products that move people across all platforms.

We are a global media company that publishes nearly 260 magazine editions and 200 websites around the world and, together, we are reinventing publishing for the 21st century.

Overview:

The Director of Performance Content is responsible for leading and growing a team of 8+ editors and staff writers executing the daily publishing of content created for LIFT, a centralized performance marketing initiative (e.g. paid social and SEM) that spans the entire Hearst Magazines US portfolio of 20+ brands.

This role is at the center of a large organization and will be responsible for balancing the creative, strategic and operational parts of the editorial LIFT group - managing budgets, setting and evolving clear processes, establishing editorial standards, and serving as a daily liaison to internal stakeholders, including site editors, media buyers, data analysts, product managers, and more.

The ideal candidate is a data-minded creative who thrives on building efficiencies in busy, ever-changing environments and loves to see how content engages people. This role requires someone who can bring equal parts clever packaging and word-smithing skills to drive measurable (and monetizable) audience engagement. You should be as excited to pitch and test out new fun ideas as you are to roll up your sleeves to help grow and mentor more junior team members.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the overall operations of an 8+-person central editorial team to ensure clear processes and overall success of their daily efforts
• Oversee and offer direction on the team's weekly editorial calendar, lead regular staff meetings, and oversee hiring up and training new team members
• Guide the edit team on developing and evolving existing coverage across multiple verticals, including home, health, travel, culture, and product reviews
• Work collaboratively with other senior leaders on the LIFT team to prioritize assignments, to develop and execute against new opportunities, and to achieve the aimed-for revenue and engagement goals each quarter
• Coordinate regularly with other internal contributors, including editors from all of the brands, buyers, and data analysts, to prioritize different needs appropriately
• Track and share insights with editors and buyers on trends in the content and audience engagement that will help direct new ideas and experiments
• ID new areas of opportunity, including new topics, formats, and strategies, to help grow the business; initiate and lead conversations to get sign-off and resources, as needed
• Coach and develop team members; serve as the senior-most point person for editors, steering them to answers and relaying best practices that will support their own direct reports
• Manage a freelance budget and help direct the process for freelance assignments and contracts/invoices on a weekly and monthly basis

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience, with a minimum of 5 years as a top editor
• Well-versed in editing and writing content across a variety of lifestyle subjects (experience with shopping content a major plus!) and able to adapt voice and style to match brands and audiences
• Experience managing and mentoring editors and writers, overseeing budgets, and leading a team
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of teams and across multiple levels within the organization, including senior leaders within editorial and business divisions
• Excellent judgment as to what works to drive audience and engagement across various digital platforms
• Top-notch organization and communication skills, as well as demonstrated experience implementing streamlined workflows and processes across teams
• Comfortable using content analytics and digital production tools - such as Google Analytics, Looker, Facebook Insights, CrowdTangle, content management systems, Photoshop, and more

The base salary for this role is between $129,000 and $155,000. The actual base pay offered is dependent upon many factors, such as: transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future