Audience Engagement Editor

Houston Landing is growing our team of passionate people on a mission to advance democracy in our communities and strengthen the lives of all Houstonians one story at a time. Houston Landing is an independent, nonpartisan news organization devoted to public service journalism. Initially supported by three of Houston’s leading philanthropies including Arnold Ventures, The Houston Endowment, and the Kinder Foundation, we are building a team to support our efforts in sustainability and revenue growth.
At Houston Landing, our audience team is looking for an Audience Engagement Editor who will work closely with assigned teams of reporters on audience best practices and ensure stories are optimized to reach as many readers as possible across a variety of platforms. This position is full time and will be based in Houston, and will report to our Senior Audience Engagement Editors.
Requirements
What you'll do
You will be embedded into assigned reporting teams, working closely with a group of reporters on audience best practices and distribution for stories.
Your work is anchored to the story, ensuring readers and their interests are at the forefront of our journalism from the beginning of the ideation process to publication.
You will collaborate with the Senior Audience Engagement Editors — who oversee off-platform and on-platform promotion — to determine what are the best channels to distribute a story.
You will write audience copy for these assigned distribution channels, like social media posts, newsletter blurbs, sending pitches to news aggregators and more, depending on the story.
You will attend weekly meetings with your assigned teams of reporters and their editors, strategizing alongside them on opportunities for social video, crowdsourcing, in-person engagement, and printed collateral and other ways to reach offline audiences.
You will provide training and coaching on SEO best practices in collaboration with the Director of Audience.
You will use analytics and data to bring meaningful, actionable insights for reporters and their editors on how a story performed and how to improve future coverage.
Who you are
You have three or more years of experience at a digital news site. Experience with working closely with reporters is strongly preferred.
You are a curious, organized person who thinks creatively about how to reach and engage new audiences. You are organized and are able to plan strategies for how best to reach these audiences and how to manage them within your workload.
You have deep experience with audience distribution tools, including but not limited to: social media platforms, SEO best practices, newsletters and email products, pitching to news aggregators and influencers, SMS texting lines, WhatsApp, news alerts and push notifications.
You also have a strong desire to deepen engagement with audiences, using tools like crowdsourcing and in-person events to bring readers into our journalism. Candidates with experience in reader callouts, in-person community events, printed collateral and other strategies for reaching off-line audiences are strongly encouraged to apply.
You have a flexible attitude that allows you to thrive at a digital startup that is a nonprofit newsroom at the same time.
You have a collaborative spirit, strong communication skills, ability to project manage and stay organized.
Benefits
Our Values
EXCELLENCE: We wake up every day with the intent to be the best at what we do. We hustle. We have grit. When we make mistakes, we’ll learn from them.
INCLUSION: We aren’t all the same, and those differences are what make us better. We’ll respect each person’s uniqueness. Perspective, context and life experiences help us to tell the story.
AMBITION: We will be bold and creative, open to all ideas big or small. We really mean it.
FUN: We are not making widgets, although there is nothing wrong with widgets. We tell stories and stories are often fun, so we believe in having lots of fun.
‍COLLABORATION: We are all in this together. We may not always agree, but we will listen to each other and communicate candidly and respectfully.
Benefits
Compensation commensurate with experience, minimum of $68,000
401(k)
Healthcare 100% premium paid for employee and 50% for dependents
20 vacation days
Ten personal/sick days
Generous paid parental leave
Hybrid work policy (initially we all work together to build culture)
Stipend for development / learning
We’re committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities.