Platforms Lead, Alerts, NBC News Digital

Company Description

NBCUniversal owns and operates over 20 different businesses across 30 countries including a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks and a premium ad-supported streaming service.

Here you can be your authentic self. As a company uniquely positioned to educate, entertain and empower through our platforms, Comcast NBCUniversal stands for including everyone. We strive to foster a diverse and inclusive culture where our employees feel supported, embraced and heard. We believe that our workforce should represent the communities we live in, so that together, we can continue to create and deliver content that reflects the current and ever-changing face of the world. Click here to learn more about Comcast NBCUniversal’s commitment and how we are making an impact.

Job Description

NBC News Digital is looking for an experienced editor to help lead its coverage on owned platforms, ensuring that NBC News’ homepage and app are always sharp, have only the best headlines, and contain the right balance of news. 

This is a job for someone who can feel the rhythm of the news cycle on a minute-to-minute and hour-to-hour basis, treating our homepage, mobile web cover, and app as an engaging and comprehensive briefing for our tens of millions of daily readers in any given moment.

The lead editor will contribute to all facets of the owned platforms team’s work. That involves curating the homepage and app and also writing and editing headlines and alerts and delegating work to the team. Critically, this editor will play a key role in the team’s breaking news coverage. As such, experience in a fast-paced newsroom, making editorial decisions under pressure, and communicating clearly with stakeholders across the newsroom is essential.

The lead will have a particular focus on news alerts, including writing, editing, planning and developing strategy. It’s crucial that the editor can assess analytics, including open rates and engagement time, to understand audience behavior and make nuanced decisions about strategy. 

The ideal candidate has stellar news judgment and the ability to hook readers with a pithy headline or alert. They’ll know when conveying the nut of a story is crucial and when a more creative approach is necessary. Importantly, they’ll be able to communicate effectively about those ideas and elevate the work of others. 

Experience curating platforms for a major news organization is preferred, but not essential. This is a full-time

This position is represented by the NY News Guild - CWA. This role is based in New York, with a shift starting at 11 a.m. ET. The role reports to the director of owned platforms.

About the team

The owned platforms team is 24/7 and includes editors in NBC News’ bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London and remote locations around the U.S. Owned platforms editors are responsible for curating the NBC News homepage and app, sending app and newsletter alerts, writing the Morning Rundown newsletter, and distributing stories to partners like Apple News and Flipboard. They work closely with section editors to write headlines and alert copy, and to plan the distribution of articles and videos. 

Responsibilities include

• Lead the curation of the NBC News app and NBCNews.com, including supervising and assigning owned platforms editors.
• Lead daily and weekly alert planning and execution, including writing and sending alerts, and leading long-term strategy.
• Contribute to daily planning, ensuring a smooth handover from the owned platforms team in New York to L.A.
• Write and edit eye-catching headlines for the homepage and app, alerts, social and newsletters.
• Monitor real-time analytics to inform story curation and distribution strategy.
• Partner with editors from sections around the newsroom to ensure their stories are promoted and distributed in all the right places.
• Work with the photo team to illustrate stories on desktop and app.
• Distribute and pitch stories to Apple News, Smartnews, Flipboard, etc.
• Develop editors by coaching them on writing, editing and news judgment. 

Qualifications

• 6 or more years' experience in a digital newsroom. Experience news editing, leadership preferred.
• Experience publishing in a CMS and in social distribution tools such as SocialFlow and True Anthem.
• Experience using analytics tools such as Chartbeat, Parse.ly, Google Trends, Google Analytics, or Taboola Newsroom.
• Excellent communication skills: The ideal candidat