Assistant Audience Service Editor

The Kansas City Star, winner of nine Pulitzer Prizes, is seeking an experienced, high-energy digital journalist to join our team as the Assistant Editor for Audience Service.

This Kansas City-based manager will report to The Star’s Audience Service Editor and collaborate on content and strategies that engage our local audience and build long-term loyalty among our subscribers. Job No. 1: Working to ensure The Star’s journalism meets the needs of our growing local digital audience.

This editor will help manage a hybrid team of audience strategists and reporters focused on connecting readers with information they need to live their best life in KC, from restaurants and festivals to housing and transportation.

The Star’s audience strategists are energized by experimentation and the constant search for new and creative ways to connect with our diverse readership across platforms. This team is embedded in desks across our newsroom and responsible for executing our digital audience strategy and our daily efforts to reach and engage digital readers. 

This position will also be expected to help edit reporters covering entertainment, food and affordability, and help them meet Kansas City readers’ needs and interests. This team is committed to fast-paced, audience-focused journalism. 

Successful candidates will be solid story editors with a keen sense of how to create and position content for audiences. They will have an enthusiasm for entertainment, lifestyle and utility journalism, as well as experience working with digital engagement tactics.

The management and day-to-day editing of the team will be shared between the audience service editor and the assistant editor. 

For the most part, the assistant editor will be responsible for giving audience strategists feedback on their day-to-day work and helping them make strategic decisions around prioritizing content. They will also help with editing reporters on the team as needed and be involved in suggesting and refining story ideas that best serve the intended communities of interest.

The assistant editor will be the primary manager for two or three members of the team who line up best with their experience and interests. As such, they will help these employees set strong goals and execute their ideas, giving them regular, detailed feedback.

This editor will also help advise and guide at least one other team in the newsroom on audience strategy and content that will be successful with other communities of interest.

The newsroom you’ll join is deeply committed to listening to, engaging with and meeting the needs of our neighbors throughout the Kansas City metro area. Keen news judgment, strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate with colleagues – both local and remote – are musts. 

Kansas City is a vibrant, large city with a high quality of life – replete with iconic professional sports teams and a world-class arts scene – and a low cost of living relative to cities its size. It’s a fantastic place to put down roots, and this job offers the chance to contribute to its future. 

We believe that our team is stronger when we include individuals with a variety of perspectives and experiences, and we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

The successful candidate will bring many of the following: 

• A track record of experimenting and iterating, quickly and often.
• At least 2-4 years of audience engagement, strategy, reporting or editing experience.
• Ability to advise reporters, edit stories, and craft headlines and SEO with a strong focus on the intended readership.
• Strong word editing and organizational skills.
• Familiarity with digital planning and packaging.
• Excellent news judgment and journalism ethics.
• Strong collaborative instincts and a love of teamwork.
• Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced and constantly evolving.
• Excellent communication skills, including leading training and coaching sessions around building audiences.
• A familiarity with communities in the Kansas City area.
• Familiarity with how to measure success using audience metrics and analytics.
• College degree or equivalent work experience.
• Experience managing social media accounts, and working knowledge of SEO concepts and Google Trends to grow our readership, especially among potential subscribers.
• Understanding of social media best practices.
• Understanding of newsletter best practices.
• Ability to use analytics tools to make real-time decisions for elevating our journalism and developing related digital strategies.
• Ability to make decisions quickly and can handle several tasks at once.
• Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers.