Pitchfork is the most trusted voice in music. Over the last 25 years, Pitchfork has defined how music is covered, leading The New York Times to call it “the most prominent brand in online music journalism” and TIME Magazine to recognize it as one of the world’s 50 best websites. In addition to being an ASME-winning publication, Pitchfork has developed a reputation for its live music activations, including the long-running Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival and Pitchfork Music Festival Paris. In 2015, Pitchfork was acquired by Condé Nast.

Job Description

Location:

New York, NY

The site director will be a central editorial leader at Pitchfork, responsible for collaboratively developing and executing the site’s editorial strategy, storytelling, and managing the staff. 

This role will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day publication of all of Pitchfork’s content across platforms, with a focus on assigning and editing the daily digital content on Pitchfork.com. This will include managing story assignments, developing and overseeing editorial franchises, and directing launch strategy for all content in order to most effectively grow Pitchfork’s audience. The site director will play a critical role in coordinating across all departments to ensure the highest quality of storytelling.  

The site director will manage Pitchfork’s editorial staff, working with editors to manage the output of their sections, develop story ideas, develop strong slates of freelancers and contributors, and maintain their story assignment and editorial calendars. The Site Director will report to the Global Editorial Director, with whom they will partner on developing and executing an editorial strategy focused on growing daily digital readership and deepening audience loyalty. The Site Director will be responsible for developing a strategy to meet Pitchfork’s established KPIs. 

A perfect candidate will have a deep passion for music journalism with strong expertise in developing and executing an editorial strategy, from story ideas to platform promotion plans. They must have experience managing editorial staff, a keen eye for developing storytelling within the Pitchfork area of expertise, experience assigning and editing profiles and other reported features, a talent for shaping sharp copy, and an innate grasp of Pitchfork’s tone, voice and editorial point of view. They should be comfortable with both setting high-level and long-term editorial strategy and digging into the daily process of ideation, directing, editing, and packaging content. They should have experience using audience insights to refine their tactics, and be an expert at juggling multiple projects, managing deadlines, and advocating for creativity across the editorial organization. This role is for someone who cares deeply about Pitchfork’s point of view, the topics Pitchfork covers, and is enthusiastic about leading an agile team. 

 Primary Responsibilities:

• Manage editorial team, including but not limited to hiring open roles, setting individual and team goals, overseeing performance, and establishing an inclusive culture   

• Implement an editorial strategy in collaboration with GQ Global Editorial Director to meet KPIs 

• Generate deeply engaging, audience-driving editorial ideas—from specific stories, to franchises, multi-platform content and more. 

• Collaborate closely with Pitchfork’s section editors to develop story and franchise ideas, assign stories, marshall strong contributors, and launch stories with impact. 

• Top-edit daily digital content

• Assign and edit special editorial projects, profiles and reported features as needed 

• Incorporate audience insights into editorial strategy and team management; absorb performance reporting and refine the team’s output and efforts accordingly 

• Plan effective rollout strategies for all content; write and refine story packaging in collaboration with Pitchfork editors; work closely with social and audience development teams to communicate digital content plans and promotion; manage editorial calendars in partnership with editorial team 

• Collaborate closely with commercial, consumer and events teams to drive commercial and consumer revenue  

• Maintain clear processes and communication channels for the team, serving as a resource for team members to help resolve challenges, improve outputs, and ensure work is happening in sync.

• Represent Pitchfork internally and externally, as needed.

• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Desired Skills & Qualifications:

• At least 7+ years experience leading a digital-first editorial team, with demonstrated success in growing digital audiences and publishing ambitious journalism<