Assistant Managing Editor, College Sports and NBA

SI’s digital team is seeking an Assistant Managing Editor, College Sports and NBA. We are looking for a strategic and creative leader who can inspire and manage vertically focused writers and multi-platform content creators to drive engagement with an audience-first approach.

The ideal candidate will be an innovative and experienced newsroom manager eager to oversee a transformation of the team of Sports Illustrated college and NBA journalists tasked with swarming content via features, investigations, opinions, reactions, insights, and breaking news. We're looking for an ambitious manager with sound journalistic instincts who will be responsible for developing, planning and assigning a wide range of coverage across college sports and NBA: exclusive reporting and rich storytelling in the SI tradition, original approaches to planned events, as well as quick-turnaround stories on sports-culture trends driving the social conversation. Applicants should have the ability to manage sensitive reporting and storytelling, while also spotting viral and trending topics and leveraging data to inform content plans. The ideal candidate will have a clear picture of what college sports and NBA audiences need, and how to reach those audiences across various platforms. The ability to supervise/guide others and work collaboratively in a team environment is essential.

The Arena Group’s expected annualized base salary range for this position is currently $100,000-150,000. Actual salaries will vary based on multiple factors including, but not limited to location, education, experience and other factors permitted by law. The listed salary range is but one component of The Arena Group’s total compensation and benefits available to its employees.

Please note: due to the volume of applications we receive, only applicants selected for consideration will be contacted.

What You’ll Do:

Lead digital editorial strategy and day-to-day management of 6+ writers and content creators focused on generating smart, relevant, daily college sports and pro basketball content
Develop and implement an editorial calendar and workflow that seeks to capitalize on SI’s access, storytelling, and analysis, while driving audience engagement on trending sports topics via engaging lists, rankings and social aggregation
Drive content ideation for college football, college basketball, significant college sports events, and pro basketball, while closely managing writer output and guiding writer’s ability to identify compelling stories and craft compelling headlines that drive audience impact and traffic via search, social, newsletters and alerts
Embrace innovative methods for covering news in a live environment
Utilize analytics and social trends to identify the best types of content for each platform
Edit stories from start to finish for quality, style and grammar
Collaborate with SI’s social and video teams for cross-platform storytelling that engages audiences and drives consumption across text, graphics, audio, video and social
Increase audience engagement by working closely with the Audience Development team to understand and analyze audience metrics, feedback, and trends. Utilize this data to inform content decisions, improve engagement, and optimize the user experience across Sports Illustrated's digital platforms
Set and maintain proficiency and knowledge on effective and efficient content-creation practices, editing best practices, search/social content and audience trends, and evolving audience-consumption habits
Recruit and develop diverse talent

What You’ll Bring:

4-10 years’ experience working in a fast-paced digital environment
BA/BS degree in journalism, English, or related experience
Ability and willingness to work on deadline and handle multiple tasks at once with a precise and detail-oriented approach
Knowledge of digital content best practices, SEO and audience development tactics
Excellent communication, organization, leadership, and time management skills
Demonstrated enthusiasm and acumen to effectively identify trending topics across college football and college basketball, plus significant college sports events, that result in audience engagement across .com, social platforms, video, audio, etc.
Collaborative and team-oriented spirit
A sense of fun, urgency and a can-do attitude

Benefits At A Glance:

Medical, Dental and, Vision Coverage
Retirement Savings Plan (401K), with company match
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) & Health Savings Account (HSA)
Commuter Benefits
Reimbursement for business cell phone use per company policy
Employee Stock Option Plan (Publicly Traded Company - AREN)
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Paid Parental Leave
12 Paid Holidays