Director of Audience, Opinion

Opinion is looking for an ambitious, creative and sophisticated journalist to lead its audience team and to maximize the resonance of our work. As a senior member of the department, you will be responsible for growing our loyal and engaged audience. At the same time, we want to reach new audiences, in the United States and around the world. We are looking for an editor who will help shape the way the desk visually tells stories and engages with readers. You will play a key role in editorial discussions ranging from what we cover to how we allocate resources and determine staffing needs.

Experience leading a team of journalists is essential. A central aspect of the job will be inventing, identifying, testing and executing on new ideas and opportunities to deepen our relationship with readers (and listeners and viewers).

We’re looking for an editor with a sense of humor and a capacity for outrage, a confident point of view and an open mind, an appetite for risk and exacting standards for excellence. You are someone who has sound editorial judgment that is aligned with our standards. You are capable of acting swiftly and tactfully in high pressure situations. We’re looking for someone who wants to advance big ideas to make the world a better place, and to have fun doing it. Because we aim to promote the most intelligent and provocative debate across a range of subjects — including politics, business, international affairs, technology, health, and culture — this editor must have intellectual range and curiosity and a commitment to the mission of Opinion, which includes welcoming ideas that reflect a diverse range of topics and ideologies. They must also deeply understand the digital news landscape and be committed to interpreting and responding to data.

Diplomacy is crucial in this role. You will regularly collaborate with editors, writers and producers across the department — including Opinion’s graphics, audio, video, design and special projects teams. You will also partner with colleagues in the newsroom, product, analytics and beyond.

Responsibilities:
Manage a global team of editors dedicated to bolstering Times Opinion’s presence on the homepage, search, apps, newsletters, comments and social platforms
Help determine broad digital objectives and identify high-impact opportunities across platforms
Serve as an in-house expert on analytics and digital best practices, conducting trainings and sharing key takeaways with leadership and Opinion staff
Facilitate the career development of direct reports, including mentorship and cross-training audience editors in order to develop new skills
Collaborate closely with the leadership of other Opinion departments (graphics, design, video and audio) on ideas, and act as a point of contact for larger multimedia efforts
Provide leadership when it comes to conceptualizing, editing and executing across various platforms
Invent, design and build new digital experiences and create new story forms that become regular elements of our coverage
Keep up with industry trends and execute audience strategy based on latest analysis
Oversee the editors responsible for selecting and editing letters from readers
Refine strategies for testing display copy, optimizing pieces and creating assets for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, recommending SEO headlines and URLs, and maximizing promotion of key pieces across The Times’s platforms
Create a playbook for enterprise projects, including clear plans for how to use each platform effectively to find the right audience and increase engagement with readers, including through newsletters, the homepage, social platforms, search, comments, user-generated content and push notifications