Our Ability Jobs

About The Emancipator.

The Emancipator is a digital magazine that reimagines the first abolitionist newspapers in the

United States for a new day. Just as 19th century anti-slavery publications reframed and

amplified the quest for abolition, the new Emancipator centers critical voices, debates, and

commentary to reframe the national conversation on racial equity and hasten racially just

outcomes. Housed within the Center for Antiracist Research, we are the go-to publication for

anyone who wants to understand how racism impacts us all and what can be done about it. We

are driven by a commitment to understanding how systems work to allow everyone to live and

thrive. Joy and possibility underlie our ethos.

About You.

The Emancipator is looking for a driven, nimble collaborator who will focus on fostering loyalty,

engagement, and affinity to The Emancipator. This specialist is in charge of cross-platform

audience engagement and brand growth and will serve as a highly motivated, innovative

thought leader who will develop strategies for both our digital and IRL community.

We’re looking for someone who brings strong journalism fundamentals, a passion and curiosity

for reaching audiences where they are at, and a drive to have impact. This digital leader will

help us target our audience and produce content and approaches that grow our resonance.

Strategy, creative thinking, and entrepreneurial skills are essential for success. The ideal

candidate has strong attention to detail, and experience distilling and illustrating complex issues

and themes. You will manage the social media producer and lead on social strategy.

This candidate should be a whiz with reader metrics, someone able to crunch numbers, break

down complex data sets, and filter real-time metrics to spot opportunities. But we also need a

journalist who sees our stories and reporters as more than just data points. We need someone

who can help decipher the why behind a story’s success, and who believes deeply in The

Emancipator’s journalistic mission.

You are collaborative and energetic, a person who understands the pace and odd hours that

sometimes come with a startup enterprise, and who is willing to work hand-in-hand with a wide

variety of reporters, editors, and producers. This role will also lead nontraditional distribution

efforts, getting stories and information to those who need it the most, whether through audio,

digital, social media or other formats.

This is a unique opportunity to develop a new digital property’s audience strategy from the

ground up, bringing big ideas to life cohesively across platforms and on the ground. You’ll be

central to creating the kind of inclusive, joyful, can-do culture that symbolizes the mission of this

startup. You are not creating for the moment; you are creating for the future.

The Engagement Director reports to the Publisher/General Manager.

Responsibilities.

Core strategic functions include leading audience development and creation, support and

evolution of brand strategy:

● Manages the day-to-day audience expansion and brand growth needs of The

Emancipator editorial team, working across multiple projects (newsletters, SEO,

headlines, audience acquisition and retention) while anticipating needs of synergy and

internal business partners.

● Oversee and direct social media producer in pitching ideas, researching, crafting, and

building social media messages, building social sharing toolkits, and devising social

deployment of special projects and series in a timely manner.

● Provide insight-driven recommended actions, working with individual teams to adjust

factors like visual elements, publication time, and general promotional strategy on both a

per-story and broader strategic basis.

● Optimize for engagement and prioritize accessibility.

● Celebrate growth and offer constructive feedback that is foundational to a trusting,

transparent relationship with senior leadership

Research: building on new insights, applied information architecture, integrated engagement

strategies, audience research and analysis.

● Look for creative approaches to engage the community in coverage and identify

information needs, habits and readership patterns.

● Drive engagement through experimental approaches onsite and via our channels

(newsletters, app, social media, other platforms) based on key engagement goals.

● Conduct real-time analysis for breaking and developing news events, giving guidance to

journalists on best practices, story angles, publish times, and audience trends.

● Oversee SEO strategy and identify opportunities on search and social media

● Provide data and performance metrics needed in building strategy deliverables

requested in building partnerships and launching new programs across all platforms

● Create executive level summaries, progress updates and impact reports providing

actionable insights on media performance and optimizations. Assist in building sales

materials and liaising on branded content initiatives.

Required Skills

● Journalism background and 8+ years of experience with building engagement within

online communities.

● A track record of successful, audience-focused work. Strong writing and editing skills.

● A progressive understanding of the ways that readers engage with content on social,

newsletters, via search, and via mobile platforms.

● A willingness to adapt and be audience focused, with a curious mindset and a

commitment to creating an inclusive work environment.

● Experience with analytics programs such as Parse.ly, Omniture, and Google Analytics

Submitting a cover letter is preferred, but not required.

Required Experience