At BBC Global Digital News & Streaming, (a team situated within BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC) we aim to help people understand the world around them, make informed choices, and take an active part in society and democracy. As we expand our footprint to meet increasing demand for our style of quality and impartial journalism and unscripted content in North America, we are seeking motivated, passionate, high performing individuals across a variety of skillsets to join our global team. Our primary locations are New York, Washington DC, and London, though as a distributed workforce we are open to applicants in any location where the BBC has a commercial presence.
Join us and be an essential part of one of the world’s most recognized brands and trusted news organizations.
BBC Studios is hiring an Audience Engagement Editor working across site curation and SEO for bbc.com. You will wear several hats, as you leverage audience insights to elevate our daily report and help grow our audience in North America.
We are consolidating our BBC website and apps in the U.S., with global rollout expected next year. You will be part of the team curating this new bbc.com experience and helping to optimize news and features content across channels. That includes monitoring and reporting on daily search trends and opportunities, providing SEO support at the story and commissioning levels, and using A/B testing and real-time analytics tools like Chartbeat to drive engagement on site.
Success in this role requires collaboration with colleagues across various teams, including editorial and product. Reactivity and strong communication skills are a must. The right candidate will demonstrate strong editorial judgment, a sharp eye for headlines and visuals, and a keen sense of U.S. and global audience needs in the digital space.
You will have knowledge of SEO and growth tactics, and a desire to deepen your understanding of analytics to draw actionable, real-time insights. This role sits in the Audience Development team as part of Content Strategy & Programming unit of our Global Digital News & Streaming division. It reports to the Head of Audience of Development. It is a full-time hybrid position, based out of our Washington D.C. newsroom. The work schedule is weekdays, 12pm – 8pm.
Key Responsibilities And Accountabilities:
- Prepare and share an afternoon growth note reporting on daily trends across search, social and our own site performance to inform commissioning and output.
- Participate in the afternoon news editorial meeting, representing the audience team
- Make recommendations to journalists throughout your shift around trending search terms and relevant keywords, ensuring relevant cross-linking and tagging
- Track changes in rankings and suggest improvements to optimize pages
- Contribute to an SEO calendar with topics, content ideas, and other strategic notes
- When on curation, ensure effective promotion of news & factual content across the site and app, while rigorously adhering to our editorial values and guidelines.
- Work closely with editors across the BBC on daily priorities and scheduling, to make sure content is promoted on site in a timely and effective way
- Always think about the mix of stories, formats and audience needs at different times of the day and for your geographical zone
- Make sure our headlines are clear, fair and accurate, and that our image choices work for small mobile screens.
- Stay on top of breaking news during your shift, taking the initiative to offer audience/SEO advice, and when curating the site, ensuring appropriate changes are made quickly to relevant indexes
- Be able to plan and write accurate and concise push alerts
- Help drive new learnings and insights to elevate on-site experience and deepen user journeys through A/B testing, strategic experimentation, and performance analysis
- Collaborate with colleagues to make sure we present the best of the BBC’s journalism for U.S. and global audiences
- Prepare and share clear and informative handover notes as scheduled
- Flag any site or CMS issues or bugs to colleagues in IT or product in a clear and timely manner
Knowledge, Skills, Training & Experience
Knowledge & Skills:
- Candidates should have digital journalism experience, ideally including experience working across growth and/or site curation
- An understanding of SEO strategies and best practice, and how to apply them in a news context
- Demonstrated ability to do keyword and trend research to provide actionable recommendations, as well as the ability to make this information easy to digest and accessible for busy journalists.
- Experience using tools like Google Trends, Google Search Console, Chartbeat and Crowdtangle
- The ability to work well under pressure and prioritize effectively, even when dealing with competing demands
- Have a broad and deep interest in the news and factual content, and comfort with interpreting audience data to inform decisions
- A deep understanding of what motivates digital audiences when they are looking for news and factual content, and how that impacts how we reach audiences
- Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills
- Desire to understand, in detail, the consumer experience on BBC digital products
- Enthusiasm for the BBC’s unique position as a trusted news brand and an understanding of the importance of impartiality – and what it means in practice
- Strong organizational, planning and time-management skills, with the ability to effectively prioritize tasks and pivot as news demands
Professional Experience:
- 3+ years’ experience working in digital publishing in a news environment, ideally including experience in an audience, growth or curation role
Behaviors:
- Good communication skills – a great candidate will be able to talk to colleagues across departments, including non-specialists, and communicate effectively with people remotely across multiple BBC sites
- Collaborative self-starter, autonomous and problem-solving oriented
- Detail-focused whilst being able to maintain a view of the bigger picture
- Keen to challenge the status quo and take initiatives to drive positive changes
- Flexibility and adaptability to sustain performance, particularly under pressure to meet deadlines and changing priorities or circumstances.
Salary: The anticipated annual base salary for this position is $73,000 to $85,000.
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