The audience team is at the heart of The Economist’s strategy to ensure our digital presence becomes as strong as our print heritage. It publishes content to social media, produces a growing portfolio of newsletters, sends push alerts to our apps and ensures search engines can recommend our journalism.

Ever more people are encountering our work for the first time on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, TikTok and YouTube: in total our social-media accounts have approximately 60m followers. Size is not everything, however. We aim to turn this audience into our next generation of subscribers while remaining true to our 180-year-old brand.

Our editors collaborate with multiple editorial and digital departments. They are innovative, unstoppable newshounds with an interest in, and knowledge of, current affairs, politics, business, finance, technology and culture around the world. They understand how The Economist’s brand and digital output fit into the global media landscape—and how our coverage differs from that of other publishers.

We are now hiring a Social-Media Editor on a permanent contract, to begin as soon as possible.

Their primary responsibilities will be to:

• Help distribute our journalism in a timely and accurate manner across digital channels. This is primarily via the social-media platforms above but also through push alerts, newsletters and other emerging formats such as WhatsApp Channels and Apple News
• Devise ways to create and publish engaging content that turns our journalism into easily digestible material for a mobile-first audience, and oversee the production and distribution of this
• Work closely with—and learn from—an award-winning team of talented, motivated editors and producers, including our Podcasts and Video departments

We are looking for:

• Outstanding writing and proofreading skills
• The ability to share our journalism in engaging ways, both in text and visually
• An understanding of how our social-media writing differs from our journalism on other platforms
• A thorough knowledge of different social-media networks, as well as emerging digital trends and platforms, and how The Economist fits into them
• An understanding of multimedia content, which may include basic editing skills
• A strong grasp of current affairs in Europe, America and elsewhere
• Excellent news judgment and a commitment to producing accurate and engaging journalism that meets our editorial guidelines and is true to our brand
• The ability to be a self-starter, capable of working both independently and within a team structure

Ideally candidates for the role of Social-Media Editor will have at least one year of experience in a newsroom or other digital-publishing environment.

How To Apply

For the position you should submit an assessment that explains in no more than 400 words what it is about The Economist that inspires you to work for us—and how you think we could improve our social-media offering.

This assessment is the most important part of your application, so make sure you explain your proposals thoroughly and clearly. Initially we will read it blind, without looking at your name or your experience. Only if what is submitted fits with what we are looking for will we examine your accompanying material. We will not consider applications sent without an assessment.

Please email your assessment and a cv to edsocialjob@economist.com, stating clearly that you are applying for the Social-Media Editor position. The closing date is the end of Friday February 16th 2024. Please do mention Journo Resources when you apply, it really helps us out.

All applicants must be based in the United Kingdom to take up the role—and we can only consider those who already hold the right to live and work in London without the need for any additional visa-application process. This is non-negotiable.

Our team is expected to attend our main newsroom in central London for, on average, two to three days per week. There will be some evening and weekend working, on a rota basis. The Social-Media Editor will have a salary in the region of £35,000.

The Economist Group values diversity. We are committed to equal opportunities and creating an inclusive environment for all our employees. We welcome applicants regardless of ethnic origin, national origin, gender, race, colour, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age.