Editorial Director

Editorial Director

Builders Network, Remote

Who We Are:

Builders Network is equipping a rapidly growing community to overcome toxic polarization and solve our toughest problems together. Our initiatives help people build the mindset, skills, and networks to take constructive action in spheres that shape culture and society, including media, civics, and education. We are a brand new US-based 501c3.

Requirements

What You’ll Do: 

You will contribute to formulating and overseeing the editorial direction and brand voice for all copy and long-form writing across our content and social media teams. You will be responsible for initiating, drafting, and/or editing all public-facing copy on Starts With Us / Builders content and distribution channels. You will be responsible for end-to-end ownership of our email newsletter and SMS offerings suite, focusing on channel growth, audience engagement, and delivering copy with insightful, creative excellence. You will pitch, manage, and/or originate all creative for our newsletter product(s), including long-form pieces worthy of premium publications. Your long short-form contributions will provide insights to motivate our community to fulfill our mission in a relatable and accessible style. You’ll look at real-time political and pop culture events with an eye for the angle that helps depolarize America AND catch popular attention to move our message into the mainstream. You will work with the Head of Content to incorporate our Movement Partners and special programs, share movement wins, and curate relevant content from our community, the depolarization field, and across the web. You will serve as a content creator, curator, copywriter, and copy editor to ensure our copy and newsletter advance our mission, deepen our subscriber and follower connection to the movement, and elevate our editorial voice and tone. You will also work with the Head of Growth to incorporate audience data and insights into editorial decisions, ultimately driving growth and retention. 

How You’ll Do It: 

• Manage and contribute to formulating the organization's brand voice and day-to-day editorial direction based on input from the Head of Content
• Write about complex topics in a digestible and accessible yet nuanced way
• Develop relevant, timely, creative ideas daily that help scale our movement’s reach and impact, utilizing trending memes, topics, and sounds from the daily news cycle, politics, social issues, and pop culture
• Find fresh and uniquely Builders angles on, or insights into, widely-covered news and events 
• Be responsible for all copy and workflow for Builders newsletter product(s), including writing original copy, pitching, maintaining the publishing calendar, adjusting the layout and flow of the product(s) in response to up-to-date marketing data, outreach, workflow for guest contributors and leading initiatives to develop readership  
• In partnership with the Head of Marketing, set an email product strategy (e.g., if/when to expand to more than one newsletter per week, how to communicate to different audience segments) and refine it based on metrics and growth strategy
• Expand and improve the existing Builders newsletter as a primary channel for awareness and engagement
• Integrate insights and concerns related to polarization on a global level into our channels and newsletter product(s)
• Guide the overall direction of email content, including newsletter topics and subject lines, to attract readers based on audience data and industry best practices
• Be responsible for original website content, including long-form posts to “The Feed” (our blog)
• Collect and curate all video and photo content to pair with long-form pieces
• Collaborate with social/digital, curriculum, comms, movement, and partnerships teams to develop an email programming calendar and ensure cohesion across workstreams
• Collaborate with the design team to get written content into a designed template and create weekly ad hoc assets   
• Manage email promotion of Builders marketing and movement initiatives and projects
• Regularly analyze newsletter performance and learnings with the Head of Marketing and refine the strategy as needed
• Monitor and manage emails from the Builders community that are sent in response to newsletter content 
• Guide the editorial direction of social media copy and be accountable for copy on text-heavy channels like X and LinkedIn 
• Support in-video copy as needed

You Are:

• A news and politics fanatic and a pop-culture consumer with a finger on the pulse of multiple platforms across multiple demographics and an inbox full of newsletters on different topics
• Deeply knowledgeable, well-read, and well-versed (or willing and able to become so) on topics and research on polarization, its causes, its effects, and solutions to the problem
• Able to articulate our mission in writing clearly and directly for a general audience with enough passion and creative flair to invite people in and get them to stay 
• Someone who operates with kindness, transparency, integrity, and grit
• Able to review copy and content and guide team members to land the message crisply 
• Excellent at mentoring and guiding junior staff to expand their skill sets and know-how by sharing the insights and expertise you have gained over the years
• Interested in writing about and promoting bridge-building across lines of difference, productive civil discourse, critical thinking, nuanced communication, non-judgmental thinking, and self-awareness in the service of solving America’s and the world’s toughest problems
• Excited to work with leaders across the political spectrum to illuminate and demonstrate working across divisions to solve problems 
• Well-versed in email marketing best practices
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and relentlessly solutions-oriented

You Have :

• 7+ years of experience as an editor/journalist/newsletter editor in publishing to a consumer audience and managing editorial processes
• A proven track record of consistently producing an email newsletter or analogous publication and significantly growing its audience over time
• Experience working in an integrated marketing team
• A demonstrated ability to use analytics tools and data reports to evaluate performance and inform editorial content and strategy 
• A Bachelor’s Degree and writing portfolio of published articles/newsletters
• Email/CRM platform knowledge and experience
• Basic SEO understanding for optimizing headlines/keywords

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits:

• This is a full-time exempt position with a competitive annual salary ($120,000-$150,000)
• 21 days of Paid Time Off
• Remote work environment
• 401K with employer matching program
• Excellent health, dental, and vision insurance with options to fit you and your family’s needs
• A charitable gift-matching program
• A dynamic, ambitious, fun, and kind work environment
• The opportunity and responsibility to work on initiatives that make an impact
  

EEO:

At Builders Network, we are committed to an inclusive workplace where diversity in all its forms is championed. Builders Network is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity, or veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require special accommodation, please let us know.