Head of Audience
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About us
The Independent is an online news publisher that was established in 1986 as a national newspaper independent of party political affiliations or proprietorial influence. In 2016, The Independent became a fully digital publisher, moving away from print in pursuit of sustainability, and to safeguard its values and journalism for the future.
The Independent has always thrived through innovation and change. It was the first British newspaper to add a Saturday magazine; the first to give photography the same prestige as a news copy; the first to challenge the Westminster lobby system of closed briefings; the first broadsheet to move to the more compact ‘tabloid’ format; the first to launch a concise quality compact paper; and the first – and only – major newspaper to pull off a successful transformation to fully digital publishing.
Through The Independent, Independent TV, eCommerce, indy100, subscriptions and other ‘reader revenues’, The Independent plans to continue the work of many decades, bringing much-needed independent journalism to over 100 million unique global visitors a month, make its voice ever louder and more insistent the world over.
We have an international editorial team with our main offices in London and New York.
In 2024 The Independent’s portfolio of brands increased through a new licencing partnership with BuzzFeed Inc. to operate the BuzzFeed brands in the UK - BuzzFeed UK, Tasty, Seasoned and HuffPost UK. The additional brands echo the existing business ethos and allow for increased audiences and a further strategic diversification of revenue streams.
Job purpose
The purpose of the role Head of Audience is to set the strategy and oversee the implementation of our growth strategy, and to measure and offer commentary on our performance against that plan.
This is a high-level, big-picture role, working on projects to be agreed weekly with the Managing Director. Tactical work on headline optimisation and story selection, for example, are to be left to the other members of the audience and editorial teams. Setting best practices and communicating these clearly to the wider staff, identifying growth opportunities and maintaining deep understanding of referral platforms are examples of the high-level focuses of the Head of Audience role.
Job purpose
The purpose of the role Head of Audience is to set the strategy and oversee the implementation of our growth strategy, and to measure and offer commentary on our performance against that plan.
This is a high-level, big-picture role, working on projects to be agreed weekly with the Managing Director. Tactical work on headline optimisation and story selection, for example, are to be left to the other members of the audience and editorial teams. Setting best practices and communicating these clearly to the wider staff, identifying growth opportunities and maintaining deep understanding of referral platforms are examples of the high-level focuses of the Head of Audience role.
About you
We are seeking an innovative and experienced editorial audience expert to oversee strategy and the day to day running of editorial growth.
The successful candidate will likely be an experienced editorial leader with extensive knowledge of how to grow audiences online both in scale and engagement on and off platform.
You will be a highly organised self-starter, with a deep understanding of SEO, social media and how to achieve online audience growth.
You will be expected to be comfortable presenting strategy to senior management in an articulate and engaging manner, both in person and in report form.
The right person will be a decisive problem solver, with the ability and attitude to influence colleagues into positive and timely action.
Only candidates with newsroom experience will be considered.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- We champion diversity in our teams and in our reporting. As a growing and global brand, we must have a workforce that’s more representative of our readers, viewers, clients and partners, and a workplace that creates a sense of belonging for everyone.
The Independent is an equal opportunities employer, if you require any reasonable adjustments to complete your application, please do not hesitate to advise us accordingly.
Key responsibilities and skills
- Inspire and manage a team of audience editors
- Advise on publishing strategy and help lead on implementing change
- Complete understanding of all analytics platforms used to track the Independent and use them to map strategy and spot issues
- Act swiftly and vocally when issues arise
- Write engaging audience insights with full context and strategic suggestions
- An encyclopedic knowledge of newsroom best practice and trends for audience on and off platform
- An understanding of how to balance a subscription vs scale model
Skills
- Experience of successfully working in a similar role at a similar title.
- Strong familiarity with the Independent and our coverage.
- Expert knowledge of SEO, social media and reporting and analytics tools
- Proven track record for increasing followers, engagement and traffic.
- Excellent organisational and planning skills required to manage the daily/weekly/monthly publishing flow of an editorial team.
- Experience collaborating with editors to grow and increase audience, both on site and across platforms.
- Proficiency in analysing complex issues and developing actionable insights and plans – using data from proprietary platform analytics (e.g. Facebook) and or third-party aggregate sources (e.g., CrowdTangle).
- Ability to interpret data and make insightful recommendations.
- Ability to clearly communicate best practices.
- Experience of working in a dynamic fast-paced media environment.
Our values – you will deliver across all our values
Inclusive: We champion diversity in our teams and in our reporting. Working as a team, we put transparency and effective communication at the heart of everything we do.
Innovative: From the very beginning, The Independent has been breaking the mould. We take risks and are always looking to try new ideas in pursuit of excellence.
Independent: Nobody tells us what to think; we make up our own minds and aren’t afraid to do things differently. Like our readers, we value honesty and integrity above outside influences.