Digital Editor

Position: Digital Editor (night), The London Free Press
Position type: Full-time, permanent
Location: London, Ontario
Division: Postmedia Editorial

The company:

The opportunity:

The London Free Press, Southwestern Ontario’s leading news provider, is seeking a night digital news editor to oversee late-day operations on its website, lfpress.com. The ideal candidate, working with a digital team and reporters in the field in London and its sister newsrooms in Chatham and Sarnia, is a nimble closer in a news cycle that begins early in the day on the region’s busiest news site. The night digital editor is a wordsmith, skilled at crafting SEO headlines, and unafraid of difficult conversations and editing and getting others to pivot to meet digital needs. Driven by the demands of speed, density and online readership growth, the digital editor must flexibly juggle assignments, editing, and generating ideas for content to attract and keep readers returning to lfpress.com. The night digital editor works closely with the assistant news editor (digital) and a mission statement that sets out the newsroom’s priorities.

Part web master, part editor, the digital editor requires outstanding organizational and leadership skills and demonstrates a deep understanding of news that matters most to London and Southwestern Ontario readers. The ability to use digital tools to identify news needs and maximize ways to meet them is critical to the position, as is working closely with the day-side assistant news editor (digital) and the newsroom’s city desk.

The position is a unionized job in London, working with a remote newsroom.

What you’ll do:

• Keep the website moving and populated with content to engage readers, and both divine and help to assign daily and longer-term content to keep readers returning. The shifts run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, with some occasional weekend work. 
• Attend meetings as required with editors to plan and discuss content and spot daily opportunities on your cycle for the newsroom to jump on in the next cycle.
• In consultation with late-shift reporter and photographer, ensure assignments are adjusted to meet audience needs for afternoon and late-breaking content. 
• Work with other editors to develop ideas for ambitious journalism projects, while helping to make sure the website is hitting or exceeding performance targets.
• Generate ideas for digital content through formats including non-traditional explainers and live coverage files that meet readers where they are.
• Help, as needed, in the production of the newsroom’s regular reader newsletters.   

Who you are (qualifications):

• An editor experienced in daily newsroom digital journalism with fast-paced deadlines, fluent in digital and social platforms. 
• A skilled journalist and communicator, with the ability to quickly adapt to changing news needs and evolving situations requiring speed and flexibility.
• Not just a team player, but a playmaker able to spot and make wins happen.
• An editor familiar with industry content standards, including CP style, and working understanding of key legal issues such as the laws of libel and slander.

Applications:
Interested applicants should apply without delay, including a detailed resume and a covering letter explaining why they are ideal for the position