Monday, December 7, 2020

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Executive Editor, Mohawk Valley group
Utica, NY

The executive editor will guide the Utica, Herkimer and Madison County teams to make strategic decisions about audience-focused online coverage and direct and champion investigative and First Amendment journalism. Such journalism should serve the community and boost digital-only subscription totals substantially each year. The successful candidate will be comfortable being the public face of the Observer-Dispatch and work to increase the visibility of the news organization in the Mohawk Valley region and state. This newsroom also provides news to the USA TODAY NETWORK.

This editor works collaboratively on content initiatives and monitors online traffic to ensure staff members are putting their efforts into content that will be the most relevant and useful to our target audiences. The executive editor will collaborate with the digital optimization team daily, oversee content coaches and content creators planning, coordinate with state and regional editors and set the bar high for impactful, insightful and often succinct digital journalism.

Key Responsibilities:

• Use reader data, insights, and team core competencies to foster high-quality journalism and conversations reaching our target audiences Family Forward and Know The Score.
• Ensure front-end conversations among content coaches and content creators lead to insightful or impactful work of clear interest to a target audience. Focus bulk of teams' work on a.m. "News of Now," daily unique and distinctive enterprise and insightful high school sports coverage. Promote fewer things better approaches.
• Establish and support strategic and career goals for content coaches, reporters and videographers.
• Support three-month horizon for enterprise planning and work in tandem with digital optimization team and other state and regional editors to ensure smooth delivery of high-quality content to the target audiences.
• Work with New York State Editor, Content Strategy Analyst and USA TODAY Network leaders across New York state and the Atlantic Region to help journalists acquire the skills needed in a digital-first and audience-focused newsroom.
• Lead team discussions to identify projects and engagement efforts to serve readers and strengthen UticaOD.coms role as a community leader.

Accountabilities:

The executive editor will oversee the news teams in Utica, Herkimer and Madison County, working with front-line journalists and content coaches and with the support of the State Editor to foster audience-focused journalism based in large part on audience roadmap topics. This requires daily guidance of the daily news report, the leading of morning newsroom huddle and organizing small-group talks to focus coverage and plan initiatives around ongoing topics such as the Mohawk Valley economy or COVID-19s local impact. This editor will edit more complex pieces as needed and delegate as needed to ensure News of Now, subscription-only content and high school sports coverage are consistently unique and distinctive.

Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in journalism, communication or equivalent experience.
• More than five years of media management experience.
• Proven proficiency in applying analytics to content strategy.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Exposure to deadline-driven environment.
• Exceptional planning and organizational skills
• Experience understanding digital audiences interests and needs and shaping content to fulfill them.

Specialized Knowledge Required or Preferred:

• Experience with creative storytelling techniques.
• Social-media and SEO knowledge.
• Strong grasp of journalism skills (reporting and editing) and advanced knowledge of writing, spelling, grammar, AP and local style.
  
  

Universal Skills and Traits Preferred:

• Excellent verbal communication skills.
• Strong coaching skills, especially in applying metrics and shaping digital storytelling.
• Able to multi-task and excel under intense deadline pressure in a rapidly changing environment.
• Applies innovative, creative thinking to support the companys goals.
• Ability to collaborate across teams, departments and sites to build consensus on strategies.
  
  

Technology/Equipment Expertise or Proficiency:

• Adept with digital and print CMS.

Travel Requirements: This position is based in Utica with occasional trips to conferences or training sessions needed (post-COVID-19) in New York state and the Atlantic Region.

Managerial Responsibility:

• Supervises/Manages Others (i.e. hires, prepares appraisals, disciplines, etc.)

#content

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