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Community Engagement Editor

The Christian Century

Community Engagement Editor

Chicago, IL
Full Time
Paid
  • Responsibilities

    ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY

    The _Christian Century _ is an ecumenical magazine based in Chicago and considered a leading voice of progressive American Protestantism. Committed to thinking critically and living faithfully, the Century explores what it means to believe and live out the Christian faith in our time.

    Founded in 1884 as the Christian Oracle, the magazine took its current name at the turn of the 20th century. Notable contributors in the early decades included Jane Addams and Reinhold Niebuhr. In 1963, the Century was the first major periodical to publish the full text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

    The Century continues to inform and shape mainline Christianity. Along with publishing its biweekly print and online editions, the magazine hosts several blogs and a podcast on its website. The Century also holds an annual lecture and workshop in Chicago that has featured such figures as Barbara Brown Taylor, Eugene Peterson, Krista Tippett, Anna Carter Florence, Thomas Long, Thomas Lynch, Marcus Borg, and Peter Gomes. The magazine remains a voice that is rooted in the church but that offers fresh commentary on contemporary issues of faith, politics, and culture.

    ABOUT THIS ROLE

    The Christian Century is seeking a Community Engagement Editor who will focus on fostering deeper relationships with and among readers both online and offline.

    This is one of two new positions being added to the Century editorial team to support the Century's ongoing transformation from a legacy print magazine to a multiplatform media organization.

    This position will work full-time out of the Century's downtown Chicago office and is not a writing or reporting role. The Community Engagement Editor will lead online and offline efforts to strengthen the Century's relationships with readers — by fostering returning website visits and email engagement, organizing offline events and groups, and supporting social media and other online communities. And as a member of the editorial team, this position will participate in production, editorial planning, and other collaborative work.

    If you are interested in engaged journalism; can quickly write clean copy for social sharing; enjoy organizing events and groups (both online and offline); and are familiar with the major denominations, issues, and trends facing Protestant Christianity in the U.S., please read on:

    RESPONSIBILITIES

    The responsibilities of this role include:

    Engagement

    • Develop strategies to generate repeat website traffic and boost user engagement on all platforms; execute efforts to increase returning site visits, increase pages per visit and lengthen visit duration.
    • Share responsibility for the daily production of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts, along with other social content—with a focus on increasing follower participation in online conversation.
    • Proactively create opportunities for readers to share with editors what they want and think.
    • Conduct reader surveys and use results to recommend strategies for improving reader retention.

    Events

    • Organize and manage in-person one-time events for readers, subscribers, and donors.
    • Build and support recurring local groups (subscriber reading circles, congregation-based reading groups, etc.).

    Online Communities

    • Serve as the community manager for website commenters; moderate comments, analyze commenter engagement and make recommendations for the commenting program.
    • Moderate and participate with followers on social channels, with a focus on driving engagement and fostering conversation.
    • Start and manage new online groups; research and experiment with new platforms.

    Email Newsletters

    • Develop and manage the Christian Century's email newsletter program to drive reader engagement, site traffic, and reader loyalty.
    • Monitor and regularly report on email performance; identify opportunities for improving email campaign performance including editorial gaps to fill, A/B tests, design optimization and more.
    • Manage and produce the Century's weekly Editor's Picks email newsletter.
    • Collaborate with the editorial, marketing and fundraising teams to develop new email products.
    • Track the competitive email and content landscape to identify trends and opportunities within email marketing.

    Analytics

    • Monitor website, social, email analytics and reader feedback to provide regular reports to editors.
    • Recommend experiments and strategies to increase reader loyalty and subscriber retention.
    • Identify trending stories and pitch content ideas that are of interest to the Century's audiences across different platforms.

    Partnerships

    • Maintain and identify potential relationships with publishing and social partners, including key religion journalists and online influencers.
    • Help develop the Century's editors and writers as recognizable personalities within their respective fields.

    QUALIFICATIONS

    You should apply for this position if:

    • You have more than a passing knowledge of American Protestantism and are committed to the Christian Century's mission to inform and shape progressive Christianity.
    • You possess solid news judgment, knowledge of the major players and issues in American Protestantism today, and the ability to identify breaking news within the Christian community. 
    • You're a strong writer who can quickly produce sharp, error-free copy.
    • You are familiar with audience engagement trends, best practices and metrics; and are skilled at social media and email publishing (or have the ability to quickly learn.)
    • You have an established presence on Facebook, Twitter and at least one other social network or online community.
    • You are able to initiate, nurture, and when necessary moderate online conversations, including managing conflict and enforcing community standards.
    • You have training or experience in online journalism, publishing, and/or digital marketing.
    • You're comfortable with modern website CMS platforms, basic HTML editing, and basic web image editing.
    • You're not afraid to learn and use new online tools.

    Although not required, a strong candidate would have some of the following:

    • M.Div. or  M.A. in religion or other graduate training in religion-related field
    • Experience working with or writing for American faith communities 
    • Undergraduate degree in journalism, marketing, digital communications, or another digital media field
    • Experience producing and editing a regularly published email newsletter.
    • Experience managing an online community on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
    • Experience managing events and/or organizing small groups.
    • Experience using digital analytics/reporting tools, especially Google Analytics, Facebook and Mailchimp

    Compensation

    • Competitive salary and health-care package
    • 401K contribution

    APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 11:59PM PACIFIC TIME ON MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2019.