The Executive Director of Audience & Membership will be tasked with helping Vox reimagine our audience strategy in a time of big change in how audiences consume news. This person will own Vox’s audience development funnel, from reaching new users to developing loyalty, and develop strategies to reach both of these goals. They will be able to juggle thinking about how to grow contributions and loyalty, and also how to grow reach. 

This person will lead our efforts to develop loyalty and deeper direct relationships with our audience, thinking of new strategies and experiments for deepening loyalty, including homepage/on-site audience experience, newsletters, community engagement, and crowdsourcing, as well as working with our development team on engagement and opportunities for Vox contributors. This person will also analyze contributions data to develop a deep understanding of what types of stories drive contributors to our site and motivate them to contribute.

They will oversee a team responsible for helping the newsroom think audience-first in our coverage, spanning from on-site packaging and recirculation, programming homepage and push alerts, packaging and distribution of text, audio, and video content for social and partner platforms, search optimization strategy, creation of original off-platform content, and managing newsletter strategy. They will work across text, audio, video, and off-platform content. 

The right person is forward-thinking, entrepreneurial, a creative-problem solver, and a strong people manager who is skilled at building relationships and able to think innovatively. They should be able to think about what our audience needs from us at this moment while also thinking about what our audience strategy needs to be a year from now or five years from now. 

WHO WE ARE

Vox candidly shepherds audiences through politics and policy, business and pop culture, food, science, and everything else that matters.

Vox is part of Vox Media, the leading modern media company. We guide our audience from discovery to obsession. We inspire essential conversations about what’s now, what’s next, and what’s possible.

As a community of journalists and storytellers, business professionals, creators and technologists, we believe it is a moral and business imperative to amplify voices: to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and media. This applies to our candidates, our teams, our storytelling, our creative work, and our platforms, products, and partnerships.

 

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Develop and execute audience growth and loyalty strategies for Vox’s text, audio, video, and off-platform content 

• Develop long-term strategies to grow podcast, website, and video audiences, identifying opportunity areas for growth in order to hit goals
• Oversee growth and experimentation strategy for shortform social video platforms
• Determine how to prioritize and allocate resources on the audience team towards various platforms, priorities, and projects

Lead Vox’s analytics reporting, providing insights and analysis on both audience growth and loyalty / contributions 

• Develop a deep understanding of Vox’s editorial strategy & contributions program  
• Mine contributions data and develop an understanding of our contributors and what types of stories resonate and motivate our audience to contribute
• Oversee regular analytics reporting to surface content performance & contribution insights and recommendations to editorial leadership
• Work with editors to help them make decisions on editorial strategy, working with Vox Media analytics team 
• Lead regular analytics performance checkins with editorial leadership 
• Work with Vox Media analytics team to develop dashboards and tools for editors and the wider newsroom to ensure they have the data they need

Develop & oversee newsletter strategy 

• Create an editorial vision for a robust newsletter program, developing strong ideas for newsletters our audience will enjoy reading
• Work with various newsroom stakeholders and product teams to launch, maintain & grow new newsletters
• Regularly track and analyze newsletter metrics to understand audience behavior and performance and propose experiments and improvements
• Work with product team to optimize newsletter experience & on-site signups 
• Work with contributions team to optimize newsletters for conversion
• Identify opportunities to grow newsletter audiences

Develop loyalty & community strategy, with a goal of deepening direct relationships with Vox’s audience 

• Develop strategies and experiments for deepening audience loyalty and moving Vox readers down the funnel from casual reader/listener/viewer to contributor 
• Develop robust crowdsourcing strategy, experimenting with new ways to involve our audience in our reporting
• Work to improve on-site experience to more deeply engage readers and improve recirculation and engaged time 
• Experiment with community engagement, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive perks for contributors 

 

Manage a team of audience development strategists, helping them learn new skills, and guiding their professional development 

• • Oversee promotion of editorial priorities across platforms
  • Oversee search optimization strategy and social platforms 
  • Ensure newsroom has the right training and resources they need from the audience team and centralized Vox Media teams

WHO YOU ARE

• Previous leadership experience in audience, memberships, contributions, or loyalty, preferably in a news organization
• Experience managing people and helping them grow in their careers
• Ability to pull unique insights and lessons from data and an instinct to make data-informed decisions
• Strong collaboration skills and experience working across cross-functional teams
• Clear communication skills, and the ability to advocate for your vision, while empathizing with other teams’ competing needs
• An entrepreneurial attitude and vision for what’s next in the audience space 
• Ability to think creatively and solve problems 

 

If you think you have what it takes, but don't meet every single point in our job posting, please apply with a cover letter to let us know how you believe you can bring your unique skills to the Vox Media team or get in touch! We’ve hired chefs who became editors, DJs who became UX designers, and sommeliers who became writers.

 

WHERE YOU’LL WORK

This job is remote. We’re dedicated to the health and wellbeing of all of our employees, and when we reopen, will require everyone who works from one of our offices to be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees with approved religious or medical exemptions may be subject to additional safety requirements, such as submitting to regular COVID-19 testing and/or wearing a face covering in our offices.

 

WHY VOX MEDIA? WHAT WE OFFER

This is a permanent, full-time position. This job is benefits-eligible. We pride ourselves in providing comprehensive benefits to support all of our employees wherever they are in life. You can find more information about our benefits here.

 

OUR DEI+ COMMITMENT

Vox Media is committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can show up as their authentic selves and create their best work. We recognize that great stories, platforms, products and services come from people with all manner of backgrounds and experiences. We recognize that our commitments require ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability, transparency and communication. Learn more about our values here, and our approach to corporate citizenship here. 

Vox Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer and qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, national origin, protected veteran status, age, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state, or local law. Vox Media will also consider all qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with applicable Fair Chance laws. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations as part of the application process to candidates with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact our People & Culture team (recruitment@voxmedia.com).

 

WHAT COMES NEXT

Our recruiting team will go through applications in a timely manner. Please note that our recruiting team will only contact you from @voxmedia.com email addresses, never via text message. Read more about how our recruiting team operates, and how to protect yourself from recruitment fraud, here.

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The salary range listed below represents the minimum and maximum base pay for this position at the time of this posting. Final salary offered to the candidate selected for the position will be based on factors including but not limited to the candidate's skills and experience.

Pay Range$150,000—$180,000 USD