KentOnline is one of the country’s biggest and best websites, pulling in exclusives day after day. The nationals clearly agree, with The Telegraph poaching three of our most recent news editors.

It means we now have a vacancy for one of the key positions on the KentOnline newsdesk – the head of audience engagement. It’s a varied and multifaceted job, playing a key role in helping us reach new audiences, grow our social following and shape the news agenda.

Specifically, the head of audience engagement will:

• Take ownership of our fast-growing newsletter portfolio, including writing our hugely popular morning mail-out, The Briefing. It’s a curated guide to the day’s news, enjoys a very high open rate and attracts hundreds of new subscribers every week. You can see it for yourself by signing up here: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/news/email-alerts/
• Oversee social posts across our platforms, ensuring an appropriate and engaging tone of voice
• Look after our Opinion section, including recruitment of new columnists
• Work alongside the heads of news for East and West Kent to help with breaking news as required
• Play a key role in daily news meetings, identifying trending stories and contributing to ideas for agenda-setting content.

Our ideal candidate will be NCTJ-qualified or equivalent and preferably have some managerial experience as a news editor or chief reporter. They will also be able to demonstrate:

• A sharp news sense with the ability to identify the stories that will hit the target with both a mass online readership and more selective audience of newsletter subscribers
• A clean, engaging writing style suited to curating our flagship newsletter
• An understanding of and interest in analytics – Chartbeat, Parse.ly or similar
• A bunch of great ideas to keep KentOnline ahead of the pack.

In return, we can offer a competitive salary, flexible hybrid working arrangements and a chance to really make a name for yourself.

KentOnline is part of Iliffe Media Group, one of the country’s largest independent publishers.

We publish websites and newspapers across the country and, uniquely, also operate radio stations and a local TV channel as part of our Kent portfolio.

The head of audience engagement will be welcome – indeed encouraged – to learn more about these platforms and will work alongside those producing their content.

We are proud of the stories we produce and have a great editorial team with the hunger to keep ahead of the pack.

To Apply

Please email a covering letter and CV to Ian Carter at ian.carter@iliffemedia.co.uk by February 15.

We will shortlist candidates as applications arrive so an early response is encouraged. Please mention Journo Resources when you apply, it really helps us out.