Director of Messaging

USA TODAY Co. is looking for a high-energy, audience-focused messaging expert with journalism experience (required) to own and develop USA TODAY Co.'s messaging portfolio - including SMS, email newsletters, and emerging platforms.

The Director of Messaging will have ownership of a holistic approach to messaging across the company, bringing together various departments - including news, sales, B2B and consumer growth - to develop a collaborative strategy and cohesive audience journey at every point of contact, from sign-up to send and beyond.

The ideal candidate is passionate about preserving the future of local news through innovative storytelling and engagement experiences. You will be expected to be an expert on the trends in the creator space inside and outside of the news industry, and be required to find ways to translate those tactics into strategies for our newsrooms.

This position will manage our email newsletter and other messaging strategies for newsrooms across the country, giving you an opportunity to make a wide impact on the local news industry.

The Director of Messaging will be tasked with reimagining our current email newsletter portfolio and offerings, experimenting with newsletter design improvements and content delivery through personalization. The role will also require the Director of Messaging to set and maintain standards for email communications across departments and develop a paid newsletter strategy in your first year. The position will be expected to show demonstrable growth in both revenue and referrals from our messaging portfolio in year one, with a ramp up toward aggressive growth over the next five years.

As a key member of our dynamic Content Strategy/Analytics team, you will utilize your expertise in data analytics, reporting tools and platform insights alongside your messaging expertise to enhance the audience growth and engagement, revenue generation and digital subscription growth for USA TODAY and local USA TODAY Network news sites.

Help us ensure the future of journalism is strong and that our newsrooms continue to evolve to meet the needs of a growing digital audience, especially on key platforms that can drive a personal connection between our newsrooms and their communities.

This position is remote and can be based anywhere in the US, except for Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming. If you live near one of our local newsrooms, you may have the option to use that as a base of operations.

Requirements:

• Experience as a digital leader in a news operation. Prior experience in a digital, print or television news operation is required. Journalism experience is mandatory.
• 8-10+ years of journalism digital or leadership experience and understanding of the modern digital media landscape.
• 5+ years of experience in analytics, with a preference for content analytics.
• A proven passion and experience with storytelling via messaging platforms, including email newsletters and SMS text messaging.
• Experience curating newsletters, developing strategies that build newsletter audiences and driving innovation in the messaging/newsletter space.
• Experience with driving audience and revenue through marketing communications and paid email strategy
• Passion for helping news organizations distribute indispensable journalism and building trusted relationships with readers.
• Aptitude for and experience validating, collecting and interpreting data.
• Pro-active leader that can manage their time and prioritization of tasks independently.

• Lead USA TODAY Co.'s messaging portfolio, including creating and implementing strategy across divisions, monitoring performance, developing journeys and driving innovation.
• Reimagine USA TODAY Co.'s messaging portfolio from sign-up to send and beyond, owning experiments on personalization, newsletter offerings, and emerging platforms.
• Develop a paid email newsletter strategy for both on-platform and off-platform tools, like Substack.
• Partner across divisions to improve revenue and consumer retention with the newsletter and messaging experience. Collaborate with cross-functional teams on audience and revenue data (both consumer and advertising/affiliate), identify trends, and provide timely recommendations that contribute to informed business decisions.
• Create and monitor reporting and KPI progress, including metrics for loyalty, engagement, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and relevance.
• Experiment on emerging platforms and own our overall business strategy for platforms like SMS, WhatsApp and on-site commenting.
• Present overall strategy and roadmap to key executive stakeholders; be able to communicate goals, business objectives and roadblocks clearly and concisely.
• Analytics QA for new product deployments and troubleshooting.

• Experience using and building reports with Google Analytics and Parse.ly or similar tools.
• Advanced skill in Microsoft Excel, including creating pivot tables from complex datasets and understanding of basic Excel formulas.
• Big Query, SQL, Tableau, Google Ad Manager and other analytic and data tools are a bonus. As is experience with using AI to analyze data.
• Expertise in Salesforce/Exact Target is required.
• Experience with platform-specific data tools such as social media, Subtext, Substack, Discord and other platform tools is preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to effectively convey findings and recommendations to diverse stakeholders.
• Familiarity with news products and journalism and understanding of media analytics and ethics.

1. A cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job
2. Your resume - one to two pages
3. An example or two of a project or strategy that you're proud of and had a key hand in leading. Please include a brief description of the work, your role and any relevant results.