Newsletter Editor, Chicago

City Cast Chicago is hiring a Newsletter Editor to be the signature voice of its useful, joyful, and informative daily local newsletter, Hey Chicago. In this role, you will avidly follow local news and culture, then write and curate stories, headlines, and other tidbits into an irresistible and substantive Monday-Friday email and corresponding web articles.

Deadline to apply: February 14th, 2025

Key Responsibilities:

• Consume a variety of sources for local news, culture, and civic engagement daily and identify compelling pieces to be shared with local readers. Demonstrate an eye for the unexpected, surprising, and delightful.
• Curate and write up compelling aggregated and original local stories and news updates. Demonstrate excellent discretion for what local readers need to know, and what should be left out
• Imagine, research, and create useful guides, explainers, and deep dives on topics to engage a local audience
• Assist in producing compelling audio and video posts for social media to attract newsletter subscribers and podcast listeners, in line with City Cast's broader organic growth strategies
• Compose compelling subject line and article headlines, format the day's newsletter to adhere to City Cast's style guide and branding, and ensure the newsletter and related articles are published at a regular time, error-free
• Gather visual content for a daily newsletter and corresponding web articles, ensuring that appropriate licensing guidelines are followed, and that images are high quality and editorially compelling
• Gather and share a robust range of events and ways to engage in the city with your audience via the newsletter and website
• Occasionally appear on the City Cast Chicago podcast to discuss original reporting, life experiences in Chicago, and the news of the day
• Execute email engagement and content strategies as defined by the Director of Digital Strategy, the Content Directors, and other City Cast HQ partners
• Engage with newsletter readers by responding to their emails and outreach on social media
• Monitor email metrics, in coordination with the Content Director, and make necessary adjustments to work for continued audience growth and success
• Coordinate with your podcast team to identify ways for crossover content, cross promotion, and smarter workloads
• Additional tasks and special editorial projects as needed and assigned
  
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience writing and editing newsletter products, including welcome series emails
• A firm grasp of email newsletter trends and best practices, with a keen understanding of where the industry is heading
• Voracious local news diet, with a talent for identifying compelling and newsy stories from a wide variety of sources
• Experience building virtual community around news content
• Excitement about working at a startup, and enthusiasm for City Cast's mission of making people feel more connected to their cities
• Solid knowledge of AP Style
• 3 years' of copy editing experience
• At least 1 year of experience engaging with digital audiences
• An entrepreneurial spirit, love of adventure, and the flexibility and willingness to learn from and share knowledge with different cities in different time zones, and to fill a variety of roles in a nimble, startup environment
  
  
  

Required:

• 3 years' experience writing and/or editing professionally
• To be considered for this role, you must currently reside within the metro area of Chicago
  
  

The Newsletter Editor will report to the Executive Producer, Chicago. This position is full-time, with excellent benefits. The annual salary range is $66,000 - $73,000, depending on experience. You must be local, though work will be primarily remote. City Cast is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity, which involves attracting talented people from diverse backgrounds and traditions. Read about our mission and core values here. We encourage everyone to apply.