Rest of World is an international journalism publication that’s focused on exploring the impact of technology beyond the Western bubble. Our goal is to surface and showcase the often surprising and unintended effects of tech in places that get little attention from mainstream global news outlets.
Since launching two years ago, Rest of World has published stories from over 90 countries. Our stories explore the spaces where tech, business, culture, and human experience collide, through compelling storytelling and fresh, innovative design. We are a mission-driven nonprofit startup that aims to push forward our understanding of technology’s role in rapidly changing cultures.
Rest of World is looking for a talented audience development editor to lead our optimization strategy, shaping what regular and new visitors see, how articles are shared, and all the stuff under the hood that gets readers there in the first place. The optimization editor will be the key point of interaction between our site and our readers: everything from homepage curation to article page production, site analytics, content strategy, and beyond. You’ll work across site production — from working closely with the editorial team on writing headlines and promotional copy for homepage and other platforms, to working alongside our product team on SEO implementation, tags and taxonomy, and data analytics projects. This is one of our key roles in the audience team, one that will amplify our growth and drive meaningful engagement with our existing and new readers.
What you’ll do:
- Own our homepage, curating it every day by developing a strategy to showcase our best work, new and old
- Make sure every article and page has great headlines and is optimized for search
- Work with editors prior to publication of major projects on priority pieces to apply search trends and keyword guidance
- Help determine what new curated collections and tags we need to better highlight our editorial coverage on the homepage, article pages, and social platforms
- Actively look for opportunities to add effective calls to action (related links, contribution asks, newsletter signups, event promotion) in our stories
- Find timely ways to recirculate relevant stories on social media, and help craft social messaging copy
- Run homepage and headline tests, working closely with audience editor, to increase on-site engagement and internal referrals
- Ensure all our articles and pages follow SEO best practices
- Oversee content organization and taxonomy within Rest of World’s CMS to increase recirculation and discoverability
- Produce data-driven insights around site behavior, and work with the audience director and editor as well as the product team to propose ways to drive them into action
What you’ll bring:
- At least 5 years working in journalism, ideally at publications with international coverage
- A passion for getting great stories into the hands of great readers
- Ability to wear many hats (so many hats) and work closely with folks from multiple teams and, in some cases, multiple time zones
- Experience working in a publishing CMS, from entering and publishing articles and pages to working with tags and taxonomy, SEO and social optimization, image maintenance, etc.
- Familiarity with Google Analytics and data analysis in general; experience with measuring headline performance
- Amazing headline-writing skills, with an understanding of how to bring international stories to a Western audience
- Experience writing strong SEO headlines and well-versed in SEO best practices
This role will report to Rest of World’s Head of Audience. The salary range is $75K to $90K, commensurate with experience. The location for this position is flexible.
The deadline for applications is October 31, 2022.
To apply, please send a resume and a short cover letter to jobs@restofworld.org with “Optimization Editor” in the subject line. In your cover letter, please briefly share your experience working in website production, CMS maintenance, and, if applicable, data analysis, and how you’d bring learnings from that work to Rest of World. In addition, look at our site and suggest a few ways you’d suggest improving curation, presentation, and the user experience.
Working at Rest of World
At Rest of World, we are building a team that values diversity and believes in telling stories from communities and countries that are often ignored around the world. Here’s what U.S.-based employees can expect when they join us:
- Competitive salary (with a raise, promotion and merit bonus framework based on performance and tenure)
- Vacation (20 days)
- Sick leave (10 days)
- Annual holidays (15 days)
- 401(k) plan (employer matching up to $12,500 per year)
- Flexible Spending Plan (for qualifying medical and dependent care expenses)
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Long-term and short-term disability insurance (employer-paid)
- Life insurance (employer-paid)
- Supplemental benefit schemes for commute, wellness, childcare, and cell phone costs
For roles based outside the United States, Rest of World strives for parity with U.S. benefit offerings, subject to local regulations and restrictions. Rest of World also offers non-U.S.-based employees further supplemental benefit schemes, including a coworking allowance and a home office/connectivity allowance.
Rest of World is an equal opportunity workplace. We value inclusion and diversity, and anyone who applies and qualifies for opportunities in the organization will receive consideration for employment without discrimination against age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, color or disability.