Managing Editor

Full Job Description

For over 60 years, American Student Assistance® (ASA) has focused on helping students determine their best options for life after high school. We were pioneers in helping students achieve a college degree. Today, our work begins with students as young as middle school, providing them tools and resources so they can make informed choices about their futures. We are four years into our “direct-to-kid” digital-first approach to engaging students along their career and secondary education journey, and we are excited to expand our current digital offering to include syndicated research. We need a talented Managing Editor to turn our first-class research into a commercially viable product. 

You are a dynamic and creative writer and editor with demonstrated leadership skills to drive the creation of engaging consumer content. You have a talent for taking complex subject matter and making it compelling and easily digestible. You work seamlessly across departments to put forth the best product. You understand the importance of a deadline and can manage others to achieve these goals. You are a storyteller. 

To be successful in this role, you must be able to thrive and succeed in a fast-paced environment, balance strategic vision with attention to detail, and approach problems from a customer data and systems-design perspective. You will be working closely with a variety of stakeholders across the organization and must consistently manage through influence. This role will manage between 1-3 staff members. 

Essential Functions:

(To be considered to perform this position, the person must be able to perform essential duties and responsibilities listed below):

• Establish a new and efficient content production operation including managing an editorial calendar, publication, and staff management. 
• Responsible for writing and editing all content for our syndicated research product. 
• Synthesize complex topics from a variety of source material into templatized online formats that are highly engaging and easy to consume. 
• You will find the “story” in the data and customize it to the appropriate commercial audience. 
• Ensure adherence to ASA brand, style, tone, and design. 
• Source needed imagery for content. 
• Support product innovation and continuous improvement by providing input on the most inspiring content delivery formats. 
• Communicate effectively between multiple departments and manage through influence. 
• Analyze customer content consumption and make recommendations for new research topics and/or formats.
• Stay current on the competitive landscape and bring insights forward to the product team.
• Recruit, hire, and manage 1-3 staff. 
• All other duties as assigned.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, and media or related experience. 
• 7+ years writing and editing experience with at least 3 years in a managerial capacity.
• Experience in an online consumer- oriented publishing environment.  
• Demonstrative experience translating academic and statistically heavy research into compelling stories for a broad B2B audience. 
• Creativity and passion to deliver impactful and compelling content that engages readers across several online formats. 
• Comfortable working directly with subject matter experts (e.g. product managers, PhDs, data analysts, Marketing, etc.) and navigating a variety of personalities and working styles.
• Must be able to leverage the full range of digital technologies and content creation/management tools. 
• Superior professional writing skills and high attention to detail.
• Highly collaborative and open to coaching and guidance from project team members to ensure superior results.
• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and work on multiple projects in various stages of development.
• Experience with starting a new content team within an existing organization or department is a plus. 
• A portfolio of projects which demonstrate a high level of storytelling expertise.
• Good understanding of all social media platforms and new channels.

Skills:

• Extensive knowledge of industry best practices. 
• Entrepreneurial spirit: ability to take the initiative to accomplish tough tasks and identify alternative solutions. 
• Proficient with Microsoft Office applications is required. Advanced level of knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite is a plus. 
• Experience with digital and web analytics, and direct marketing. 
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Possesses strong interpersonal skills.
• A self-motivated team player with a positive attitude.