Social Media Editor

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for. 

Job Description

The New York Times Cooking and Food team is looking for a writer and editor with experience in journalism and managing social accounts to help shape and execute our editorial strategy on- and off-platform. 

The job requires excellent display copy writing skills and a data-driven approach. You will adapt and target our content for different surfaces and platforms, and for understanding and developing new strategies, tools and workflows as those platforms evolve. This means you’ll build our presence on Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and other emerging platforms. You will also write compelling, clean copy for The New York Times and Cooking homepages, newsletters, push notifications and more. You will monitor news cycles, trends and off-platform conversations for ideas. And you will write and present your findings on what’s working to engage and grow our audience and what’s not. 

You will generate new ways to grow our audience. Strong, confident writing skills with excellent news judgment and compelling, entertaining tone are required. We are aiming to develop lasting relationships with our community by delivering quality content to readers wherever they are. Enthusiasm for playful experimentation, trying new ideas, bouncing back and tweaking on the go is a must, as is a desire to collaborate. 

This is a hybrid role is based in New York.

Responsibilities:

• Edit and optimize content for promotion: Select recipes, articles, images and videos to feature on our social accounts, homepages, newsletters, push notifications and other publishing surfaces, exhibiting excellent news and editorial judgment. Create new, visual promotional assets to generate interest in our stories and recipes. Write engaging headlines and other display copy on and off platform. Be an expert on audience-sensitive framing.

• You will develop and grow Cooking’s presence on social media platforms by posting several times a day on social platforms. Work to ensure the programming of our social accounts is effective and has the right tone and balance of content, optimized for growth and diversity. 

• Conceive of and execute original, innovative, native-to-social content. 

• Pitch and write service-driven articles about recipes and cooking.  

• Work towards follower and engagement goals on social accounts; use analytics to make informed strategic decisions. Interpret data and signals to know what content is the right fit for what audiences at what time (holidays, seasonality, trends). 

• Track engagement rates, growth statistics, reader responses and other metrics to inform content strategy.

• Package and present social data and takeaways to our other internal teams. 

• Develop testing strategies around medium (images, video) and message (headline, social share text) to contribute learnings and best practices for engaging off-platform audiences 

• Collaborate with video editors, photo editors, and other staff to optimize recipes, photography and other content for social distribution; inform recipe assignments based on Instagram and TikTok insights data and audience engagement.

• Work with other journalists in the newsroom on best social media practices. 

• Pitch and package our content for other New York Times newsletters and social media accounts. 

• Support updating and refreshing the NYT Cooking homepage with new links, images and videos. 

• Post on- and off- platform responses and comments on recipes; add relevant product CTAs on and off platform. 

• Be an expert on the competitive landscape: Identify emerging platforms, growth tactics and trends in video, photo, and other formats across social platforms and help the team experiment with new formats with an open mind.

• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world. 

• You will report to the Associate Editor, NYT Cooking.

Basic Qualifications:

• 4+ years of experience writing and editing and the ability to write in an engaging, smart tone that feels native to social media and still consistent with the values of The New York Times

• Excellent news and editorial judgment.

• 4+ years of experience managing a Facebook or Instagram account for a brand

• Experience growing a brand’s social media accounts and engaging an audience in creative ways

• Experience with all mainstream and some emerging social channels

• Fluency in digital analytics software, eg Facebook Insights, NewsWhip, Google Analytics, etc.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Basic design skills and proficiency in tools like Figma and the Adobe suite

• Experience in content management tools

• A strategic mind with a bend towards testing and iterating to find what resonates with various audiences

• A commitment to collaboration and collegiality 

• Willingness to pitch in when needed to accomplish goals of a small team, and learn new skills

• A passion for cooking and the mission of The New York Times

The annual base pay salary for this role is between $100,000.00 and $115,000.00.

The New York Times is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce, one that reflects the varied global community we serve. Our journalism and the products we build in the service of that journalism greatly benefit from a range of perspectives, which can only come from diversity of all types, across our ranks, at all levels of the organization. Achieving true diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing for our business. So we strongly encourage women, veterans, people with disabilities, people of color and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.

The New York Times Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. The New York Times Company will provide reasonable accommodations as required by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws. Individuals seeking an accommodation for the application or interview process should email [email protected].  Emails sent for unrelated issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

The Company will further consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable "Fair Chance" laws.

The New York Times Company follows the pay transparency and non-discrimination provisions outlined by the United States Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Click here for details.