Your New Role…
The Senior Audience Editor is the embedded, desk‑specific partner to Audience Strategy & Insights—translating audience signals into clear editorial choices that grow reach, deepen engagement, and strengthen habit, including among subscribers. You will supply the desk with essential performance learnings; shape framing, formats, and distribution to meet audience demand; run experiments; and coordinate execution across Search, Social, Home, Notifications, and Newsletters. 

Senior‑level scope includes assigning, writing, and editing analysis; leading insights for strategic priorities; developing scalable workflows; and coaching others. You will work closely within the AIS operating model and in partnership with DART (Data, Analytics, Research & Testing) to turn insights into action and to build repeatable practices the desk can rely on. 

Your Role Accountabilities… 

Performance Insights & Editorial Guidance 

• Deliver concise, actionable daily/weekly/monthly insights that guide coverage decisions and follow‑ups, including clear “do more / do less / try next” recommendations. 

• Suggest stories, angles, and formats aligned to search intent, evergreen opportunities, and time‑sensitive audience demand. 

• Shape story framing and presentation across on‑platform surfaces (site/app, home, article packaging, recirculation) and off‑platform channels (search, social, alerts, newsletters). 

Cross‑Platform Strategy & Collaboration 

• Partner with Product and platform teams (Search, Social, Home, Notifications, Newsletters) to identify opportunities in modules, templates, topic hubs, and alerting. 

• Drive reach, engagement, and habit by aligning desk plans to audience goals and capturing learnings in structured retros and playbooks. 

• Coordinate distribution strategy across Off‑Platform, Social, Community, Programming, and Newsletter teams. 

Senior‑Level Leadership 

• Assign, write, and edit audience analysis across platforms; act as the insights lead for strategic desk priorities. 

• Build scalable workflows for insight generation and measure the impact of audience‑driven initiatives. 

• Pitch and run experiments (format, packaging, timing) and translate results into actionable guidance. 

• Coach and train newsroom staff on audience tools, search and social best practices, and packaging strategies. 

• Collaborate across editorial, product, analytics, design, and research to embed audience‑first thinking across the desk. 

Channel Expertise & Desk Support 

• Optimize for discoverability: research intent, track seasonality, steward evergreen content, and partner with Search on technical and practical best practices. 

• Coordinate with Social, Community, Home, Notifications, and Newsletters to maximize reach and engagement. 

• Contribute to daily/weekly/monthly desk and section updates, synthesizing insights into clear, actionable takeaways. 

• Uphold CNN’s journalistic mission by using data to inform editorial decisions. 

Qualifications & Experience… 

• 5–7+ years in digital journalism, audience development, content strategy, or insights roles. 

• Proven ability to identify coverage, framing, and format opportunities that attract new readers and deepen engagement. 

• Strong ability to synthesize complex data into prescriptive editorial recommendations; experience partnering closely with analytics teams. 

• Ability to write platform‑native social copy and coach others on best practices. 

• Strong cross‑newsroom collaborator committed to CNN’s journalistic independence and mission. 

• Fluent in search trends, intent shifts, and misinformation dynamics. 

• Deep expertise across mainstream and emerging social platforms. 

• Strong communication and storytelling skills for reports and presentations; comfortable with testing, iteration, and directional reads. 

• Skilled at bridging editorial, product, analytics, design, and research to move work forward. 

• Strong understanding of the competitive landscape and broader attention patterns.

How We Get Things Done…