South Region Sports Director
Req #41547
|Current Gannett Employees- Please ensure you are using our abbreviated process on the internal Careers site by logging into Dayforce through OKTA|
Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a scalable, growth focused media and digital marketing solutions company. We endeavor to deliver essential content, marketing solutions, and experiences for curated audiences, advertisers, consumers, and stakeholders by leveraging our diverse teams and suite of products to enrich the local communities and businesses we serve. Our current portfolio of trusted media brands includes the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom. Our digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, uses innovation and software to enable small and medium-sized businesses to grow, and USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures, our events division, creates impactful consumer engagements, promotions, and races. Gannett open roles are featured on various external job boards. When applying to a position at Gannett, you should be completing an application on Gannett Careers via Dayforce. Job postings directing you to complete an application on other external sites may not be valid. To connect with us, visit www.gannett.com
The USA TODAY NETWORK is looking for a cutting-edge regional sports editor to lead coverage across four states in the Southeast. The South Region Sports Director is responsible for leading a team of 50 journalists toward consistent and sustained audience growth by implementing proven strategies and identifying new-age techniques for reaching readers.
The South Region includes 14 news organizations across Tennessee, Mississippi, Western North Carolina and South Carolina, including The Tennessean (Nashville, TN), Knoxville News Sentinel (Knoxville, TN), Memphis Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), Mississippi Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS), The Citizen-Times (Asheville, N.C.) and The Greenville News (Greenville, S.C.).
Our coverage is built on dynamic digital storytelling and mobile and social consumption. The South Region Sports Director will focus on building the best digital platform for sports coverage in the country. This includes real-time reporting, smart analysis, video champions, deep storytelling and mastery of search and social opportunities.
Responsibilities:
- Execute tactics on growing readership through storytelling, topics and headlines.
- Promote our brand, content and personalities across social media platforms; plan and execute robust initiatives that involve collaboration with Network partners to deliver maximum results.
- Ensure posts are high-quality talkers and timed to meet people’s needs and take advantage of off-platform interactions, including social cards, vertical video reels and more.
- Create, track and communicate key social engagement metrics.
- Keep track of sports buzz and what’s trending across social platforms.
- Create smart, thoughtful, engaging, sophisticated content strategy for a variety of formats to significantly grow audience.
- Provide leadership on developing new strategies on search and social platforms and for unmined topics.
- Display creativity in everything from developing fresh content to writing SEO-friendly headlines to sharing content socially to having an eye for images and video.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's or master’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- At least 5 years' experience as a respected sports journalism leader, with focus on digital content and multimedia platforms.
- Experience in high-level decision-making with complex, impactful or sensitive news content.
- Advanced understanding of various news and information content management systems.
- A history of successful leadership, collaboration, innovation and goal achievement.
- Demonstrated change leader who collaborates and communicates effectively with diverse peoples and personalities.
- Demonstrated record of leading a coverage team, including remote writers.
- Proven history of guiding strong watchdog, enterprise and features work across multiple platforms.
- Strong social media skills.
- Understanding of best uses of live and recorded video and how to inculcate video skills throughout the team.
- Ability to work well on deadline.
- Ability to write with accuracy and precision.
- Excellent communication and time-management skills.
- Approachability, personal charisma, comfortable with public speaking and a commitment to staff.
- Understanding of the changing sports media landscape and ability to adapt strategies that address continually changing market and consumer needs and desires.
- Strong competitive instincts and intellectual curiosity.
- Ability to effectively manage and coordinate in an environment of accountability.
- Track record in recruiting a highly successful sports journalism team.
- Command of media law and Principles of Ethical Conduct.
How to Apply:
We are eager to learn more about you and how you fit this role. When you apply, don’t limit your upload to a resume; show us what you’ve done. To do so, put together a single document file that includes the following, in this order:
1. Your resume – one to two pages.
2. A cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job.
3. Links to 3-6 online samples of your work. Show us what you’ve produced or had a hand in that best reflects what you can do in your desired role.
It is important that these items be assembled into a single document and uploaded in PDF format. Completing these steps will ensure that your application receives the highest consideration.
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Other details
- Job Family Media
- Job Function Content Production
- Pay Type Salary
