Key details

• Hours : 20 hours (2.5 days per week), Mon-Fri

• Salary : £14,000 – £15,500 (£28,000 – £31,000 FTE)

• Benefits: 25 days' holiday plus bank holidays (FTE), workplace pension, flexible working options

• Location : Remote working (UK-based) with occasional in-person meet-ups. Candidates must have the right to work in the UK

• Contract : Permanent

Introduction Positive News is looking for an organised, detail-oriented digital editorial assistant with a passion for impactful journalism to join our small team.

The digital editorial assistant manages the publication of all finalised content on Positive News’ digital channels. This role is central to ensuring that Positive News journalism successfully reaches and engages existing and new audiences. By shaping how stories are presented across our website, newsletter and social channels, you will help to bring solutions-focused journalism to hundreds of thousands of readers, listeners and viewers.

You will create and schedule editorial and marketing content across our digital channels – uploading articles, optimising design and layout, publishing to agreed schedules, building email newsletters, and supporting the delivery of audio and video journalism.

Through editorial planning meetings and processes, the role also contributes ideas for stories and how they will be executed across different formats and channels. There will also be opportunities to write articles or contribute to our other journalism.

The role reports to the editor and works closely with colleagues across editorial and marketing as part of a close-knit team.

About Positive News

Positive News is the media brand for rigorous journalism about what’s going right. With 42% of people now avoiding the news, we’re breaking the bad news bias and empowering people with socially relevant journalism that focuses on progress. Established more than 30 years ago, we’re an independent and not-for-profit media business, trusted and supported by a growing audience community who are passionate about our mission.

Key responsibilities

Publishing

• Manage daily publication of our online journalism; uploading finalised articles and optimising their design and layout.
• Source images to accompany articles as required.
• Manage the inclusion of marketing assets within editorial content.
• Curate the website homepage to drive reader engagement.
• Compile the weekly editorial newsletter, curating content and writing copy if required.
• Maintain the publishing schedule for the Positive News website and social media channels, with a sufficient forward view, liaising with the editor as required.
• Contribute ideas for article topics, angles and formats.
• Write articles that involve interviewing subjects, reporting on news and conducting online research, while meeting Positive News’ editorial standards.
• Provide reporting on online editorial and audience activity as required.

Social media management

• Write posts and create content for social media, repurposing articles from other channels as required and tailoring content to each platform.
• Input on plans for marketing activity on social media.
• Maintain our brand visual identity and voice, while adapting it to different platforms.
• Use social media insights and tools to report on activity and to target audiences.
• Triage and respond to comments and messages, liaising with others in the team as needed.
• Monitor audience interactions, removing content that violates our community guidelines.
• Help develop our social media strategy, making the best use of each channel to support our goals.

What we’re looking for

• 3+ years’ experience in journalism, digital publishing, or a related role
• Able to evidence strong writing via published clips or samples
• Excellent attention to detail
• Well developed instincts for what works online and on social media
• Hands-on CMS publishing experience (WordPress or comparable)
• Demonstrable experience creating content for at least two of: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, in a professional/brand context
• Good organisational skills and the ability to manage deadlines
• Confidence sourcing images and checking usage rights
• A collaborative, flexible approach to working remotely
• An interest in impactful journalism and the kind of stories Positive News publishes

Useful but not essential Experience with any of the following would be helpful:

• Canva or similar design tools
• SEO basics
• Newsletter production, specifically Mailchimp
• Analytics tools such as Google Analytics 4
• Social media scheduling tools
• Basic image editing
• Working in a small editorial team