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SalaryAbout the Role:
We’re looking to hire a talented and seasoned editor with a background in editorial strategy who is passionate about making excellent content and building exciting and impactful brands that help people win at work!
You will lead the audience building strategy for The Lead Pastor, building and actioning a robust content plan of best-in-class stories—primarily focused on the topics related to church management and leadership—that are insightful, delightfully original, and hyper relevant. You will leverage the brand identity and authority of The Lead Pastor today to push it forward and create the sort of elevated and high-quality, share-worthy written content that not only accelerates the growth of our readership in the short-term, but turns casual readers into brand lovers. You will be instrumental in transforming The Lead Pastor into an indispensable industry publication.
As a part of the BWZ media team, you will report to the Managing Editor.
Who you are:
You are an ace editor who obsesses over finding the most compelling angle for any story, and push your writers to dig deeper into the right details to transform a good article into a great one. Even when you’re in the weeds, you’re keeping your eye trained on the strategy behind each piece of content.
You're dedicated to maintaining high standards of quality, and make sure that every piece of content published under your watch is top-notch, and optimized to drive traffic. You are well-versed in on-page SEO, and have experience covering topics related to church management and/or leadership. Beyond creating whip-smart headlines and checking grammar and heading structure, you’re also alert for details that others might miss (weird link, citation without a source, a list that should really be turned into bullets, keyword stuffing, a meta description that could be improved). You catch things that other people don’t!
You have a nose for a great story, and are always on the hunt for the next one—with a preternatural ability to stay abreast of the latest research, news, data, and trends to understand what's going to resonate deeply with your audience. You love a good content planning brainstorm session, but recognize the breaking stories that are worth jumping on in real time. You're deeply committed to honing your expertise on the industries and subjects you cover, and are a quick study on topics you don't know a lot about.
What you'll be doing (responsibilities):
- Develop content plans and story ideas that drive traffic and engagement
- Manage the editorial calendar to ensure production of new content is on track
- Monitor data and metrics to analyze content performance and inform future content planning to replicate proven success (or change course as needed)
- Experiment with and test new content formats, including interactive elements, to increase user engagement and shareworthiness
- Build relationships with notable expert sources in the industry, and turn them into contributors
- Assign and edit multiple stories at various stages of completion
- Manage the backlog of existing evergreen content to ensure important updates are actioned regularly
- Manage larger content projects and initiatives, including original data and research
- Collaborate with Marketing team on distribution plans (social media + newsletter)
- How your success will be measured:
- Significantly increasing traffic to the site through strategic content planning
- Significantly increasing the number of loyal readers and brand lovers (return visitors)
- Significantly increasing the number of people who subscribe to our newsletter(s), and visit our content through channels outside search
- Facilitating the production of multiple pieces of new content per week per site, and overseeing an ongoing schedule of updates
- Seamlessly shifting or modifying content plans to address higher priority traffic challenges or quick-win opportunities
- Attracting, recruiting, and onboarding a talented and reliable bench of writers and contributing subject matter experts
- Collaborating with key stakeholders across the organization to seize new opportunities and address challenges
- Remaining unflappable and driven to deliver success in a dynamic environment with shifting priorities
- Exhibiting a great attitude and ownership mentality with a convivial nature
Your skillset includes:
- 3+ years as an editor or content marketing manager, with a track record of managing a team of writers and meeting deadlines
- Content strategy and editorial planning: 2 years
- On-page SEO and SEO writing skills, and experiencing using SEO tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush, etc) for keyword research
- Data fluency (GA4, Google Search Console)
- Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize tasks to maximize short-term impact
- Intermediate WordPress skills
- Grin-worthy English writing skills
- Command over voice and tone, with the ability to adapt
- The ability to breathe life and inject humor into traditionally dry topics
- A creative mindset and ability to generate engaging content ideas
- Exceptional communication skills
- Self-motivated and self-starter
- Solid understanding of content KPIs
Nice to haves:
- A background working in or covering the business of church management and church leadership
- A strong grasp of content distribution best practices (email newsletter, social media)
- Familiarity with and experience using AI tools to streamline content development (for research, content briefing, etc).
Salary Statement:
This full timeposition is available as a remote position, with an annual salary in the range of $65,000 to $85,000 CAD. The range is a guide for the expected skills, knowledge and experience for new hires based in Canada only. Seniority level and salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant, equity with other team members, and alignment with market data. This means ranges will vary for candidates based outside of Canada and/or at different seniority levels. In addition to annual salary, full time employees are eligible for a discretionary bonus and a comprehensive benefits package.
About Us:
Black and White Zebra is a rapidly growing, independent media tech company headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Since 2012, our portfolio of influential digital publications has been helping millions of people succeed at work.
Our brands cover project management, product management, people management, customer experience, quality assurance and others, with the goal of connecting people with the knowledge, skills and tools they need to succeed professionally.
We got our start in 2011 as The Digital Project Manager blog, founded by our CEO Ben Aston. Since then, we’ve grown into an international team of 70+ creators, strategists, and innovators with a portfolio of more than 14 online publications. We enjoy an impact-driven environment that combines the agility of a startup with the creativity of an agency and the diversity of a global company.
We’ve recently ranked #30 in The Globe and Mail’s Fastest Growing Companylist and received a CMI award for Best Digital Publication for The Digital Project Manager—and we’re listed in both Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers, and Best Employers in BC.
All of this growth is driven by our commitment to our mission: In a world of evolving skills, practices, and technology, we’re creating a playbook for the future of work and empowering communities to create it with us.
Diversity Equity and Inclusion:
Black and White Zebra is an equal opportunity employer and considers all candidates for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital status, military or veteran’s status (including protected veterans, as may be required by federal law), sexual orientation or any other category protected by law. We celebrate all backgrounds and attributes that continue to help make our team impactful, iterative, adaptable, and fun!
