Sr Editor Audience - News, CNN Digital Products & Services

Senior Audience Editor

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.