Editorial Director - Multi-Platform Features, National Geographic

Department/Group Overview:

National Geographic Media is the publisher behind National Geographic's signature content, breathtaking photography, iconic magazine, and unsurpassed social media presence. This team is responsible for engaging our audience with fantastic storytelling and pulling them into a recurring revenue relationship with Nat Geo. The Nat Geo Media team covers everything on the consumer journey, from creating print, digital, and social content to generating awareness through social and newsletters, acquisition and retention marketing, print operations, international licensing, and digital platforms. Nat Geo Media aims to be the largest publisher for everyone passionate about exploring the world and learning how to care for it.

Situated within National Geographic Media’s Editorial team, the multi-platform content team is a key component of the editorial operation, developing and executing content across all subject matter for Nat Geo’s digital, mobile, and audio platforms, as well as its print products: National Geographic magazine, National Geographic History, National Geographic Kids, National Geographic Little Kids, Special Interest Publications, and dozens of international editions. The team consists of editors and writers who identify the stories we want to tell and conceptualize the best ways for them to be told—working in partnership with our creative and visual teams, digital specialists, and a network of external contributors—and then manage the creation of that content from start to finish, ensuring that our storytelling meets the highest standards of excellence and boldly challenges convention.

Job Summary:

The Director of Multi-Platform Features plays a leading role in conceptualizing and executing ambitious storytelling across the full spectrum of National Geographic’s core topic areas, from the planet’s ecosystems, geographies, and cultures to outer space; a variety of content types, from short-form reported pieces to long-form literary features to complex multimedia content packages; and audiences globally. You will manage an in-house team of editors and your own network of contributors to develop and bring to life story ideas that advance our storytelling, with a particular focus on our most in-depth and ambitious features. In addition to managing your own stories and projects and shaping those of your direct reports, you will also play a role in guiding and shaping feature content across the entire multi-platform team, helping to ensure best-in-class execution of the content we publish across all platforms. You will join the brand at a pivotal moment as we build on Nat Geo’s 135-year legacy and drive new approaches to how we conceive, create, and distribute content, to both satisfy loyal audiences and reach new ones in ever more compelling ways.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Manage a team of in-house editors in all aspects of editorial content creation, evaluating story ideas to determine story selection, guiding coverage plans and contributor selection by story, partnering with visual teams and others on how stories will come to life, and partnering with managing editor to ensure work is done within budget and on time

• Oversee the shaping and preparation of content for publication across all relevant platforms, managing other editors in their work, reading and (when necessary) doing additional text editing and/or writing display copy, giving feedback on photo edits and layouts, and partnering with managing editor on timelines

• Develop and edit your own pieces, with a focus on long-form literary reportage and multi-component content packages, particularly franchises, working with internal partners and external contributors to conceptualize and create

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum of 8 years of experience conceptualizing, commissioning, and editing text content for publishing and distribution across both print and digital platforms at consumer media brands, with deep hands-on experience developing complex editorial packages that combine assets of multiple media types beyond text (e.g., video, audio)

• Experience proactively developing, commissioning, and editing narrative-driven, literary reportage features over long lead times

• Experience managing and mentoring other editors and writers, guiding story development and making decisions on story selection, overseeing preparation for publishing, and reviewing content for quality

• An established personal network of well-regarded writers and other collaborators with whom you develop and execute content

• A well-developed eye for visual presentation and story packaging across print and digital platforms, and experience collaborating with visual editors and designers on visual-led storytelling

• Experience developing notable, successful editorial franchises and PR-worthy content for consumer media brands

• Fluency in publishing workflow tools (e.g., Adobe InCopy) and digital CMS

• Collaborative spirit and an ability to work well in a matrixed environment with a variety of stakeholders

• Ability to work efficiently within operational considerations (timing, budgets, etc.), prioritizing effort levels and tasks across multiple projects, and managing teams to deliver excellence within specific requirements

• Interest in National Geographic’s subject areas and its mission

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

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