Freelance Senior Editor (London)

About Us

The Athletic is a digital sports media company that brings true sports fans closer to the athletes, teams and leagues that captivate their attention. We serve a multi-faceted audience that craves a richer connection and understanding with immersive storytelling and a like-minded community of fans. Founded in 2016 and with major operational hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Melbourne, we empower a truly global team of more than 600 creators and cover more than 250 professional sports and collegiate teams across the United States, Canada and the UK. Our newsroom has produced thousands of in-depth reports along with more than 120 podcasts and other forms of premium content. Put simply, The Athletic is at the center of a sports fan’s universe.

About The Role

The Athletic seeks a Senior Editor for its expanding betting desk, on a fixed term contract through May 2025, to support a commercial partnership. This is a senior role providing oversight of coverage around football/soccer within the betting vertical, with a focus on the English Premier League. The editor will be heavily involved in organization and planning, with an emphasis on editorial planning and reporter development. The candidate will also be involved in day-to-day coverage including editing, writing and publishing.

Responsibilities

• Manage a small team of reporters with an emphasis on the delivery of news, features and enterprise
• Assist with big-picture, conceptual vision of the desk, with an emphasis on the direction of local and national coverage
• Provide process and priorities to balance enterprise and news assignments
• Organize and structure consistent methods of feedback regarding direction of desk content and for reporting staff
• Maintain an understanding and proficiency of subscription and engagement metrics and SEO
• Report into leadership of global betting vertical, based in the US.
• Contribute to work in other sport areas, where needed
  
  
  

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in digital sports journalism
• Advanced ability to generate creative ideas and sustain long-term growth toward vision
• Works well with writers and editors; strong sense of how to take a single idea and develop it into a broader package
• Advanced understanding of the following editing tasks: copy editing, story structure, recognizing problematic sentences, style guidelines
• Ability to add context to stories, edit in the writer’s voice, ensure fairness, provide story structure
• High-end knowledge of professional football and familiarity with other sports
• Ability to mentor writers and more inexperienced editors, and deliver honest and timely feedback
• There may be some non-football work around major UK-based sporting events required
  
  
  

The Athletic offers unique perks and benefits to all full-time employees based on their country of residence. Our UK benefits packages offer benefits and perks, competitive to the local market.

The Athletic Media Company is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically encourages people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply. The Athletic will consider all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

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