Editor, The Scene
RedPoint Media is seeking an Editor for a full-time position based in Calgary. This position will start immediately. RedPoint Media has a hybrid office setup offering employees the opportunity to work from home or from the co-working space at CSpace Marda Loop. Regular in-person team meetings and attendance at events are required. Salary will be commensurate with experience. This is a perfect role for an early-career self-starter who loves Calgary’s arts and culture and wants the opportunity to help grow this publication’s presence.
Our company
RedPoint Media Group Inc. is an award-winning publishing house and content-driven marketing studio in Calgary. You’ll be leading the team that creates our in-house brand, The Scene, Calgary’s Guide to Going Out, with stories about the city’s arts, culture, lifestyle, things to do and places to go. The Scene team also manages and edits The Scene’s online calendar of events and collaborates with several partners to edit and manage a shared database of event listings. Our company also creates Avenue magazine and custom publications for clients, including the Calgary Foundation and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
RedPoint’s mission is to create connected communities for all through trusted storytelling, and as a RedPoint employee, you’ll play a vital role in celebrating the city and its people.
The opportunity
The role of Editor, The Scene, encompasses three main areas of responsibility:
- ensure the quality of the editorial content across all channels;
- lead, develop and manage the creative team (including freelance and contract contributors and RedPoint staff);
- help to grow the business and represent the brand.
As Editor of The Scene, you will:
Ensure the quality of the editorial content, final responsibility for all published materials:
- Drive editorial quality across all platforms (print, digital, social, events) to enhance audience engagement and advertiser interest.
- Work to increase readership of the print and digital offerings with social media, event and distribution strategies created collaboratively with the publisher and creative team.
- Provide strategic plans and editorial line ups to the Publisher for approval.
- Maintain the editorial and art budgets and make the Publisher aware of any potential cost over-runs. Maintain meticulous records of contracts, POs and invoices and forward invoices to accounting in a timely manner.
- The editor is responsible for ensuring that all editorial functions are completed in a timely manner and within budget. Editorial functions include brainstorming story ideas; maintaining procedural documents and style guides; assigning stories; writing and research; substantive, style and copy editing; basic fact checking; proofreading
- Complete other duties as required
Lead, develop and manage the creative team:
- Lead and direct The Scene editorial, creative and digital teams, including freelance and contract contributors and RedPoint staff on a day-to-day and month-to-month basis.
- Oversee the Seeker event database contractors.
- Facilitate the sharing of event information across Seeker, Avenue and The Scene.
- Ensure the teams have the resources that they need to do their work at the necessary level.
- Manage, mentor and hire staff for the editorial, creative and digital teams as needed.
- Proactively seek out new contributors and freelancers and respond to pitches.
- Provide proactive as well as quarterly, and annual performance reviews as needed.
Help to grow the business and represent the brand:
- Develop strategies to grow the publication, website and related sub-brands to support the goal of having bigger books with better content, cover to cover.
- Work directly with the publisher to build and deepen community and partner relationships and to develop and support existing and new business.
- Lead the editorial, creative and events teams to create new programs and events with revenue opportunities.
- Work with partners including CJSW and Sled Island to represent the brand and participate in marketing opportunities such as recording weekly radio spots and introducing sponsor events.
- Ensure that sales and sponsorship materials for The Scene are executed in a timely manner.
- Ensure that timely updates are provided to the President on all areas of responsibility.
In this role, you are expected to:
- Complete your work on time to the best of your abilities within the time and resources available
- Do your work in a timely manner and communicate delays to affected team members
- Pro-actively suggest changes to processes and procedures to help create efficiencies and improvements
- Bring to the immediate attention of the publisher any time that your workload is too high for any reason in order for a contingency plan to be created together.
Our ideal candidate
As Editor of The Scene, you are passionate about the city’s arts and culture scene and have the expertise to write, assign and edit content that celebrates and highlights it. You are the person who is in the know when people ask, “What should I do tonight?” You have connections in Calgary’s music, film, theatre, dance and festival scenes. You are excited to grow a fairly new publication and to take on a wider role in the arts community. You are highly curious and enjoy going out to share knowledge. You understand what makes the city’s arts and culture scene unique and are passionate about sharing that with readers. You have experience leading and managing a team, as well as working with freelance writers and graphic designers. You can work efficiently under deadline pressure and are a collaborative team player.
You have:
- A proven ability to write and edit effectively — knowledge of journalistic practice and CP style is an asset
- experience working directly with writers to assign and edit work for publication
- experience leading and managing a project, including creating editorial lineups, workback schedules and assignment letters
- experience collaborating with graphic designers and art directors to ensure readability and brand vision
- a degree or diploma in journalism, communications or a related field, with three years of experience in the industry
- photography experience is an asset
- strong and informed ideas on how to move The Scene forward and grow the reach of the The Scene brand
- willingness to be out at events regularly representing The Scene
Experience with event planning and project management is an asset. Prior experience in the arts and culture sector, or as an artist or musician, is an asset. Experience with WordPress, InDesign, LightRoom and project management software is also an asset.
In order to fit into our team and be a strong contributor to RedPoint, you are:
- smart, professional and a lot of fun to work with
- passionate about the quality of your work
- interested in the city’s arts and culture scene and excited to share the stories that highlight and celebrate conversations about what is going on and why it matters in Calgary
- a self-starter who is reliable, consistent and can work to a deadline
- curious about the world around you with a way of looking at concepts, trends and ideas from new and unexpected angles
- dedicated to improving quality and concerned about the details
- very organized, with exceptional time-management skills.
Our RedPoint package
As a creative company, RedPoint provides a stimulating, supportive work environment with a vibrant atmosphere. We offer employees a flexible work schedule and competitive compensation. Employees are encouraged to give back to the community and the industry and to pursue their professional development.
To apply for this position please submit your resume, a cover letter and an outline for an issue of The Scene that has 17 pages of editorial content explaining your story ideas and why you think they are a fit for our readership.
