Newsletter Editor, Houston

Newsletter Editor, Houston

Who We Are

At COURIER, we empower people and communities to connect with the news, opportunities, and issues impacting their lives. We believe that giving local journalists stronger platforms, access to audience data, and opportunities to grow with (not against) changing social and online media trends can significantly impact civic participation in a state—and build a healthier democracy from the ground up. 

Through original reporting, news curation, presenter-led videos, and approachable explainers, we’re passionate about making the news real—and interesting—to our audience. We’re a rapidly growing team with new ideas on how to break through the political noise in an evolving media landscape—that includes social media platforms with zero fact-checks—and inspire people to take action. 

We think a lot about ways to build trust and deepen engagement with passive news consumers who typically get most of their news and information from social media and via newsletters. Our values-driven newsrooms work to highlight the forces that shape our lives while calling attention to the impacts of policy-making and political action on the local level.

COURIER is currently seeking a Houston-based Newsletter Editor to join our Texas newsroom and launch two new newsletter products for the region. 

Job Description

COURIER is currently seeking a Newsletter Editor who will take the lead on their Houston regional newsroom’s flagship email product—ensuring it delivers an approachable blend of local news, political coverage, and lifestyle stories—while developing their own branded product, all in service of driving subscriber growth and long-term engagement.

This person will be responsible for:

1. writing and curating content for the state newsletter (which will publish five times a week) alongside an additional email product aimed at reaching a niche audience
2. working closely with our Newsletter Product Manager to experiment with different ways to market and grow their subscriber lists
3. using audience feedback and engagement metrics such as open rates to refine content strategy and improve reader satisfaction. 

The Newsletter Editor will also work closely with the COURIER Texas’ Social Marketing Strategist to think about ways to expand the reach of their products, and that may include producing presenter-led videos and other multimedia content for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or other social platforms.

The ideal person understands that A/B testing and audience segmentation are just as important as finding the right stories to tell, and may even have a history of executing similar audience-focused products that successfully drove revenue. They also know that a successful newsletter is more than great content—it includes thinking about audience growth, developing a marketing strategy, and using audience insights to drive long-term engagement.

In addition to managing and evolving our flagship newsletter, the Newsletter Editor will also be asked to pitch, pilot, and launch a new niche newsletter product; publish original reporting, wire and/or Creative Commons articles to the newsroom’s website; and update the homepage regularly.

Additionally, this person will be one of the newest members of COURIER Texas. We’re a fully remote team, but applicants must live in the Houston area. 

Duties include but are not limited to: 

• Write, curate, and build our flagship newsletter, ensuring it’s engaging, informative, and aligned with audience needs
• Own newsletter growth and retention, experimenting with different marketing strategies to expand our subscriber base.
• Analyze audience data (open rates, click-through rates, subscriber trends) and implement A/B testing, audience segmentation, and other optimizations to improve performance.
• Pitch, pilot, and launch new niche newsletter products
• Lead initiatives aimed at better understanding our audience, such as polls and surveys, and utilizing those learnings to inform content strategy
• Develop distribution strategies to ensure the newsletter(s) reaches new audiences, including cross-promotions, partnerships, and organic growth tactics.
• Edit and publish wire, freelance, and content partnership content 
• Film and edit presenter-led videos and/or voice-overs for multimedia content that publishes on the newsroom’s social platforms in order to market the newsletter
• Create simple graphics, such as headline and quote cards, in Canva

The ideal candidate will have:

• A passion for building long-term engagement with a target audience by way of a news or cultural product.
• Experience in newsletter writing, editing, or production, ideally in a newsroom, media organization, or audience-driven content role.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with at least 3+ years of audience-centered reporting in Houston or curating content for highly engaging newsletter products
• Familiarity with using email analytics and performance metrics, including the ability to analyze open rates and click-through rates, to optimize content accordingly
• Experience using an email service provider such as Mailchimp, Substack, Sailthru, Campaign Monitor, or similar tools
• An eagerness to collaborate with other Newsletter Editors within our network to share best practices and learnings
• The ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary stakeholders across the company, including members of the social, marketing, and revenue teams
• Familiarity with tools like Canva, Capcut, Descript, etc., to support social content production 
• A strong grasp on AP style.
• The ability to manage multiple editorial projects in a fast-paced environment.

Courier Newsroom offers the following benefits: 

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), 11 paid holidays a year 
• Full suite of health benefits 
• Flexible working arrangements

COURIER is an equal opportunity employer. Women, people of color, those with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly urged to apply. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical conditions.

Compensation$65,000 - $80,000