Newsletters Director

Afar, the critically acclaimed travel media brand, is seeking a director of newsletters to lead growth, engagement, and monetization for Afar and its UK title, Suitcase. Reporting to the Editor in Chief, this senior leader will set the vision and strategy for our newsletter portfolio and drive success across established KPIs.

As Afar sharpens its newsletter strategy to deepen audience relationships, this role will be central in ensuring that newsletters reflect the ambition, voice, and values of Afar, while also aligning with business and product priorities to drive loyalty and regular readership from our growing audience. This role collaborates across teams, including sales and marketing, to cultivate new ideas, build new products, and deliver results. 

The right candidate is a strong manager and a strategic thinker who views the work of audience-building as a creative challenge. Impeccable judgement, excellent writing and editing skills, an affinity for data-driven decisions, and agility are a must.

Also a must: The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of Afar’s voice. We want someone who has a strong connection to our brand, thinks like an Afar traveler, and wants to help inspire and enable travel.

We seek someone with great editorial judgement and a keen sense for high-quality, smart writing, and how to package it in a compelling way, that most resonates in the inbox. Someone with a fount of ideas and the organizational ability to deliver on them. An entrepreneurial spirit and approach is essential. The right candidate for this role is a strategic and creative thinker; a proactive self-starter with a collaborative spirit, and a team player who finds satisfaction in both contributing ideas and doing the work to make them happen. You should be deeply invested in the newsletter subscriber lifecycle—how to draw new readers in, keep them engaged, and win them back when they become disengaged. You know how to balance editorial judgement with winning strategies for strong open rates and engagement metrics. 

• Collaborate across teams with executive stakeholders in editorial, marketing, and sales to develop and execute data-driven newsletter growth strategies that are consistent with Afar’s editorial mission and excellence.

• Work closely with Editor in Chief and Editorial Director (Digital) to brainstorm ideas for our newsletters that help our daily content, tentpoles, and recurring franchises make a splash and have a strong reach and impact on readers. 

• In collaboration with executive stakeholders, define our measurement and testing strategy.

• Oversee newsletter redesigns and strategy evaluations, keeping KPIs at the forefront of planning.

• Lead newsletter headline and subject line development to drive smart reader engagement (more consistent habit and repeat loyalty)

• In collaboration with the Editorial Director (Digital), sign off on monthly content  lineups with an eye to newsletter performance

• Work closely with business and sales teams to package and deliver against sponsorships across newsletters.

• Identify new growth opportunities and best practices based on emerging digital trends, competitive business intelligence, and consumer insight.

• Own the editorial roadmap for newsletters: develop and execute a long-term vision for tone, voice, format innovation, and reader value. 

• Ensure stylistic consistency across newsletters and maintaining a high bar for quality

• With stakeholders, shape ideas for new newsletters and refine existing products

• Create must-read products and continually look for opportunities to better engage subscribers through testing compelling subject lines, packaging, and curation.

• Experiment with new formats, such as asynchronous and pop-up newsletters

• Refine workflows and logistical processes and operations to ensure efficiency

• 2-3 years experience as a newsletter director at a media company

• Exceptional editorial judgement

• Organized and deadline oriented 

• Excellent communication skills and a collaborative approach; the ability to build bridges across the organization

• Confidence and experience making data-informed editorial decisions. You need to be as comfortable with the numbers and analysis as you are with creating clear, clean, and lively copy.

• Deep interest in and commitment to the newsletter form

• In-depth knowledge of digital analytics tools and a keen understanding of email KPIs

• Ability to clearly articulate and present initiatives to cross-functional teams

• Visual instinct a great plus

• Deep experience in headline and display writing

• Story packaging

• Idea development

• Organizing and developing content calendars

• Attending industry events and meetings

• Sharp line editing, copywriting, story shaping, and packaging skills

• Meticulous attention to detail and grammar

• Ability to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously

• Is comfortable working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment

• Ability to write clear, engaging copy and help others to do the same

• Excellent communication skills 

• Must have a passion for travel, and be interested in conceptualizing new and interesting ways to create travel storytelling