Head of Recommended

Role purpose and overview

Telegraph Recommended is highly trusted by our audience to recommend purchases. The increased quality and frequent updates of our Recommended editorial has delivered on and increased that trust, while also delivering affiliate revenue. 

We have ambitions to invest and develop Telegraph Recommended into a major channel for the website over the next few years, and are looking for a new senior editorial lead to build and develop the channel. 

You will be a journalist at heart, with a proven track record of building and running a large scale editorial reviews team, working closely with SEO, analytics and commerce teams to deliver lifestyle content with editorial integrity that drives audience engagement, rankings and ultimately revenues.

Deep professional knowledge and a thorough understanding of the publishing industry and how editorial content delivers in an ecommerce environment will be required. The successful candidate will need to have significant experience in lifestyle editorial, with a bulging contacts book of PRs and reviews experts in all lifestyle categories, as well as a detailed understanding of how to achieve and maintain top rankings in Google for our reviews and how to optimise editorial content to reach audience targets.

We are looking for someone with the ability to lead and manage a busy team, and to develop a streamlined way of working at pace whilst keeping the editorial quality high, who can train and mentor the team in delivering SEO-optimised editorial and who can manage the editorial spending effectively. 

They will need to have developed and managed detailed content plans by category in the past and to have developed product testing processes and scoring methodologies.

Key responsibilities

• Run Telegraph Recommended channel, building audience for our reviews and scaling the operation to deliver a high volume of quality editorial reviews, with top notch creative and an optimum user experience
• Responsible for the overall strategy for Recommended output and leading the liaison with the commerce and SEO teams so they can deliver the required revenues from Recommended reviews. 
• Developing strategies to target subscribers, as well as infrequent news readers and non-Telegraph readers, who are researching purchases. 
• Support the existing team in evolving our current scoring approach to build a robust testing methodology and guidance for expert reviews, striking a balance between sufficient rigour to be trusted without overburdening the process and moving too slowly.
• Plan and execute a new Triple check guarantee: curated by The Telegraph, tested by experts, validated by readers 
• Work with Product and Design to deliver quality visuals to show how we test (images and video)
• Manage the relationship with SEO for all Recommended reviews, working closely with them to achieve optimal results
• Oversee a wide group of freelance experts and testers
• Create and manage detailed category content plans, in conjunction with SEO and Commerce, for the key areas of Home (kitchen appliances, home appliances, sleep), Outdoors (outdoor living, garden equipment), Consumer Tech (mobiles, computing & gaming, home entertainment) and Personal (beauty tech, health tech, exercise & fitness)
• Create content strategies for major shopping events (Prime Day, Black Friday, Christmas)
• Develop diverse audience channels (newsletters, social)
• Work with Lifestyle leaders to plan how we surface content in relevant channels as well as in Recommended hub

Key skills

Essential:

• Experience of working with commercial teams in an editorial capacity
• An energetic approach and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment 
• A passion for creating useful editorial reviews for a wide audience
• Considerable SEO experience, analysing and interpreting data 
• Ability to examine and interpret analytical tools and use them to drive improvements
• Experience of managing a large editorial team (10+)
• Experience of scaling a small operation successfully
• Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise deadlines
• Excellent communication skills, managing stakeholder relationships at all levels
• Proven experience of working collaboratively with multiple teams and stakeholders
• Ability to train and mentor the editorial team on creating SEO-optimised content

Desirable:

• An understanding of the Telegraph brand and audience.
• An understanding of the competitive landscape, and the drive to maintain and extend our lead over competitors

Our benefits

The nature of our industry means life at the Telegraph Media Group is fast-paced, demanding, and interesting. We also want it to be rewarding for everyone who works here by creating a suite of benefits that contribute to lifestyle choices and leisure activities. From dynamic working opportunities, medical cover, and parental leave (six months fully paid maternity leave and enhanced paternity/partner leave), to life assurance and season ticket loans, you can choose from a range of flexible benefits, designed to support your lifestyle and help you achieve a healthy work-life balance.

Training and development

With support from your manager and colleagues, you’ll also have access to a variety of training and development opportunities through The Academy. Covering a range of personal and professional skills, our courses enable you to develop an enjoyable and rewarding career.

Our commitment to inclusion

At Telegraph Media Group, we foster a diverse and inclusive workplace and we are committed to building a team that reflects a wide variety of skills, perspectives and backgrounds. We believe in equality of opportunity and welcome candidates from all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.

We are proud to be a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader as part of the government’s Disability Confident Scheme. If you are disabled or have a long-term health condition and would like support in applying for any of our roles or if you require any reasonable adjustments in the recruitment process with us, please make us aware.

To find out more about Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Telegraph Media Group, and for more information on our purpose, beliefs, and people values, please visit our website.

Last updated on Aug 20, 2024