A rare opportunity has arisen to join Wonkhe as an Associate Editor. We are looking for someone with a great passion for higher education policy and politics to join our small but dynamic team at an exciting time for Wonkhe and a moment of great change for UK higher education.
With a high level of autonomy, you will write, edit and commission articles that lead the UK higher education debate on Wonkhe.com, contribute to managing the editorial pipeline, write and edit our daily, weekly and termly email briefings and take part in The Wonkhe Weekly – our amazing new podcast.
You’ll contribute to flagship events including Wonkfest – the annual gathering of the higher education policy community in November – and as part of life in a small team, will be involved in supporting the full range of Wonkhe’s work, including building and managing relationships with external supporters and managing discrete projects and areas of work.
We are open-minded about your professional background or level of experience, but you will need written communication skills of the highest order – your editorial work will be read by our large and influential community across UK HE, policymaking, politics and the media. You’ll relish the opportunity to dig your teeth into complex issues and communicate your unique angle on them to a variety of different audiences. You’ll need to be a true wordsmith, have outstanding attention to detail and the ability to get it right first time.
In person, you will need to be prepared to explain policy issues to a diverse audience, from university governing bodies and senior teams to academics, students and professional specialist staff. You will need to speak publicly with confidence, addressing potentially complex or dry topics in a way that engages your audience.
As an Associate Editor, you will not only be a credible advocate for Wonkhe, but develop into a leader in the higher education community with a responsibility to inform and enliven the sector. You’ll need an entrepreneurial spirit, up for going the extra mile – whether that’s to get to the bottom of the latest policy development or delighting our readers, subscribers and wider community with insight and ideas delivered with verve.
In return you’ll have a high-profile position, enviable influence in higher education policy, flexible terms, supportive and equally enthusiastic colleagues, and probably the most fun job in UK HE today.
Duties
Writing – You will constantly be working on new articles for Wonkhe.com in a number of different mediums – longer features, shorter updates, fun pieces, some requiring in-depth research.
Email briefings – You will edit at least one Wonkhe Daily per week and provide support for ongoing production week-round through content development and other support. You will also provide editorial support to Wonkhe Mondays every week in writing, research, editing and technical production, occasionally taking a leading role when required.
Commissioning and editing articles – You will hunt for the new and previously unheard voices and perspectives from across the world of higher education, managing the entire commissioning process – from inception to publication including direct editorial (words, grammar, accuracy etc.) work on commissioned and unsolicited articles.
Social media – you will be required to contribute to Wonkhe’s social media presence in collaboration with other team members.
Reporting – You will be required to attend events, conferences, report launches etc. and provide reportage through our Live Blog or other mediums.
Other general editorial support – you will be required to contribute to the ongoing maintenance of the content calendar, pipeline, social media and intelligence grid. You will contribute to our podcast work and other larger editorial projects e.g. the Power List, one-off data-led investigations, occasionally taking a leading role.
Relationship management – you will work with other team members to provide an excellent experience for our many partners and supporters, taking a leading role in managing some relationships and contribute or lead on discrete projects e.g. written briefings, research projects, roundtable discussion events.
Other – as a small team, everyone mucks in on our big projects such as our major events, cross-cutting projects, and product development and you will need to work across a number of these sorts of things.
Person specification
Knowledge of and interest in UK higher education policy and politics (E)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentation skills (E)
Strong personal work ethic, able to work autonomously and as part of a close-knit team (E)
Organised, with the ability to determine priorities and deliver to a high standard, to tight deadlines (E)
Developed IT skills, able to work with web applications, cloud-based file sharing and collaborative editing systems (E)
Customer and/or relationship management skills (E)
Creative in coming up with ideas, skilled at problem-solving, with an entrepreneurial approach to your work (E)
Experience of writing for publication (D)
A developed network of contacts and relationships within UK higher education (D)
The details
This role reports to the Editor and is based in Wonkhe’s Central London office in Farringdon, giving you access to numerous professional and social engagements through the week, and the chance to meet interesting people from a wide variety of sectors based in our building.