We're hiring - in-house journalist / editorial consultant

In-House Journalist / Editorial Consultant

Red Setter is the firm that design agencies from London to New York, Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Sydney turn to when they want to grow their reputation and revenue. Based in central Brighton, our team of 19 PR specialists are the world’s leading experts in this market – and we’re looking to grow our team.

We have a clearly defined market – creative design agencies – and we know it well. We’re recognised in that market as the people to go to if you want to raise awareness, change perceptions, and support revenue or talent growth. We know how to put the right strategies together, and we know how to make them happen.

We lose few clients and win a steady stream of new ones through recommendation and referral. We have a solid client base, a stable, talented and experienced team, and a strong reputation in our market – we are now expanding and looking to offer an opportunity for someone to take their next step into their PR career and contribute to the future of our agency.

About the role

We are looking to hire an In-House Journalist – the job title will be Editorial Consultant – to take the lead on writing for a group of clients, and to play a pivotal role in a team of four.

Specific tasks will include:

1) Idea development

You’ll lead on the development of ideas through creative sessions with clients, adapting existing material, and spotting the media-worthy nuggets that crop up in everyday conversations.

Once you have unearthed and shaped those ideas, you’ll play them back to the client, helping them understand their relevance and value, and taking on board feedback to adapt and improve those ideas.

2) Writing

Typically, it’ll be news releases and think-pieces, but also shorter more tactical newsjacks and media commentary. We need someone who can combine an eye for a story and the skill to write it, with the business acumen to make sure it delivers our campaign strategy.

You’ll work with clients and colleagues to shape the news, ideas and opinions our clients give us into editorial that will grab the attention and interest of senior business leaders.

You’ll lead briefings, mainly with agency owners but also with their clients – industry leaders, founders, CMOs. Design impacts all areas of life and so do our clients, so you’ll be working at pace across a breadth of sectors from travel and tourism, to music and the arts, FMCG, fintech, property, business and so on.

You’ll ask the right questions, spot the interesting angles, and draw out the juiciest stories. Then you’ll do your desk research, adding credibility and colour through facts, supporting evidence and examples. Then you’ll craft editorial that stands out and delivers.

3) Media engagement

You’ll play your role in pitching editorial to the media. You’ll use your understanding of what journalists want, together with your contacts, to help our clients appear in leading business, vertical, marketing and creative media.

Over time you will proactively build a network of journalists who will come to depend on you for the highest quality editorial.

4) Coaching and collaboration

You’ll be working closely with your colleagues to deliver to an established and growing client base, and with the agency’s leadership to develop and deliver campaign strategy.

In your team you’ll be the editorial expert. We’ll look to you for advice, guidance and coaching on what we write, how we write it and how we pitch it to journalists.

More broadly, we need someone to play an active part in the day-to-day life and long-term development of our agency. You’ll help people out if they need it, you’ll be generous with your expertise and contacts, and you’ll generally be a fun person to work with.

5) Client liaison

All of our clients are retained, so you’ll work closely over the long term with a set group of 6-8 clients. You’ll play a key role in calls and meetings, leading the presentation of editorial activity and developing future plans with them.

Over time you’ll develop strong relationships with those clients and become their trusted editorial consultant – the person who helps them say what they want to say better than they can say it themselves.

What we’re looking for

This position will suit someone who has several years’ experience of journalism, and is looking to broaden their career into a role that will use all their editorial expertise and add in fresh dimensions like ghost-writing, media pitching, PR strategy, client liaison, coaching and collaboration, and so on.

The right person for this job will need to deliver in four key areas:

1. You’ll need to be a brilliant writer – our clients demand nothing less. You’ll need to be able to understand and convey what our client wants to say, as well as how they want to say it, whilst also ensuring it’s right for the media outlet. There are four people in this role in our team currently. Before joining us, one spent more than two decades writing for national newspapers, another was a former features editor of Buzzfeed who chairs panels at the Hay Festival, the third held editorial positions on titles like Design Week, Creative Review and Retail Week, and the fourth is widely recognised as one of the leading design and brand journalists worldwide.
2. You’ll need to love pitching ideas to the media. We’ll help you with the ideas, and we’ll train and coach you on how to do this well, but you’ll need to be the sort of person who’ll get a buzz out of doing this. The two people currently in this role worked for a time as freelancers, doing this sort of pitching for paid commissions, and it’s likely the right person for this role will also have that in their CV.
3. You’ll need to be confident, likeable and insightful in meetings with clients. You’ll be presenting ideas and leading creative sessions. You’ll be taking briefings on news releases and think-pieces, and playing a role in review and strategy meetings with clients, so we need someone who can ask the incisive questions, provoke the interesting thoughts, and contribute broadly to relationships.
4. Finally, you’ll be working as a part of a team of four, and as part of the broader company. Your team needs someone they enjoy working with, who brings fun and positivity to the working day, and someone they can rely on day in day out to deliver for them as much as they’ll deliver for you.

Further information

Red Setter is an exciting place to work. Our clients are some of the most brilliant, successful and ambitious design agencies in the world and they come to us for advice and assistance in growing their agencies to the next level. For the right person, being part of a team of experienced, committed, and talented experts who are making that happen is a real buzz.

It’s not easy. We’re demanding, and we expect high levels of performance, but we think we also give a lot in return.

This is a full-time (9am-5pm) role but we’re open to four days per week.

The annual salary begins at £35-45k dependent on experience.

From this starting point there is scope for progression and development. You will receive in-depth training and coaching from our Senior Editorial Consultant, and will steadily grow your skills, confidence and ability to deliver for our clients. We aim for everyone at Red Setter to always feel confident in what they’re doing whilst also feeling challenged to push themselves forwards.

We love our bright, modern office in the heart of (sometimes) sunny Brighton, and our whole team works flexibly, agreeing the right mix of in-office and remote working for them. Half of the people currently in this role are based elsewhere in the UK (East London and Oxfordshire).

Everyone has a monthly personal wellness and wellbeing budget which they can spend on the HEKA platform. We have a company pension scheme, a 25-day a year holiday allowance, and the day off on your birthday.

We have frequent social events – from after-work drinks on the beach to an annual overseas trip – Berlin in 2018, Madrid in October 2019…2020….2021…..we’re planning a big one for 2022! – and there’s a fun, happy and friendly vibe in the office.

Covering letters and CVs – tell us why you want to work at Red Setter to Alex Blyth – alex.blyth@redsetteragency.com