Deputy Director of Platforms, Evenings, NBC News Digital

NBCUniversal•Universal City, CA

17h•Hybrid

About The Position

NBC News Digital is seeking a deputy director of owned platforms to lead its evening shift. This role is crucial for a 24/7 operation that delivers NBC News' journalism to millions across its homepage, app, alerts, social media, newsletters, and partner platforms. As one of three deputy directors, this individual will oversee platforms coverage during the evening hours, ensuring timeliness, competitiveness, and alignment with newsroom priorities and audience needs. The position involves guiding real-time editorial decisions, maintaining high coverage standards independently, and preparing platforms for the next news cycle. Collaboration with the director of owned platforms and fellow deputies is key to executing platform strategy, maintaining consistent standards, and improving journalism presentation and distribution. The role also requires partnering with evening news editors, news and politics editors, photo and video desks, and TV producers. Additionally, this role oversees the production of the Morning Rundown newsletter, ensuring accuracy and relevance. A significant part of the role involves managing the daily handoff to the NBC News London team, ensuring a smooth transition and clear communication of priorities. The ideal candidate is an experienced editor with a passion for storytelling and a strategic approach to audience engagement across platforms. This is a management role based in Los Angeles, requiring strong communication, multitasking, decisiveness under pressure, and the ability to foster a collaborative culture with clear coaching and feedback.

Requirements

8 years in a digital newsroom
A strong understanding of the digital distribution ecosystem and SEO best practices
Experience using newsroom tools such as Chartbeat, Parse.ly, Google Trends, Google Analytics, Taboola Newsroom and SocialFlow
Experience writing for different audiences and an understanding that not all stories will be successful on every platform, but that appropriate framing for different spaces can make all the difference

Nice To Haves

Experience news editing and managing is preferred
An insatiable curiosity for digital audiences and how they consume content across different platforms
Excellent communication skills and diplomacy
The ideal candidate feels comfortable giving feedback to peers and can delicately navigate the dynamics of a large newsroom
Flexibility and creativity: The ideal candidate is a problem-solver who can roll with the punches and adjust when the newscycle upends the most carefully laid plans

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary editorial lead for the evening shift, making real-time decisions on coverage, placement and alerts
Oversee platforms coverage during late-night hours, operating as the lead decision-maker when much of the newsroom is offline
Manage and coach editors on the platform team, setting clear expectations and elevating performance through feedback and development
Anticipate major stories and events during the evening window and plan coverage accordingly, while pivoting quickly when news breaks
Partner with fellow deputy directors to ensure consistency in editorial standards, workflows and platform execution across all shifts
Contribute to the development and refinement of platform strategies and best practices
Lead evening planning for the platforms team, including setting priorities and delegating assignments
Oversee the production and editorial quality of the Morning Rundown newsletter
Ensure a smooth and effective handoff of coverage to NBC News’ London team, clearly communicating priorities and ongoing stories
Write and edit eye-catching copy for NBC News’ homepage, app, social platforms, newsletters, alerts, and more
Help develop and refine distribution strategies and playbooks for breaking news, original reporting and enterprise reporting with the aim to grow our evening audience
Champion and help evolve the newsroom’s best practices, from headlines to social and SEO copy to planning and distribution practices