Food, drink and Manchester life writer

Do you want to work in one of the country's most vibrant newsrooms, covering the best city in the world?

The Manchester Evening News is already the largest regional website in the country with a huge audience - but we want to get even bigger.

As a food, drink and Manchester life writer, you will create compelling, original content which you will publish on our website and app.

We are looking at a candidate with excellent storytelling abilities, strong social media skills who understands or is prepared to learn about the food, drink and entertainment scene in Manchester. The successful candidate will be versatile, capable of writing Manchester zeitgeist content.

We are Reach because it's what we do.

Every day our newsbrands - national and regional, in print and online - reach millions of people up and down the country. We are the UK's largest news publisher, with influential national newsbrands such as the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Sunday People, Daily Record, and more than 100 distinguished regional titles.

Our brands have a long heritage of being trusted sources of news and information, with our editorial conviction and high standards of journalism providing audiences with timely information and opinion across multiple platforms.

Last year we sold 540 million newspapers, and our network of over 70 websites provide 24/7 coverage of news, sport and showbiz stories, viewed by 110m unique browsers every month.

• Source, create, produce and share engaging food, drink and entertainment content with an authentic Manchester voice
• Work as part of a team that creates reads about all aspects of Manchester
• Life including long reads, TV, showbiz, parenting, property
• Be comfortable writing about urban and lifestyle trends in and around Manchester
• Build and maintain a network of contacts across the city
• Become the expert in your area of expertise, building a following and audience for your content
• Play an active part in helping your content reach its audience by sharing it in the right places and engaging with your audience
• Build relationships and engage with readers to help understand what really matters to people in Manchester
• Work with the search editor to ensure we have the right content ahead of big Manchester events
• Publish content to a high standard with pictures, video, audio, strong headlines and an understanding of SEO where necessary
• Manage relevant site sections and social feeds
• Use analytics to inform content decisions
• Write and share content in a way which meets standards set by the business in terms of quality, consistency, legal accuracy and IPSO compliance
• Maintain a thorough, up-to-date knowledge of media law and IPSO code
• Ensure appropriate and responsible use of social media in line with Reach Plc policies and strategic goals
• Undertake company/editorial projects and any other duties from time to time as reasonably requested by management
  
  

• A Reach Plc or equivalent journalist qualification (or relevant time-served experience)
• Strong storytelling ability
• An inquiring mind and a fascination with people
• The ability to generate ideas that engage and delight our audience
• Excellent writing skills
• The ability to build a strong and trusted network of contacts
• Digital skills including experience of using web publishing systems and SEO
• Strong understanding of social media
• First-class organisational skills
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both verbal and written
• Ability to use and apply learning through digital analytics
• Adaptable, creative, flexible with lots of flair
• A positive, can-do attitude
• Ability to work well as part of a team
• Ability to work quickly and effectively under deadline pressure
• Excellent attention to detail
• Self-motivated and able to take instruction as well as manage own workload efficiently
• Up-to-date knowledge of media law and IPSO code
• Full driving licence

In addition to competitive salaries, bonus structures (if applicable) and a contributory pension scheme, Reach plc offer a whole host of voluntary flexible benefits. These include a car scheme, holiday purchase, childcare vouchers, cycle scheme, staff discounts, season tickets & parking loans and an employee assistance programme.

We are committed to equal opportunity for all. We may collect relevant data for monitoring as part of our candidate registration process. We will be reviewing applications as they are received so please don't delay in submitting your application.