Managing Editor

Who We Are

Planetizen is the most visited urban planning website in the United States, providing training, news, jobs, and continuing education across multiple products and services. Planetizen publishes 40 times a week, including news, analysis, and commentary, in addition to hosting regularly updated jobs and events boards. Planetizen Courses provides the leading online professional education website for planners and urban designers, with 350+ of high quality video courses available to subscribers and a publication schedule that totals 20-25 new courses every year. Planetizen is also growing into the number one video resource for planners. The Planetizen team works in a collaborative and entrepreneurial environment, where team members are encouraged to continue to learn, grow, and implement new ideas.
 

Opportunity 

The Planetizen Managing Editor will be tasked with delivering value to a large audience of professional and passionate individuals, with responsibility for all content created for the Planetizen and Planetizen Courses platforms. This position will lead content strategy and execution to improve the quality of the content on both platforms, and identify and implement best practices and innovations to grow the audience and retain Planetizen's brand authority.

Responsibilities

• Editorial Strategy & Leadership: 
  • Develop and execute a data-driven editorial strategy for Planetizen websites, products, and publications. Set goals and define the editorial direction. Prioritize content activities for the team. 
  • Manage the content budget as part of the broader Planetizen financial picture and goals.
  • Represent the content team on Planetizen’s leadership team. 
  • Report on key projects and metrics weekly, lead and participate in planning for each quarter and year, and solve key issues. 
  • As needed, collaborate with marketing, sales, and product teams to achieve shared company goals.
     
• Editorial Planning & Execution: 
  • Manage and refine editorial calendars. 
  • Curate, write, and edit news, features, blogs, and other content. 
  • Network with, recruit, contract, and coordinate with writers, instructors, partners, and creators to ensure a consistent and timely flow of editorial content on Planetizen.com and video courses on Planetizen Courses. 
  • Participate in social media and YouTube video production, including scripting.
     
• Content Quality: 
  • Leverage planning subject matter expertise and ensure content relevance and quality to a national planning audience. 
  • Monitor the planning media landscape and stay informed of the latest news, developments, and trends in planning.
     
• Team Management: 
  • Manage and support the Editor and Video Producer & Editor to meet department and company goals.
  • Conduct weekly 1:1 meetings, ensure priorities and deadlines are understood, and work product is high quality. 

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant experience. 
• Background in and passion for urban planning and familiarity with the planning media landscape. 
• Strong editing and writing skills; online journalism or communications experience preferred. 
• Demonstrated success growing a media website. 
• Technical skills like content management systems, SEO, and data analytics. 
• Strong prioritization, project management, organization, and follow-through. 
• Experience managing and collaborating with teams. 
• Familiarity with digital tools like Google Suite, Slack, Zoom, Jira, Notion, Adobe Creative Suite, Analytics, content management systems, and more. 
• Enthusiasm for learning about all aspects of growing a business.
   

Success Metrics

In the first 30 days 

• Become an expert in Planetizen products.
• Understand editorial metrics, including traffic trends. 
• Contribute 5-10 news posts per week.

In the first 90 days 

• Create a content strategy to achieve Planetizen’s traffic goals and prioritize editorial activities for the team accordingly. 
• Work with the Editor and external contributors to determine distribution of editorial output. 
• Work with contractors to lead pre-production for your first Planetizen courses. 

In the first year

• Execute content strategy to grow website traffic, increasing annual page views on Planetizen.com by 18% from 2024.

Location & Availability

• Available 9am - 6pm in any U.S. time zone
• Our office is located in sunny Los Angeles, CA. This position is available for fully remote or hybrid work.

Compensation

• $70k - $115k base salary
• Paid time off (15 days increasing to 20 after four years)
• Holiday time off (~10 days per year).
• Medical, Dental & Vision insurance (Employer selected plan, paid at 95%)
• Company-sponsored 401(k) plan with employer match (after 60 days).
• Performance and compensation reviews annually.
   

About Planetizen 

• Planetizen is a community of planning intelligence—a one-stop source for planning news, editorials, book reviews, jobs, and education. https://www.planetizen.com/ 
• Planetizen Courses is one of Planetizen's most successful products, with more than 300 courses published online and available to subscribers.
• Planetizen Courses are generally available for continuing education credits. Planetizen Courses instructors include some of the biggest names in the field, such as Donald Shoup, Angie Schmitt, Lance Freeman, Jenny Schuetz, and Emily Talen.
• The Planetizen and Urban Insight team totals more than 30 employees working all over the United States.
   

Why Work at Planetizen

• Join a collaborative, resourceful, tenacious, and growth-oriented team where your contributions make an impact.
• We work with you to create a career path catered to you.
• Average employee tenure is 6.5 years.
• We're stable. We've been in business for 25 years, and continue to grow each year.
• We offer a casual and flexible working environment. We believe in life/work balance.
• The right candidate will find numerous opportunities for growth.
• We allocate time for training and professional development.

To Apply
Please apply on this page (https://careers.planetizen.com/apply/YzMvTodLdH/Managing-Editor). This position is open until filled.
Thank you for your interest in working with us at Planetizen.