Editor – Social Platforms & Audience Engagement

Position description

[If you want to, you may re-apply (or not) for this position even if you had applied on LinkedIn or through our website the first time this job was posted.]

LOCATION: Nairobi, Kenya

DEADLINE: Dec 10, 2025

Defrontera is a digital-first, nonprofit media organisation reporting on global health, medicine, and life sciences with depth, data, and narrative power. Our audience is policymakers in Kenya and Africa, practitioners in global health, and the public through impactful, open-access journalism.

We are seeking a sharp, creative, and metrics-driven audience engagement editor to lead how Defrontera appears across our digital platforms.Our stories span short features, long-form investigations, data-rich explainers, podcasts, and policy commentary—your role is to

1. Make this work resonate online and connect it with the audiences who need it most by blending editorial creativity, technical fluency, and audience strategy.

2) Manage our social channels, lead the weekly newsletter, optimise content for distribution, and track engagement to help shape future publishing decisions.

3) Aact as a bridge between Defrontera and its communities—gathering feedback, sourcing insights, and building relationships with health professionals, journalists, and policy actors online.

4) At times, also produce original stories exclusively for social platforms.

The ideal candidate is a digital native who thrives on experimentation, understands the rhythms of news and public interest content, and can translate complex health topics into compelling social narratives.

While this is a journalistic role, we welcome applicants from marketing or communications backgrounds who can demonstrate a strong grasp of how digital storytelling and audience engagement.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING AS AN AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR

Social Strategy and Execution

• Design and implement channel-specific strategies for X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and emerging platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
• Develop Defrontera’s off-platform voice: bold, data-informed, and grounded in lived experience.
• Produce visual and text-based social content: carousels, reels, quote cards, audiograms, LinkedIn, and short videos.
• Collaborate with editors and designers to package stories and investigations into accessible, story-first content.
• Write compelling headlines and descriptions optimised for sharing and discoverability.

Newsletter Production and Distribution

• Alongside the editorial team, curate and write Defrontera’s weekly email newsletter with a mix of reporting, curated links, and updates.
• Manage the delivery platform (Mailchimp) and segment audiences as we grow.
• Track newsletter open and click rates and iterate on tone, format, and subject lines.

Audience Analytics and Optimisation

• Use platform analytics, GA4, and newsletter metrics to track performance.
• Run experiments on headlines, visuals, post timing, or platform-specific hooks.
• Share insights regularly with editorial and MEL teams—what worked, what didn’t, and why.
• Contribute metadata suggestions (titles, descriptions, tags) to improve SEO and social sharing.

Community Listening and Feedback

• Monitor health and policy conversations on social media to identify relevant trends, story ideas, and framing cues.
• Engage followers and partners—respond to messages, tag relevant organisations, and amplify trusted voices.
• Collect qualitative feedback and build insights into editorial planning.

Internal Collaboration & Workflow

• Maintain a social content calendar and coordinate the publishing schedule across teams.
• Participate in editorial meetings to pitch social extensions and advocate for the audience lens.
• Support team members to adapt or repurpose stories for social media or newsletters.
• Ensure all off-platform content upholds Defrontera’s values and editorial standards

Public Representation (as needed)

• Represent Defrontera at virtual or live events (e.g., launches, webinars).
• Host or support live social formats like X Spaces or LinkedIn Lives.
• Contribute to building Defrontera’s visibility with key partners and communities.

Bonus Points If You…

• Have experience using visual tools (Canva, Figma, Adobe)
• Have worked in a newsroom or nonprofit/health setting.

When does the candidate report? Most likely in January

NB: While you can consult AI to help your Application, do not submit an application written wholly by AI.

Application instructions

Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on geopolist.com