Managing Editor – The Grocer

William Reed; Guildford; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading media company is seeking a Managing Editor to oversee daily operations of its magazine, ensuring high editorial standards and effective management of the editorial team. The role involves strategic input, team leadership, and content optimization across digital and print platforms. Candidates should have extensive experience in B2B journalism and strong people management skills. This hybrid role allows part-time remote work and requires one day at the Gatwick office.

Qualifications

• Extensive B2B journalism and editing experience.
• Strong commissioning, editing, and rewriting skills.
• Excellent speed, flexibility, and creativity.

Responsibilities

• Uphold high editorial standards and ensure accurate journalism.
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the print magazine and digital content.
• Contribute to strategic direction and brand positioning.

Skills

B2B journalism and editing experience

Commissioning and editing skills

People management and motivational skills

Understanding of online and social media

Job description

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The Grocer is looking for an outstanding business journalist and editor, to take responsibility for the magazine’s day-to-day operations, working alongside the Editor-in-Chief and Editor of thegrocer.co.uk to help steer The Grocer through its continued evolution as a highly successful, fully paid-for publication.

With a 27-strong editorial team, and working across print, online and newsletter publications, this is a big job, with high standards to maintain, new challenges to tackle and new opportunities that need to be explored to ensure we meet the needs of our audience and continue to build on our legacy, which dates back to 1862.

But it’s worth it! The Grocer covers a wide range of topics – the economy, health & obesity, food safety, entrepreneurship, online, sustainability, technology (including AI), new product development, marketing & advertising, supply chain, pay & remuneration – and its coverage is highly valued by its readers and regularly picked up by the national and even international media.

What you’ll be doing:

The Managing Editor reports into the Editor-in-Chief and is responsible for running the day-to-day operations of a) the print magazine in general b) our product & supplier coverage c) our Special Reports and Focus Ons. Your role is to:

• Uphold the high editorial standards set by The Grocer, ensuring that our journalism is accurate, robust, authoritative and fair
• Ensure The Grocer is run efficiently and effectively in terms of briefing, planning, workflow and production, with direct responsibility for product & supplier news and features
• Manage a team of editors and journalists, proofing and signing off copy, while empowering the team to take responsibility for their work where appropriate
• Maintain and develop solutions that maximise commercial opportunities (while retaining editorial independence)
• Optimise content to achieve maximum success in digital forms and formats, while making best use of digital tools and software where appropriate to enhance the offer
• Manage our regular columnists, and finding new ones, to ensure that The Grocer is full of interesting, topical and well-read comment and opinion
• Contribute to the strategic direction and brand positioning of The Grocer as it evolves as a multi-platform publication, so that the title fulfils the needs of its readers on a daily and weekly basis, across digital and print
• Deputise for the Editor-in-Chief of The Grocer in conjunction with the Editor of thegrocer.co.uk
• Represent The Grocer in the media, chairing awards panels, conferences and webinars, attending conferences

Requirements

What you’ll need:

• Extensive B2B journalism and editing experience
• Strong commissioning, editing, rewriting skills across news, features and opinion
• Excellent skills, speed, flexibility and creativity
• Superb people management and motivational skills
• Strong delegation skills, but also a willingness to sweat the details
• An understanding of online, audio-visual and social media
• Knowledge of retail, food & drink, fast moving consumer goods etc is not essential, but will clearly be welcome.

Location: Hybrid – In line with our current agile working policy, the successful candidate will be eligible to work part of the week from our Gatwick and/or London offices and to work remotely for the rest of the week. This will include one day in Gatwick and the other office days in Gatwick or London. For commuting to the Gatwick office, we have a minibus service which provides convenient transportation to and from the nearest station (Three Bridges) at the start and end of each day.