Growth Editor, Free Expression

Dow Jones & Co.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 115,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare plans

Paid time off

Retirement plans

Comprehensive insurance plans

Wellbeing resources

Education benefits

Family care benefits

Job summary

Dow Jones is seeking a Growth Editor for Free Expression, a daily newsletter, to own audience-growth strategy and build a direct relationship with readers. You will work across editorial, audience, product, marketing and contributor development in our NYC office.

You will lead experiments across Substack, Notes, and cross-promotion, identify high-potential contributors, and measure success by engagement and subscription outcomes.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in audience development and newsletter growth.
• Experience growing an audience on Substack or a comparable platform.
• Strong editorial judgment and data-driven approach.
• Ability to collaborate across editorial, product, marketing and analytics teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the Free Expression growth strategy and reader acquisition plan.
• Make Free Expression native to Substack and manage cross-promotion.
• Test new channels and partnerships to build a repeatable playbook.
• Partner with editors and writers to sharpen themes and publishing rhythms.
• Identify high-potential contributors and build audience franchises across formats.
• Track performance across Substack, site, and social; run experiments.
• Judge growth by quality and link gains to subscription outcomes.

Skills

Audience development

Newsletter growth

Digital publishing

Platform strategy

Editorial judgment

Analytics

Cross-functional collaboration

Writing & editing

Tools

Substack

Job description

Dow Jones & Co.

Since 1882, Dow Jones has been finding new ways to bring information to the world's top business entities. Beginning as a niche news agency in an obscure Wall Street basement, Dow Jones has grown to be a worldwide news and information powerhouse, with prestigious brands including The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Barron's, MarketWatch and Financial News.

This longevity and success is due to a relentless pursuit of accuracy, depth and innovation, enhanced by the wisdom of past experience and a solid grasp on the future ahead. More than its individual brands, Dow Jones is a modern gateway to intelligence, with innovative technology, advanced data feeds, integrated solutions, expert research, award-winning journalism and customizable apps and delivery systems to bring the information that matters most to customers, when and where they need it, every day.

Dow Jones, Making Careers Newsworthy

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

EEO/AA/M/F/Disabled/Vets.

Dow Jones is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities, in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application, due to a disability, email us at [e-mail]. Please put “Reasonable Accommodation in the subject line.

NYC - 1211 Ave of the Americas

Full time

Job Description

About the Team

The Wall Street Journal is a global news organization that provides leading news, information, commentary and analysis. The Wall Street Journal engages readers across print, digital, mobile, social, podcast and video. Building on its heritage as the preeminent source of global business and financial news, the Journal includes coverage of U.S. & world news, politics, arts, culture, lifestyle, sports, and health. It holds 38 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism. The Wall Street Journal is published by Dow Jones, a division of News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV).

The WSJ Opinion section has long served as a forum for intelligent, values-driven commentary, dedicated to advocating a consistent philosophy that can be summed up as 'free markets, free people.' While we aim to persuade, every word we publish is the product of rigorous reporting, research and debate. WSJ Opinion offers sharp, original analysis and strong points of view on the news of the day.

About the Role

Free Expression is a daily newsletter on American life, politics, and culture from the Opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal. With over 100K highly engaged readers, we are looking for someone to build a direct audience relationship that starts with free reach and leads to paid value.

The Growth Editor will own the audience-growth strategy for the newsletter, with particular responsibility for turning Substack into a scalable engine for acquisition and engagement. The role sits where editorial, audience, product, marketing, and contributor development meet, and is accountable for reaching, converting, and retaining new audiences well beyond the existing WSJ ecosystem while protecting the editorial distinctiveness and credibility that set Free Expression apart. This role works in our NYC office.

You Will

• Own the Free Expression growth strategy - the plan, goals, and operating cadence for acquiring, engaging, converting, and retaining readers - building toward a target of roughly 2,500 net-new Substack readers per week.
• Make Free Expression native to Substack: own the homepage, Notes, comments, recommendations, cross-promotion, and community, and use recommendation swaps, restacks, cross-posting, and contributor-led promotion to compound reach.
• Test new distribution channels, partnerships, and audience segments, and turn what works into a repeatable playbook that can inform future Dow Jones newsletter products.
• Partner with Opinion editors and writers to sharpen the newsletter's anchor themes and point of view, give each edition a clear reason to run that day, and build recurring franchises and publishing rhythms readers learn to anticipate.
• Identify high-potential contributors and help turn them into recognizable audience brands, with activation across bylines, promotion, community, audio, video, and live events.
• Track performance across Substack, the newsletter, the site, and social - list growth, acquisition source, engagement, conversion, and churn - and run experiments that improve content, packaging, cadence, and promotion.
• Judge growth by quality as well as volume, and work with analytics, product, marketing, and finance to connect audience gains to subscription outcomes, including the decision framework for a future paid model.

You Have

• Significant experience in audience development, newsletter growth, digital publishing, creator media, platform strategy, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience growing an audience on Substack or a comparable platform, with deep familiarity with its mechanics - recommendations, Notes, restacks, cross-promotion, comments, and community.
• Strong editorial judgment, including the ability to distinguish content that is merely popular from content that builds a durable reader relationship.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with audience data, dashboards, experimentation, and performance metrics.
• The ability to work effectively across editorial, product, marketing, analytics, and commercial teams without formal authority.
• Excellent writing, editing, packaging, and communication skills.
• Experience developing contributor-, creator-, or talent-led franchises.
• Experience connecting audience growth to subscription and retention outcomes.
• A genuine interest in independent voices, ideas, debate, and the role of journalism in a free society.

Our Benefits

• Comprehensive Healthcare Plans
• Paid Time Off
• Retirement Plans
• Comprehensive Insurance Plans
• Lifestyle Programs & Wellness Resources
• Education Benefits
• Family Care Benefits & Caregiving Support
• Commuter Transit Program
• Subscription Discounts
• Employee Referral Program
• Financial Health Programs
• Cybersecurity Protection

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. EEO/Disabled/Vets

Reasonable Accommodation

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application or participating in an interview due to a disability, email us at [e-mail]. Please put "Reasonable Accommodation" in the subject line and provide a brief description of the type of assistance you need. This inbox will not be monitored for application status updates.

Please refer to the privacy notice at the bottom of this page for submitting any data access, deletion, or other data subject rights requests, where permitted under your local laws and regulations.

Business Area

Dow Jones - Editorial

Job Category

Editorial/Journalism

Union Status

Non-Union role

Base Pay Range: $115,000 - $140,000

We're committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation to attract top talent. This pay range reflects our good faith estimate for the role and may vary based on a candidate's experience, skills, location, and other relevant factors.

For bonus-eligible roles, targets are determined based on multiple considerations, including market benchmarks and individual contributions.

For benefits-eligible roles, we offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package covering health, retirement, wellbeing, and more, along with optional benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees.

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