Editorial Associate

The Social History Archive is a new initiative by DC Thomson leveraging the wealth of primary source content at Findmypast and the British Newspaper Archive to deliver an academic platform to cater for the wide research needs of the Higher Education sector in the UK and further afield.

DC Thomson is one the oldest and largest publishers of print media in the UK. Its subsidiary Findmypast has been an innovative leader in family history for more than 10 years and delivered over 16 billion records from archives and newspapers to an international audience of genealogists.

Why join our team?

1. We’re driven by the desire to create a fantastic customer experience
2. We love nothing more than taking big data and making it quick and easy for our consumers to use
3. We’re naturally collaborative and our cross functional teams work closely with our colleagues to build / enhance our product
4. We’re neatly set up for flexible working and giving people the freedom to thrive.
5. We have small teams that give you the chance to try out different problems whilst making a real difference to the business
6. We’re a supportive bunch and actively encourage mentorship, peer learning and discussion through our active engineering communities.

Job Purpose / Overview:

Reporting to the Strategic Initiatives Manager, as an Editorial Associate you will play a key role in the creation and curation of collections on the Social History Archive through topic research, content editing and writing, and QA testing of the platform. You will be responsible for co-ordinating with a range of professional colleagues from our Content, Product, and Business Development teams to achieve these tasks. Moreover, you will interact externally with our Academic Editorial Advisory Board and our customers in Higher Education in general.

This role will be home-based.

Roles & Responsibilities/Accountabilities: 

• Work with the Social History Archive management team and the associated Academic Editorial Advisory Board to determine collection structure and priorities for the site.
• Curation and QA testing for new collections to The Social History Archive.
• Liaise with the Findmypast content licensing team regarding presentation and curation of collections, and any need for new primary source materials to support the development of new collections.
• Research and write historically informative content for academic use of existing and new collections.
• Liaise with the Product team to implement new collections and edits to existing search and supporting content pages.
• Work to agreed deadlines to ensure regular new collections to The Social History Archive.
• Inform the customer service and marketing teams about new collections.
• Provide reporting on collection usage and KPIs, to determine those that require more or less investment.
• Support brand presence at local events, as requested.
• Administrative & other duties as assigned by your Line Manager.

Essential Educational Skills and Experience:

• A working knowledge of historical research methods, as well as experience and interest in academic education, digitisation of primary sources, and historical content.
• Excellent computer, verbal and written communication skills. Strong skills using Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint.  HTML an advantage.
• Flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of a growing, global business.
• Experience in copywriting and/or copyediting. Experience in developing online content (SEO, blogging, etc.).

Desirable Skills and Experience:

• A working knowledge of academic history and the humanities in general is strongly encouraged, with a relevant postgraduate qualification.
• Experience in using digital resources for the humanities in a classroom environment or for research output (articles, theses, research papers, etc.)
• Editorial experience and working with multiple contributors.
• Experience of working with a Content Management System.
• A working knowledge of cataloguing, metadata, and information organization

Personal Qualities:

• Commitment to quality in all aspects of service delivery
• Committed to equal opportunities
• Self-motivated
• Willing to be flexible and respond to changing circumstances
• Ability to demonstrate a flexible ‘can do’ attitude and to become quickly established to add value to the business
• Ability to multi-task
• Ability to work under minimal supervision and on own initiative

We’re passionate about making FMP a great place to work and setting people up to succeed.

To apply for this role, please follow our online application process and submit a CV and cover letter.

Findmypast is a remote-first organisation with office hubs in London and Dundee. This role is permanent remote-first position, working 35 hours per week, with regular team days in our London Fleet Street office.  We offer a generous package including 26 Days Holidays + Bank Holidays, health cash plan, corporate gym discounts, excellent pension, a competitive salary, and many more staff discounts and benefits.

We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from everyone and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or any other protected characteristics.

If you have any issues with your application, please email recruitment@dcthomson.co.uk

Please note that we reserve the right to close the vacancy early once we have received suitable applications. Therefore, please ensure you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.