Copy editor (Manchester)

Mill Media is expanding! We’re hiring roles across five cities. Exactly four years ago today, Mill Media was born – a new company based on a simple approach: giving journalists the time they need to write great stories. We focused on an American-style of magazine journalism in which writers are able to dive deep into a wide range of topics and editors have a key role in shaping and improving what we publish. We also did something that feels retro in the age of the scale-obsessed internet: we turned our lens on the local, with each of our titles covering a different city in depth – building a strong connection with an audience and persuading them to send us stories and become paying subscribers.

Since June 2020, this approach has turned Mill Media into a new force in British journalism, described as “One of the most interesting and impressive media startups of the last decade,” by the FT’s John Burn-Murdoch, and as “very, very impressive” by the Wall Street Journal’s Emma Tucker. Most recently Tina Brown, the legendary former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, said: “If I was a young writer right now, I would want to work for Mill Media.” Last year, we raised money from a group of our readers, including the CNN chief executive and former New York Times and BBC boss Mark Thompson, who said he was investing because of the “exceptional quality” of our work. We’re now ready to use that investment to expand faster than we have done before, doubling the size of our team by the end of 2024 and expanding our presence to two more cities: Glasgow and London.

Since we raised that investment, the company has been profitable because of faster-than-expected growth in subscribers across our four cities. But the reason we raised money was so that we could take our model to more places, hire more journalists and turn this company into a really significant player in the future of media. Launching titles in Glasgow and London – two of the UK’s great media hubs and both cities that need more high-quality local journalism – is a major step towards that.

Who we are hiring – and when

The deadlines for our first set of roles has passed and the deadline for the second sets of roles is Sunday 4th August. For the third set of roles, the deadline is Sunday 1st September. If the role doesn’t have its own job listing clickable below, just apply via the instructions at the bottom of this page.

• Roles we want to appoint in August/September (deadline Sunday, August 4th)

• Staff writer (Glasgow)
• Staff writer (Liverpool)
• Staff writer (Birmingham)
• Assistant editor (Manchester)

• Roles we want to appoint in October/November (deadline Sunday September 1st)

• Staff writer (Manchester)
• Advertising sales manager (Manchester)
• Social/video (Manchester)

About these roles

Basic details

• Pay: Salaries will be between £25,000 and £50,000, depending on the role and your level of experience. Share options are available for senior staff.
• Locations: We expect the people we hire to be based full time in the listed city or the wider metropolitan area (Greater Manchester, the West Midlands etc).
• Office: Our Manchester roles are expected to be in our office on St Ann’s Square four days a week and one day remote. Our roles in other cities will be three days in our local office or co-work and two days remote, and will make monthly trips to our HQ in Manchester.
• Holiday: We offer 28 days a year annual leave.

Our Assistant Editor roles

These roles involve overseeing our titles and giving them all the energy and creative direction they need. The work is hugely varied – from commissioning features from freelancers, organising editorial lists to coaching reporters on their writing style. Editors also have time to do their own regular writing. They require candidates who have had a minimum of five years of experience in journalism, and likely at least two years editing experience. For our London editor role, the editor will oversee one title and spend a bit more time on their own writing. For the Manchester-based one, they will oversee two, for example, The Mill and The Dispatch. The key attributes for this role are having exceptionally good judgement about what makes for an interesting story; having the energy and management skill to lead teams of writers; and being able to cope well with stressful moments.

Our Staff Writer roles

Our staff writers are expected to file roughly one story per week, anything from 1,000 to 3,000 words. We need people who take a massive amount of pride in their work and work incredibly hard every week to find more sources, get better colour and develop the best angles. This role requires at least three years of experience in journalism, although some of our writers have much more. The key attributes for this role are having a really strong writing style whilst also having a knack for reporting – finding the details and the people that bring stories to life. You need to love working with editors to improve your drafts and have really eclectic interests.

Copy editor role

We’re looking for a full-time copy editor, to make the pieces from our reporters really sing. This will involve restructuring articles, thoroughly proofing and fact-checking, and giving detailed feedback. You will need to be able to work on a wide range of articles, from long-form stories to data pieces and cultural reviews. Key attributes for this role include a perfectionist drive to make articles the best they can be, and a deep instinct for good writing. We will be looking for someone with at least three years of editing experience. This role is ideally based in Manchester, but may be possible to carry out remotely with regular visits to Manchester.

Social & video producer role

This hire will lead our social media across all of our titles, and will include great social posting, making short videos to complement our journalism, working on our podcasts and taking charge of growing our social accounts. We need someone who loves our journalism and will enjoy reading it every day and coming up with ways to make it share well online. You need to be analytical about growth and creative about coming up with new social and video formats. The role requires at least two years of social experience, as well as strong skills in video and audio editing. This role will be based at our HQ in Manchester.

Advertising sales manager role

We run high-value sponsorships on our titles and are looking for someone to take on and expand this work. This role will include generating new leads with potential advertising clients, agreeing deals and managing relationships with key clients. We need someone who can fluently sell our approach to journalism and the specific value we bring to clients, and also write great ad copy in our house style. You will need to have proven experience in this area – we are particularly looking for someone with good contacts among potential clients.

How to apply for these roles

To apply, please email hiring@millmediaco.uk with the job title you are interested in as the subject, with an explanation (in the body of the email) why you are interested in working with us and why you think you might be a good fit for Mill Media. Please also include a few links to some of your favourite work you’ve done and please attach your CV or link to your LinkedIn. For the second set of roles, please apply by Sunday 4th August. For the third, please apply by Sunday 1st September.