Digital Strategy Director, Internal Applicants Only in London

At Immediate, we’re home to some of the biggest and most loved consumer brands in the UK, including Radio Times, Good Food, Gardeners’ World and History Extra. Our trusted, quality content reaches millions of people a month across digital, print, video, podcasts, apps and live events.

The Digital Strategy Director will provide the leadership Gardeners' World's digital future demands. This is a role for a platform‑savvy, editorially grounded creative leader who can bridge the brand's celebrated legacy and its digital future — preserving the journalistic rigour, authority and authenticity that have made it a household name, while transforming the ways that expertise reaches people.

Digital ecosystem and platform strategy:

• Own and evolve the digital strategy, ensuring every touchpoint — web, social, video, podcast, app and aggregators — has a clear purpose, defined audience and compelling content proposition.
• Oversee the day‑to‑day management, optimisation and evolution of gardenersworld.com.
• Map the customer journey from discovery to subscription, making confident calls on where the brand should and shouldn't invest.
• Champion innovation, from a next‑generation app to AI‑assisted tools that enhance the audience relationship and production process.

Editorial planning transformation:

• Work with the Head of Multimedia Operations to make editorial planning multimedia‑first, keeping the flagship print product protected and celebrated even as digital becomes the primary engine of growth.
• Build a shared vision for the brand's multimedia output, creative identity and editorial style, true to both audience need and brand authenticity.

Creative, design and team leadership:

• Lead and inspire a team of digital specialists, fostering a culture of ambition and craft and breaking down silos between print and digital.
• Lead the upskilling of editorial teams in multimedia and AI‑assisted working, recruiting new skills where needed.
• Oversee design's evolution from a print‑focused discipline to one spanning motion, graphic and multimedia.
• Ensure the brand works with diverse talent to elevate its IP, and act as a senior advocate for digital across editorial and commercial.

Premium IP and format development:

• Deliver premium multimedia IP formats, with third parties where appropriate, securing the brand's credibility as a serious multimedia producer.
• Champion bold ideas that expand what a gardening brand can make and open new audience and commercial opportunity.

Editorial and brand integrity:

• Maintain the journalistic rigour, taste and brand voice that made Gardeners' World a household name, ensuring transformation never costs the depth and credibility audiences trust.
• Keep the brand's horticultural expertise the engine of its digital output — leveraged for the right people, on the right platforms.

Audience development and subscription growth:

• Understand the core segments — established gardeners, new gardeners and hobbyists — and tailor digital strategy to each.
• Build subscription propositions that reach beyond the existing base, driving acquisition among new and younger gardeners without compromising authority or depth.
• Use data and insight to drive content, platform and product decisions.

Operational transformation:

• Oversee rationalised, AI‑assisted workflows, content management systems and production pipelines, optimising asset capture and reuse across formats.
• Establish clear KPIs and reporting for genuine visibility of digital performance, and champion a test‑and‑learn culture.

Requirements:

• Editorial, content or creative leadership in broadcast or digital publishing, having led a team or brand through major digital transformation — ideally print‑to‑video/audio or traditional‑to‑social‑first.
• A strong editorial background (magazines, lifestyle journalism or broadcast) and the judgement to grow audience trust without compromising integrity; experience strengthening well‑loved brands is essential.
• End‑to‑end understanding of video production, with experience commissioning short‑, long‑ and social‑form video across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and podcasts.
• An up‑to‑date grasp of major platforms and aggregators (Apple News, Google Discover) and where audiences are heading next; audience segmentation, CRM and subscription experience a plus.
• A track record of driving transformation across editorial, creative, marketing and commercial teams, with an empathetic, growth‑minded leadership style.
• Confident use of AI tools across the content workflow.
• Comfortable turning analytics and research into strategy that serves commercial and subscription goals.
• A strong communicator and influencer, credible with senior leaders and across the wider media industry.

We offer a relaxed working environment with regular socials including a summer festival, supportive well‑being initiatives and benefits, tailored training and development, flexible/hybrid working, competitive pension plans and Life Assurance.

People are at the heart of our business and creating a diverse and inclusive working environment is important to us. Immediate is an equal opportunities employer.