Digital Strategy Director

Responsibilities

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• A genuine, longstanding passion for gardening.