Junior Features Writer - Cosmopolitan
London, United Kingdom

JOB DESCRIPTION

At Hearst UK, there’s always more to the story. Join us as our Junior Features Writer to start the next chapter in your career. 

Hearst UK is a leading premium content and experience business. We publish 20 brands including Good Housekeeping, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Esquire. Our digital brands reach half of UK women and one in three of UK men every month, and our trusted content engages them wherever they are. We circulate over 26 million magazines a year, we reach on average 21.1 million UK digital unique users per month and have more than 32.4 million follows via our social media platforms.

Our licensed brand extensions include Country Living sofas, Esquire apparel and accessories. We also have a growing operation offering accreditation through the state-of-the-art testing facility at the Hearst Institute.

ABOUT THE ROLE 

The Junior Features Writer will support the entire Cosmopolitan features team, working across our News & Politics, Body and Love & Sex sections online and in print. Day-to-day, this role will focus on the department’s digital output, producing news pieces and updating and creating e-commerce content, ensuring optimisation to maximize revenue potential. This role also works across the print magazine, pitching exciting, original ideas for the Love and Thrive sections. The Junior Features Writer will also be key in keeping the features planner up to date, assisting with transcriptions as well as supporting the wider team with the essential admin.

Key Responsibilities:

• Pitch and produce quality original news and features that will engage the Cosmopolitan audience across all platforms (print & digital), including pitching video ideas, product review and e-commerce opportunities, SEO-driven articles, social media franchises, celebrity interviews and long-form features. 
• Take a central role in creating and updating e-commerce content across the Cosmopolitan Body and Love sections to ensure revenue targets are met. Working with affiliate teams when necessary to secure optimum retailer rates and supporting the central e-commerce beauty contributors with brand-specific guidance. 
• Be inventive with story choices, always on the look-out for original angles no-one else has covered. 
• Develop a thorough understanding of thoughtful and responsible news reporting, from checking factual accuracy and legal safety, to requesting right-of-replies and escalating any potentially contentious pieces to more senior staff. 
• Develop use of Google Analytics to inform ideas and track success of content 
• Work with the SEO team and use analytical tools such as SemRush to ensure that content in the section is fully optimised 
• Work with the design team and Features Editor to maintain creative and engaging visuals across the section.
• Keep the features planner up to date and ensure key upcoming dates are communicated to the rest of the team.
• Undertake day-to-day admin and support the wider features team as required
• To be an ambassador of Hearst UK and its values. 
   

ABOUT YOU

• Passionate about news and features journalism, always plugged into the latest social trends and discussions around current affairs
• The ability to write quickly, while retaining quality, legal safety and factual accuracy, as well as the witty, conversational tone our readers love and share 
• A keen interest in wider issues and movements within lifestyle journalism, along with a desire to push boundaries and create content that sparks conversation
• A basic understanding of media law, as it relates to image rights, defamation and other key online journalism considerations, is preferred.
• Experience writing for print magazines or newspapers or digital platforms 
• Experience in an administrative or assistant role 
• Experience writing product recommendations and/or of e-commerce writing is desirable.  
• Experience using Google Analytics and other analytics platforms to track trends is desirable. 
• Experience using Photoshop or image editing software is desirable but not essential.
• Experience working on a website – writing and uploading using a CMS
   

WHAT WE OFFER 

At Hearst UK, you can choose from a huge range of perks and benefits that can help you learn well, work well and live well including:

• 25 days’ holiday (with the option to buy up to 5 additional holiday days) – pro rated for part-time or fixed-term employees
• Hybrid working model 
• Discounted gym membership
• Healthcare cash plan
• Spend a charity day with your favourite good cause
• Life assurance and pension scheme
• Regular socials and more!

There’s more to your story than you imagine. And the next chapter begins right here. 

Hearst UK is deeply committed to using our influential brands to reflect the world we want to live in – one that respects, protects, represents and uplifts the voices and opinions of all people. As a business, we recognise the significant benefits of creativity, collaboration and innovation that comes with diverse teams. Not only is diversifying the voices in our organisation the right thing to do, but it also helps us to make powerful and exciting content that can be enjoyed by many more people. This is why we’re working to build a sense of true belonging within our business and foster a culture in which everyone feels heard.