Africa in Words is recruiting a volunteer to join our team as Managing Editor.

Africa in Words has an average of 7,000 readers each month from over 100 countries, with our largest readerships based in the UK, US, South Africa and Nigeria. We cover books, art, film, history, music, theatre, ideas and people and the ways they interact, through their publication and circulation, with societies, economies and space.

Africa in Words is an entirely voluntary organisation, run by a volunteer Editorial Board. The Managing Editor would join the Board, with overall responsibility for maintenance and the day-to-day running of the blog, and working with the other Editors for the website’s strategic and creative direction, combining a practical focus with an innovative view.

Key responsibilities include: connecting with our readers and online communities across a variety of relevant platforms; commissioning and editing blog posts; optimising the WordPress site to maintain style guides and curate blog copy, and publishing our content to the web; being the first point of contact for inquiries by email – communicating with writers, artists, curators and filmmakers, press and arts organisations, events and trusts, and publishers, other relevant social media sites, and our AiW authors and other editors; overseeing our production schedule; guiding and managing the work of the Editorial Assistant; managing the overall editorial process, including (remote) meetings with the Editorial Board and Editorial Assistant as appropriate. The candidate may also contribute content and write for the blog as an AiW Author, if they wish.

The successful candidate will work closely with members of the Editorial Board during an initial training period, and will then be expected to be largely self-motivated and work on their own initiative.

This is an ideal position for anyone passionate about cultural production and Africa, and interested in gaining relevant experience for a future career in publishing, the creative industries or academia.

The role would require an initial commitment of approx. 7 hours per week – flexi-time – for a period of one academic year, with the potential for extension. The role would be unpaid: we are an entirely voluntary organisation with no revenue or funding. Applicants can be based anywhere in the world.

The ideal applicant for this role will:

• be deeply knowledgeable about African cultural production, with a demonstrable interest in print-culture, literature, film or the visual arts, and be up-to-date on the latest trends
• have demonstrably excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and be enthusiastic about developing new skills
• be a self-motivated and motivating leader (the majority of work will be done remotely via email and Skype) with the ability to work well in a team, and experience and/or willingness to manage the work of others
• have demonstrably excellent administrative, organisational and time management skills
• have the ability to be creative, energetic, and flexible – equally big-picture and detail-oriented
• have experience managing WordPress sites or other equivalent websites, or a demonstrable ability and interest to learn to do so (basic HTML an advantage)
• be able to offer a regular weekly commitment to the editorial work of managing the blog
• be a strong writer with a firm grasp of grammar and punctuation, and copy-editing and proofing proficiency
• be computer-literate, with access to email and a reliable internet connection
• have an active interest in blogging and an understanding of the flexibility required for successful online publishing

To apply, please submit a covering letter and CV to africainwords@gmail.com, with ‘Managing Editor’ in the email subject line.

Closing date: 15 September, 2017

Categories: Calls for & opportunities

Tags: Africa in Words, Call for applications, Managing Editor