• Business: emap
• Brand: Ground Engineering
• Base Location: Fleet Street, City of London
• Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent/Hybrid
• Salary: Competitive DOE + Bonus

Are you an experienced senior journalist and/or aspiring editor who is intrigued by the built environment and infrastructure? Do you have an interest in major infrastructure projects in the UK (HS2, Sizewell C, and Lower Thames Crossing) and internationally (Dubai Metro, Hong Kong rail link)? Do you want the articles you write or edit to influence people who deliver the complex, technical ground engineering for this essential infrastructure and support them in undertaking that task, while also moving towards carbon net zero?

Are you an engineering with great communications skills, you would like to put to great use writing and talking about the industry?

Ground Engineering and geplus.co.uk is the leading name in the ground engineering sector with a 50 year history of providing compelling, insightful and technically grounded news and features. It is the official magazine of the British Geotechnical Association.

Ground Engineering is looking for an editor to develop, shape and drive its content – both online and in print – and its events programme.

The role would suit an editor of a small team or a highly experienced deputy/news/ features editor looking to make the step up to editor.

It’s a fascinating time to join the brand, as we think about the opportunities and changes the AI era will bring.

emap is ambitious about the use of AI to help deliver content and to improve our customer’s experience of our content. With ASK Ground Engineering, GE was one of the first brands in the UK to launch large language model search on its website. Ground Engineering already uses AI to assist with the breadth and depth of its coverage. By the autumn Ground Engineering will have launched AI powered personalisation on the website.

GE believes in the importance of providing its customers with exceptional content and an exceptional experience and continues to invest in doing so.

Key responsibilities

• Manage and coach the news editor to ensure they produce content of the highest quality
• Define a content strategy that meets the objectives of the British Geotechnical Association and the brand, and develop editorial skills that help to deliver it
• Work very closely with BGA to ensure the magazine and website meet the needs of BGA members. The editor will attend editorial advisory meetings with the BGA.
• Ensure content meets the audience’s needs at all times online, in print and at events, as well as on social media
• Represent the brand at the highest level with senior contacts in the industry, associations and government
• Chair and host events, in person and online, as well as represent the title at events hosted by external bodies
• Recommend how existing content and products can be improved or extended
• Identify new reader/user groups and deliver content and products to meet their needs
• Manage the editorial permanent staff and freelance budget and outline investment cases for growth where you identify opportunities
• Work with the audience team on strategy across all reader/user groups, current and potential
• Be responsible for exceptional delivery of commercial content across all formats including webinars, podcasts, roundtables, surveys, reports and supplements
• Support, guide and develop all events, ensuring content is aligned with the event strategy
• Strong writing ability, with the ability to articulate the priorities of the industry, for instance through leader columns and briefings
• Have a good understanding of what role AI can play in producing content and how to respond to changing customer needs arising from the use of AI

Skills and Experience

• First-class journalism – high level of experience producing quality content for a senior professional audience
• Content planning
• Content strategy
• Use of digital analytics to understand audience behaviour and inform content strategy
• People management – demonstrable ability to lead and develop a team
• Budget setting and management
• Event chairing and public speaking
• Skilled at building and maintaining high-level contacts
• Commercial understanding and a proven willingness to work with a range of commercial and event teams to deliver outstanding outcomes for our commercial partners
• The ability to tackle multiple tasks simultaneously
• Experience of construction, engineering or technology would be beneficial. Technical knowledge is particularly desirable

Core Competencies

• Deep knowledge of the content creation, editing and production process – print and online
• Comfortable with the demands of digital-first publications
• Proven ability to manage others, delegate work and provide guidance in a constructive way
• Understanding of the laws on libel and ability to manage and reduce risk
• Organised, able to plan ahead and to prioritise competing tasks
• Budget setting, management and optimisation

What we offer

Learning & Development:

 At emap, we believe that employee learning and development are the key drivers of our success. To ensure continuous growth and meet the ever-changing demands of the workplace, we provide an environment that fosters continuous development for our employees.

Our employees are encouraged to identify their areas of personal and professional development aligned with our strategic areas, including management development, health, safety & wellbeing, sales, events management, marketing strategy, editorial, and information technology. We have a structured framework designed to help equip our employees with the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviours to excel in their job roles, contributing to achieving our organisational objectives.

To support our employees’ career development, we have designed specialized programs, as well as other stand-alone role-specific and generic courses, under the emap academy.

Benefits: emap is part of Metropolis Group. Together we are committed to providing a happy and healthy place to work, so we offer fantastic benefits and perks to our employees.

• 25 days of annual leave, with the option to buy or sell additional days
• One additional day of leave per year- Celebration Day
• Health plan
• Life assurance
• Private virtual GP access
• Seasonal flu jabs available at the office
• Continuous learning & development opportunities
• In-house Excellence Awards and other innovation projects
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Discounted gym memberships
• Retail discount vouchers
• Rail season ticket loans
• Pension scheme
• One paid volunteer day per year
• Annual Summer & Winter Celebrations
• Work from home during August
• Income protection and more

Privacy:  Metropolis Group respects the privacy of every person for whom we have personal data. We comply with data protection legislation such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation which regulates the processing of data and ensures that your data is processed fairly and lawfully, is kept secure and only that data necessary for any processing is kept. You can see our privacy policy at www.metropolis.co.uk/privacy.

Diversity and Inclusion:  We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and inclusion.  All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, age, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status.

How to apply:

Please apply with your CV, covering letter, and examples of published work.

Please email this directly to sarwar.hussain@emap.com

Due to the volume of applications, we receive, we are unable to give individual feedback at the application stage, however if you are successfully shortlisted you will be contacted within 10 working days of your application.