Audience Editor - Sports

The Minnesota Star Tribune is an innovative modern media organization building on an extraordinary 159-year legacy. With seven Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other accolades, we stand as a beacon of journalistic excellence in Minnesota. Together, we are the heart and voice of the north.

Our mission is to build a better Minnesota by connecting us with the people, ideas, and stories that strengthen our communities. We’re seeking dynamic leaders who are passionate about journalism and democracy to help shape this future. If you are excited about reinventing one of our state’s most trusted institutions and leading us into a new era of growth and excellence, we want to hear from you.

We are seeking an Audience Editor for Sports at our headquarters in Minneapolis MN to help drive audience growth and engagement for one of the nation's most ambitious sports teams in news.

This role will be embedded with the Sports desk and serve as the lead strategist for audience development. The Audience Editor will help shape coverage plans, storytelling approaches and maximize the reach of our journalism. This role will work closely with sports editors and reporters to identify and execute opportunities to expand our audience during big moments, daily coverage and enterprise storytelling.

The right person for this job is deeply immersed in sports media and fan culture. You follow the Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins, Wild and Gophers across You Tube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Reddit, podcasts, newsletters, search and emerging platforms. You’re fascinated by why certain stories and personalities break through while others don’t. You know how to reach both the diehard fan and the sports‑culture curious.

As part of the centralized Audience Team, this role gives Sports dedicated support while connecting the desk to shared audience expertise, broader newsroom strategy and best practices. This is a highly collaborative role that requires a nimble ability to work across teams.

• Serve as the lead audience strategist for the Sports desk, partnering with editors and reporters on coverage planning, story presentation and distribution.
• Use audience data, research, search trends and performance insights to help shape coverage decisions and identify opportunities for growth.
• Help the Sports team better understand priority audiences, including loyal subscribers, casual fans, team‑specific audiences, younger readers and people discovering our journalism on new platforms.
• Advise on how Sports stories are framed, timed and presented across , You Tube, search, newsletters, social media, mobile and other platforms.
• Partner with social media editors, newsletter producers and the homepage team to strengthen the reach and impact of Sports coverage, especially during breaking news and major sports moments.
• Identify opportunities to test new approaches to headlines, story formats, live coverage, video, newsletters and audience engagement, then help the desk apply what works.
• Collaborate with the centralized Audience Team to bring shared tools, expertise and best practices to Sports while contributing to a culture of experimentation, audience service and journalistic excellence.

• A bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work‑related experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in audience development, digital journalism, sports journalism, social media, newsletters, analytics, SEO, product strategy or a related field.
• Strong understanding of audience behavior across digital platforms, including social media, newsletters, search, homepage, mobile and video experiences.
• Ability to analyze performance data and translate it into clear, actionable newsroom insights that inform coverage, framing and distribution strategy.
• Experience developing strategies that drive audience growth, subscriber value and engagement.
• Strong research skills, including the ability to synthesize multiple data sources into useful audience segments, trends and recommendations.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with editors, reporters and platform teams.
• Strong news…