Shopping Writer, PEOPLE

Job Title

Job Description

About The Position | Major goals and objectives and location requirements 

The Transaction team at Dotdash Meredith is looking for a full-time Shopping Writer for PEOPLE.com. They’ll write about product launches, sales, celebrity trends, and personal reviews. They’ll also help readers find what to buy at major sale events on long holiday weekends like Presidents Day, as well as on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day. Most importantly, they’ll use affiliate links in these stories so that customers can purchase those products.

This role requires a mix of creativity and analytical thinking. The right candidate can write engaging, timely stories that incorporate search keywords, then parse performance data, like revenue and page views, to inform future content. This person will be an adaptable writer who can cover all of PEOPLE’s shopping categories (fashion, beauty, home, travel, tech, lifestyle), often with clever pop culture angles. 

This is a full-time position. Candidates must be based in the U.S., and they’ll have the option to work out of a Dotdash Meredith office or remotely. This person will report into our Shopping Editor.

The day-to-day:

• Pitch and write multiple shopping stories per week from an editorial point of view.

• Review data on past performance to inform future stories.

• Reach out to high-quality experts to provide background information and quotes as needed.

• Help execute content plans around major holidays and sales events.

• Attend and participate in weekly team meetings.

The right candidate is:

• A strong writer with at least 2-3 years of experience with shopping content. A background in news writing is a plus.

• Familiar with SEO and affiliate linking best practices.

• Well-versed in a variety of shopping trends and product categories. Familiarity with current celebrity news is a plus.

• Familiar with the PEOPLE.com voice and audience.

• Comfortable with digital media tools such as proprietary CMSes, keyword research tools and Google Analytics.

• A college graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field.

We expect Shopping Writers to apply these competencies to their role:

• Decision Quality: Make good and timely decisions that keep the needs of their vertical moving forward. This may happen in the absence of complete information but one may call upon analysis, experience, and judgment to make these decisions.

• Balance Stakeholders: Anticipate and understand the needs and expectations of your stakeholders by balancing all interests, considering all factors when making decisions, and act fairly despite conflicting demands.

• Business Insight: Keep up with current and possible future policies, practices, and trends within the organization, the competition, and the marketplace. Use this knowledge to guide actions.

• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives. Works cooperatively to achieve shared objectives, balances their own interests while being fair to others, partners with others to get work done, and credits others for their contributions/accomplishments.

• Action Oriented: Readily take action on new challenges, identify and seize new opportunities. Display a can-do attitude and step up to handle tough issues.

Part of the Transaction team spirit means embodying these core competencies:

• Manage Ambiguity: You can comfortably deal with change and can decide/act without the total picture. You remain calm and productive while dealing constructively with problems that do not have clear solutions or outcomes.

• Nimble Learning: You’re eager to actively learn through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder. 

• Self-Development: You want to seek new ways to grow and be challenged using both formal and informal development channels. You show a personal commitment to continuously improving, accepting stretch opportunities, and making the most of available development resources.

It is the policy of Dotdash Meredith to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, the Company will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. Accommodation requests can be made by emailing [email protected].

The Company participates in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For further information about the E-Verify program, please click here: https://www.e-verify.gov/employees

Pay Range

The pay range above represents the anticipated low and high end of the pay range for this position and may change in the future. Actual pay may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to work location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of Dotdash Meredith’s total compensation package for employees. Other compensation may include annual bonuses, and short- and long-term incentives. In addition, Dotdash Meredith provides to employees (and their eligible family members) a variety of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, unlimited paid time off (PTO), adoption or surrogate assistance, donation matching, tuition reimbursement, basic life insurance, basic accidental death & dismemberment, supplemental life insurance, supplemental accident insurance, commuter benefits, short term and long term disability, health savings and flexible spending accounts, family care benefits, a generous 401K savings plan with a company match program, 10-12 paid holidays annually, and generous paid parental leave (birthing and non-birthing parents), all of which may vary depending on the specific nature of your employment with Dotdash Meredith and your work location. We also offer voluntary benefits such as pet insurance, accident, critical and hospital indemnity health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance.