Community Lead, Local News Startup (Remote)


Company:	Firefly New Media LTD
Salary:	£28,000 to £34,000 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Working pattern:	Remote
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	12 Oct 2026
Closing date:	21 Oct 2026

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Summary

Join an exciting local news startup in a senior management role. Working directly with the founder and CEO, and reporting to the CEO, you'll help run our whole community news programme day to day across the North East, Cumbria, the North West and the West Midlands. Firefly runs more than 130 local magazines on our own platform, growing fast, and the people of each town write the news themselves: residents, schools, clubs, businesses and councils.

This is a remote, home-based management role, not a desk-based writing job. You'll lead two outreach officers, work alongside our editors and partnerships leads, keep the programme organised and moving, and report progress to the CEO each week. You'll help first-time contributors get their stories to our editors, who make the journalism and publication decisions. You will also need to attend events and community sessions in person with the team across the four regions, so regular travel is part of the job, with travel and expenses paid.

What you'll do: manage the programme with the CEO, setting priorities, tracking progress and solving problems; lead and support two community outreach officers; build relationships with schools, clubs, councils, charities and businesses and get them contributing; plan the sessions and events that help a town tell its own stories, and attend them with the team; front the team's updates, calls and social posts; keep the records and numbers that show what is working. You'll have real room to grow as we do.

Salary 28,000 to 34,000 pounds a year depending on experience (about 2,330 to 2,830 pounds a month), plus 28 days holiday a year pro rata including bank holidays, and a workplace pension. Travel and expenses paid, mileage at 45p a mile. Fixed-term employed, 1 November 2026 to 19 March 2027, start date by agreement. A DBS check at the level the role qualifies for, arranged and paid by us.

This is the same vacancy as our Community Outreach Lead advert. Please apply once.

How to apply: email jobs@fireflynewmedia.com with the subject Application: Community Lead, Local News Startup (Community Outreach Lead), your CV and a one-page note on why this role and one thing you have done that proves you can. Tell us where you saw this advert. Full details: fireflynewmedia.com/jobs

Closes Wednesday 21 October 2026. We review applications as they arrive, so apply early. We recruit on skills and potential, and welcome applications from everyone, especially people from communities under-represented in local news. Tell us if you need any adjustments to apply or interview. You must have the right to work in the UK; we are unable to sponsor visas. Privacy notice: fireflynewmedia.com/jobs/privacy

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