Community Engagement Specialist

This is a Full Time Job

DTC Community Specialist, MS NOW

Job Description

Reporting to the Director of Community, the Community Specialist will be responsible for day-to-day community engagement across the MS NOW platform. This brand-new role requires very strong, independent judgment and is accountable for establishing the tone of the MS NOW membership community at-large.

This is a hands-on, member-facing role focused on keeping the community active, responsive, and safe. The Community Specialist will support live programming, facilitate discussions, moderate content with the support of vendor tools, and surface insights that help inform editorial and product decisions.

The ideal candidate is thoughtful, detail-oriented, and exercises strong judgment when engaging directly with members in real time-especially during live news and politically sensitive moments. This role requires comfort operating in dynamic situations and knowing when to act independently versus when to escalate.

Responsibilities:
• Monitor and facilitate daily activity across comments, discussions, and groups
• Engage directly with members by welcoming participation, answering questions, and encouraging thoughtful conversation
• Plan and execute community programming, including posting prompts, discussions, and AMA questions
• Lead community processes for and support live Q&As, AMAs, watch events, and breaking-news discussions
• Use independent judgment to review flagged content and apply community guidelines consistently, escalating issues as needed
• Moderate conversations in real time during high-traffic or sensitive moments
• Manage a day-to-day relationship with the vendor and use vendor tools to manage moderation queues and identify patterns or repeat issues
• Build a strategy and workflow to identify and engage superusers and emerging community leaders
• Surface early sentiment trends, recurring questions, and engagement insights and translate into actionable next steps
• Support reporting by pulling metrics and sharing summaries with the Direct of Community and broader DTC team
• Document and evolve community workflows, guidelines, and onboarding materials

Qualifications
• 3 years of experience in community engagement, moderation, audience development, or related roles
• Comfort engaging directly with users in public-facing environments
• Strong written communication skills and a thoughtful, measured tone
• Track record of applying judgment in sensitive or ambiguous situations
• Organized, reliable, and comfortable working across shifting priorities
• Experience with community or moderation platforms preferred
• Interest in news, media, and civic engagement a plus

Additional Job Requirements:
• Must be willing to work in New York, NY.
• Must have unrestricted work authorization to work in the United States.

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with a VERSANT Media employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision.

VERSANT Media is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at VERSANT via-email, the Internet, or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from VERSANT's Talent Acquisition team will be deemed the sole property of VERSANT. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by VERSANT as a result of the referral or through other means.