Announcement

The gift that keeps on giving

Education is the key to success and for many South African children it is also the first step towards breaking socioeconomic barriers. We believe a world that is full of smart, curious children who are independent thinkers, is a better world. Periodic school attendance and virtual classes have been a different experience for all families over the past two years. Many children have lost confidence in learning or are still struggling to keep up with their peers. It will take a long time and all our effort to ensure we recover and no child is left behind.

So, when we embarked on a project to create the MavericKids Activity Book, we envisioned it reaching children all over South Africa. And we committed to donating a copy of the book to a child in need for every copy bought in the DM Shop. Thanks to the generosity of Daily Maverick readers and supporters, and in partnership with Gift of the Givers, we have started making that happen.

Our goal was to donate 2,000 books and when Gift of the Givers came on board as our distribution partners, they committed to including stationery packs with every book. This meant we could give children in need a full learning experience and ensure they could immerse themselves in the full MavericKids Activity Book experience.

Thanks to the support from readers who bought in the DM Shop, in January 2022 we exceeded that target and handed over 2,060 books to Gift of the Givers who set out to distribute them in schools and childcare facilities in South Africa. Pupils at Sintethemba High School in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape were among the first to receive the donated books. The school was very appreciative, saying the content is in simple English, breaking the language barrier for the pupils.

We are incredibly proud of this project and excited for the potential that each book has to change lives, bring hope and some light into the world. We could not have done it without our readers and we thank you for supporting the vision we had for the MavericKids Activity Book and the pupils who have received them. In partnership with Gift of the Givers, we will be continuing the buy-one-donate-one initiative for the MavericKids Activity Book. So, if you would like to spread the news and tell your family, friends and colleagues, or make a contribution by donating a book, visit the DM Shop and purchase a copy of the MavericKids Activity Book.

Announcement

Events and Webinar Coordinator Job Description

Job overview:

The primary role of the events coordinator is to oversee the day-to-day planning and execution of Daily Maverick’s live events and webinars. This includes on the ground event set-up and break down, communication with high-level speakers, engagement with audience members, coordinating with all suppliers and ensuring that the events are fully planned and prepared for. The events coordinator will work closely with the events manager to grow the events and ensure the strategic objectives, and key results, set for the department are on track to be achieved. The events coordinator will also work closely with the business and sales team so as to ensure sponsor requirements are met and reported on.

This role is essential in the growth of both reader revenue and audience engagement while at the same time ensuring that the high quality of Daily Maverick’s events are upheld.

Responsibilities and duties:

• Oversee the set up of events including:
• Sourcing relevant venues for each event
• Liaising and negotiating with suppliers
• Overseeing of event set up and execution with designers and stakeholders where relevant
• Establish and maintain relationships with venues and vendors
• Liaise with suppliers and ensure all event touch points are aligned with the Daily Maverick Brand
• Ensure highest level of customer service
• Monitor quality and consistency of displays
• Assist the primary event manager as needed
• Communication with hosts and speakers pre, during and post events
• Liaising with the sales team when sponsors are involved so that all collateral is received and shared with the relevant parties and displayed correctly at events
• Booking in marketing material across various channels, with the relevant person, including the Daily Maverick website, newsletter and social media
• Technical training with virtual event panelists
• Running the live room and troubleshooting any technical issues that may arise
• Assist the events manager in marketing efforts and ensuring all webinar and event assets are set and running at the correct times
• Record all statistics from event marketing as well as the number of registered attendees vs live attendees and draw insights from the conversion rates
• Ensure that the Daily Maverick brand and identity are strongly represented in all communication
• Analyse, evaluate and report on event statistics
• Compile sponsor reports
• Coordinate the preparation of marketing and promotional material in collaboration

Qualifications, skills and attributes:

• At least two years of event planning and onsite experience
• Clear interpersonal communication skills and a professional demeanour with both internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to develop rapport with hosts, panellists and audience members
• Strong prioritisation and time management skills
• Solutions orientated, with an ability to approach problems logically and with structured thinking
• Commercially-minded making decisions with positive real-world impact
• Ability to quickly adapt in a dynamic workplace environment
• Audience focused with a team player mentality
• Ability to work well independently and across diverse teams at Daily Maverick
• Must have a love and passion for working on events!

If you’re the right person to join Daily Maverick’s events team, please send through your CV and cover letter to [email protected] 

Announcement

DM is Hiring: Head of Talent

“People are our most important asset” is an often trumpeted soundbite but nowhere more relevant than in a modern media organisation – although we loathe to think of people as just ‘assets’.

Journalism is one of the most highly pressurised industries with many challenges. But also, one that can make a lasting impact on the world. Where some organisations struggle to figure out a purpose, Daily Maverick is consumed by it. (And we’re not afraid of a meme).

In this role, you will directly report to and work closely with the founders (Editor-in-chief and CEO) to implement and scale a world-class talent strategy and culture that is aligned with the purpose of the company. 

You will help ensure that we have a thriving, productive and evolving workplace where the team is enabled and supported in working towards our vision by serving the South African public with our journalism.

Enabling a positive culture to thrive by working closely with our senior leadership team will be a vital aspect of your responsibilities. The role will focus on managing/driving activities related to talent management, talent acquisition, employee experience, employee engagement, continuous learning & development, performance management and reward.

Your responsibilities will include: 

• Defining and managing our employee experience aligned to our high performing culture
• Designing a culture and values-driven recruitment process and actively recruiting new team members through our current growth phase
• Design and manage an onboarding programme to provide engaging induction to new employees
• Design and manage the performance review process 
• Develop a learning philosophy with supporting learning and development initiatives to enable high performing and high growth careers
• Support and drive continuous learning experiences across the organisation
• Manage an employee engagement survey and work with leadership to continuously improve our employee value proposition
• Design and manage an employee wellbeing programme in consultation with our in-house counsellor 
• Manage career growth and progression through organisational development and active talent reviews
• Design and manage a recognition programme that embeds performance into our culture
• Work with the leaders to define a competitive reward strategy relating to compensation, benefits, etc
• Own all internal employee communications and write up regular internal newsletters relating to talent 
• Support our people operations processes to scale by automating workflows and adopting suitable systems and software
• Work closely with leadership to actively build and manage a strong culture based on our core values and purpose
• Advise on employee best practices in line with new trends in the industry, further afield and with the vision and mission of the organisation

Your role will be critical in scaling the internal systems of a high-growth media organisation. This is a unique opportunity to join Africa’s revolutionary media platform and directly support our management team in key decision-making. The role will likely expand into a team as the organisation prepares for accelerated growth in the next few years.

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum

• At least 8 years of experience in people/talent/HR, employee relations and organisational development, with a demonstrable track record of designing and implementing people processes across a business (or exceptional achievements within fewer years of professional experience);
• 3-5 years of experience in managing and growing a People team 
• Thorough knowledge of South African labour legislation, compliance requirements, disciplinary procedures, and HR policies and procedures;
• Strong leadership and people management skills;
• Near-perfect communication skills;
• Highly skilled in problem-solving and negotiations;
• A specific interest to work in a purpose-driven media company, evidenced by prior professional experience or involvement in such a space;
• Extreme ambition to grow a company in terms of culture, employee wellbeing, retention, and satisfaction;
• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management, Organisational Development or another relevant field, or equivalent education/experience

Preferred 

• Prior experience in a media environment is desirable
• 5+ years of managerial experience in a rapidly scaling company
• Passionate about creating an exceptional employee experience
  
• Cape Town based

BENEFITS

Flexible & remote working: We are a remote-friendly organisation and offer flexible work options.

Generous annual leave: We provide a minimum of 15 annual leave days (with no maximum) as part of our leave policy.

Join the heart of revolutionary media in Africa: You’ll work with the best of the best and collaborate with exceptional people. Join one of the most ambitious and exciting media organisations with a dynamic founding team.

Life-changing work: be part of having a profound impact on society.

APPLY

Please send a one-page motivational letter and CV to [email protected]

Announcement

DM is Hiring: Maverick Insider Member Support

Job Description

Daily Maverick is looking for an energetic and enthusiastic individual to join their Maverick Insider support team.

Maverick Insider (MI) was established when it no longer became feasible to rely solely on digital ad revenue, so we created a membership where readers can voluntarily contribute to help sustain our journalism. Daily Maverick believes that journalism is a public service and should therefore be free for all, regardless of their economic status. We will never erect a paywall; instead preferring the membership model where those who can afford to contribute, do so, in exchange for some extra benefits while keeping all our content free for everyone. 

We’re looking for a dynamic person to join our membership support team based in Cape Town. 

Responsibilities:

• Addressing email queries raised by Maverick Insider members and technical support.
• Liaising with the retention team and addressing billing-related queries
• Investigating and solving member related issues
• Identify and assess members’ needs through quality engagement to achieve satisfaction
• Expanding the Maverick Insider Knowledge Base by extracting feedback from customer queries and providing solutions

Skills: 

• Excellent working knowledge of MS Excel / Google sheets
• Strong written communication skills
• Ability to meet personal and team Objectives and Key Results (OKR’s)
• Ability to manage high volumes of incoming customer queries
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work individually and in a team.

Attributes: 

• Driven by delivering great customer service
• Ambitious
• Innovative
• Analytical
• Fast learner
• People person: a great attitude where ‘no task is too small and no challenge is too big.’

Location: Gardens, Cape Town

Type: Full time

Please send a one page motivational letter and CV to [email protected]

Announcement

Mid-Level Marketing Coordinator Job Description

JOB TITLE:
Marketing Coordinator

REPORTS TO:
The Marketing Coordinator will report to the Marketing Manager.

JOB OVERVIEW:
The primary objective of Daily Maverick Marketing is to grow (brand and audience), and to communicate and engage with our readers. With growth and engagement at the core of all the business areas marketing serves, it is critical to align marketing efforts across divisions and to consolidate them to achieve brand resonance and prominence locally and internationally.

The role of Marketing Coordinator is essential in the day-to-day execution of Marketing and Business outputs, working closely with the Daily Maverick Business Team to achieve overall strategic objectives and key results. Reporting to the Marketing Manager, the Marketing Coordinator will provide support in marketing copywriting, management of marketing channels, and the coordination of efforts across the Business Team. As Daily Maverick continues its expansion and pursuit of cross-disciplinary collaboration, the Marketing Coordinator will be a key component to that continued growth.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES: 

• Assist in the coordination and execution of long- and short-term marketing strategies related to the internal and external marketing of:
  • Maverick Insider (Daily Maverick membership community)
  • Live Journalism Webinars
  • Podcasts
  • Maverick 451 (Daily Maverick book publishing division)
  • Daily Maverick Shop
  • Daily Maverick 168 newspaper
  • Various Newsletters across the Daily Maverick newsletter suite
• Assist with writing copy for Marketing and Business Division efforts
• Drive the execution of marketing initiatives for events, newsletter, webinar, podcast, shop and newspaper marketing
• Ensure the Daily Maverick brand and corporate identity are strongly represented in all communications
• Assist with the coordination of the social media strategy across all platforms for all Daily Maverick editorial and commercial products
• Explore new opportunities to promote the brand across various touchpoints
• Analyse, evaluate and report on marketing campaigns and activities
• Coordinate the preparation of marketing and advertising promotional material in collaboration with designers and stakeholders where relevant
• Ability to represent the brand in various online and offline settings

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

• Bachelor’s Degree in Media, Journalism, Communication or related field
• Min 3+ years experience with mid-level copywriting and marketing coordinating.
• Excellent writing, communication and presentation skills
• Knowledge of traditional and digital marketing, content marketing, and social media marketing
• Analytical skills and strong attention to detail to synthesize and interpret marketing data
• Have experience with, and knowledge of, a wide range of marketing functions including communications, branding, digital marketing and social media
• Strong prioritization and time-management skills
• Commercially-minded making decisions with positive real-world impact
• Solutions orientated, with an ability to approach problems logically and with structured thinking
• Work well independently and across the diverse teams at Daily Maverick
• Enthusiastic team member with the interpersonal skills to build and nurture relationships within the company and with external partners.

REFERENCES
Please include 2-3 references from previous employers

SALARY
Market related and dependent on experience.

Please email your CV and cover letter to [email protected]

Announcement

Daily Maverick DM168 Slow Down to Catch Up Competition

Competition details: 

Share your weekend reading ritual with us and stand a chance to win a 2-night stay* at the One&Only Cape Town. Over the next four weeks, get each new edition of DM168 and snap a photo of how you’re slowing down to catch up. Post to social media each week with the tag #DM168catchup. The reader with the most collective likes for their photos wins!

*Terms and conditions apply.

Announcement

Mid-level Cross Disciplinary Designer

Role:
Mid-level Cross Disciplinary Designer (Minimum 3-5 years experience)
Permanent
Cape Town

We are looking for a creative genius designer with an interest/experience in motion design, GIFs and HTML. The ideal candidate will be driven to push the boundaries of design whilst working closely with Daily Maverick’s award-winning marketing team to deliver high impact campaigns and projects. You will have the opportunity to work across divisions in a fast paced environment with a collaborative team. This role is the perfect opportunity for a designer who would like to see their work have a meaningful impact: the support and success of quality, independent journalism.

Requirements:
Tertiary education within design essential
Will be working in both digital(primarily) and print.
Able to design quickly at a high level.
A basic understanding of HTML.
Adaptable and eager to learn.

Proficient in:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign

Not essential but definitely a plus:
Adobe After Effects
HTML

Extra credit:
Adobe Premiere Pro

Attributes:
Great team-player with a can-do attitude
Organised and efficient
Enjoys multi-tasking
Innovative
Enthusiastic
Ambitious and self-driven

References
Please include 2-3 references from previous employers

CV/ Portfolio
Show us what you’ve done! Include any awards you’ve received, innovative projects you’ve worked on and examples of your work.

Salary
Market related and dependent on experience.

Please email your CV, cover letter and portfolio to [email protected]

Announcement

MAVERICK451 BOOK PUBLISHER

Daily Maverick is on the hunt for a great self-starter blessed with common sense, a great work ethic and a maverick mindset to run our book publishing division, Maverick451. We’re looking for someone who thrives on innovation and who isn’t afraid to approach book publishing from a new perspective.

Reporting to the CEO and General Manager.

Remuneration: Dependent on experience (mid-senior level position)

Starting date: ASAP

Detailed tasks: 

• Identifying and securing new books that align with the Daily Maverick brand 
• Coordination of the entire production process from initial pitch to delivery from printers
• Budget management 
• Liaise with the marketing team on marketing and PR campaigns 
• Liaise and coordinate with the event team on book launches and other opportunities
• Liaise with third-party suppliers and sales consultants
• Stock management 
• Rights negotiation and coordination

SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES 

• Commercially minded, adept at cost control, strong negotiation skills
• Innovative – the ideal candidate will be inspired by the prospect of approaching book publishing from new and unique angles
• Enthusiastic team member with the interpersonal skills to build and nurture relationships within the company and with external writers and partners
• Strong prioritization and time-management skills
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Solutions orientated, with an ability to approach problems logically and with structured thinking.
• Solid Writing/Editing ability an advantage 
• Multi-tasker who is not afraid to get their hands dirty and go above and beyond to ensure the completion of a project. 
• Ideal candidate will love working with people as much as working with manuscripts. 

Interested candidates please send your CV and cover letter to [email protected]

Announcement

Daily Maverick 168 pilot edition launch a success

Daily Maverick has successfully defied the odds, piloting its weekly print edition with 8,800 copies in the hands of South African readers. Copies were distributed across 20 Pick n Pay stores, in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The newspaper is free to customers who swiped their Pick n Pay Smart Shopper cards, with a cover price of R20.00 per copy.

Previously a digital-only publisher, Daily Maverick raised eyebrows with its announcement about the venture into print when media titles around the globe face enormous pressure after a decade of disruption and the impact of COVID-19.

The pilot edition was overwhelmingly well-received by readers. Over 6,200 copies, or 70%, were taken up in the 20 stores with 96% of readers swiping their Smart Shopper cards to access the benefit of a free copy.

The pilot was designed to test the production, printing, distribution, marketing and content mix ahead of the official launch, and to establish reader demand levels. The results will also help determine volumes, and launch stores across the country, using the more than 17,000 votes submitted by Daily Maverick readers for their preferred Pick n Pay store.

“It’s fantastic to see Daily Maverick 168 challenging conventional wisdom and customers responding with so much enthusiasm. We had as many as 1 in 8 customers collecting the newspaper in some pilot stores, which is extraordinary. We were excited to give our Smart Shoppers another programme benefit, and to see how this develops into a key part of their weekend routines,” John Bradshaw, retail executive: marketing at Pick n Pay.

Daily Maverick CEO, Styli Charalambous, reflected on a hugely successful pilot weekend. “We had a few important things we needed to test, but foremost was the question of whether we could successfully leverage our highly regarded online publication into a special weekend print edition, and whether readers still wanted a tangible news product in their hands. The answer was a resounding yes!

We had reports of readers waiting for stores to open to get a copy, and we received hugely supportive feedback on social media and through our own direct channels. 95% of survey respondents said they intended to become regular readers and gave the content mix the high rating scores. We’re excited for the official launch of our print edition on 26 September across 100 Pick n Pay stores nationwide, and already seeing how demand could grow to multiples of our 25,000 launch circulation quite quickly.”

For press queries and interview requests with the Maverick Insider team, please contact Phumlani Malinga.

Email: [email protected]

Daily Maverick is hiring: Photographic Editor

Daily Maverick is looking to hire a Photographic Editor to take overall responsibility for the photographic aspects of the organisation’s editorial offerings, across a range of publishing platforms.

Role details:
Salary Range: Dependent on experience (min 3yrs exp)
Employment equity preferred: Yes

Location: Preferably Johannesburg
Work from home and/or our Johannesburg office

Est. Hours: 11am-8pm
Days: Monday to Friday

Overview

The successful candidate will work closely with editors to conceive of visuals to accompany and enhance stories to be published on Daily Maverick platforms. Develop and manage a freelance team of photographers to meet the needs of the organisation.

Job Description

• • Source pictures for all online section heads and the newspaper from wire services and stock pictures we subscribe to.
  • Help section editors visualise stories
  • Identify and source photo essays that add to the content mix of Daily Maverick products
  • Manage, renew and update photographic wire services to serve Daily Maverick’s publishing platforms
  • Assign freelance photographers within budget to photograph stories as decided by the diary meeting, and section editors
  • Assist in selecting and editing photos for publications platform
  • Able to work with layout designers to achieve high-impact visual language

Experience

• • At least three years experience in a similar role
  • Previous print and online experience preferable
  • Expert knowledge of Adobe Photoshop suite

Send your application with short motivation via email, with “Photographic Editor Application” in the subject header by 27 July 2020.