Work with us

• Fee: £12,000 plus VAT if applicable, paid in two instalments
• Basis: Fixed freelance project
• Project period: October 2026 to March 2027
• Location: Mainly remote, with regular Zoom calls and occasional meetings in Medway
• Working with: Editor

Authority Media is the independent publisher of the Kent Current and Local Authority. Both titles have established free and paying audiences, but have grown with limited marketing expenditure.

We now want to understand which audiences, channels, messages, and subscription offers can produce sustainable growth.

We are appointing a freelance Audience and Subscription Growth Specialist to help us improve the complete reader journey, from someone first encountering our journalism to registering for free and becoming a paying supporter.

This is a practical delivery role, not a commission for a standalone strategy. You will lead the audit, test design, measurement, and optimisation while working with Authority Media on implementation. You will not be expected to produce every creative asset or undertake routine campaign administration alone.

We have scoped the project based on around 30 days’ work during the project period. The precise working pattern is flexible, and we will agree on deliverables that can reasonably be completed within that level of commitment.

• Audit and measurement: Review Ghost, analytics, Meta Ads Manager, landing pages, registration routes, subscription journeys, and tracking. Establish reliable baselines and a proportionate measurement framework.
• Testing roadmap: Develop a prioritised programme of acquisition and conversion experiments, identifying what should be tested, in what order, and how decisions will be made.
• Paid acquisition: Help set up and optimise controlled tests of audiences, channels, messages, and offers, with appropriate budgets and stopping rules.
• Subscriber journeys: Review registration, onboarding, upgrade, payment, and early retention journeys, identifying practical opportunities to improve conversion.
• Reporting: Establish a lightweight scorecard covering confirmed registrations, paid conversions, acquisition costs, and the quality of acquired subscribers.
• Audience insight: Contribute to audience research and targeted outreach, using the findings to improve messaging, offers, and distribution.
• Creative coordination: Brief and work with a separately appointed creative supplier on landing pages and reusable campaign materials.
• Handover: Maintain a clear record of tests and results, train our editor, and leave us with recommendations and a practical plan for continuing successful activity.

We are looking for someone who:

• Has relevant experience in audience development, paid digital acquisition, subscription growth, membership, or conversion
• Can connect advertising expenditure to confirmed registrations and paid subscriptions rather than clicks alone
• Combines strategic judgement with practical implementation
• Can build proportionate systems for a small publisher
• Will transfer their knowledge rather than create an ongoing dependency

Experience in independent media would be valuable, but it is not essential if you can demonstrate relevant work with another subscription, membership, or audience-supported organisation.

We have outlined the principal work we expect the position to cover, but we are open to sensible proposals about how the available time should be prioritised to achieve the strongest result.

Please email hello@authoritymedia.news by 5pm on Wednesday 14 October 2026, using the subject line Freelance Audience Growth Specialist.

Tell us briefly about your relevant experience, availability, and why the position interests you. A CV, LinkedIn profile, website, or examples of previous work are welcome but not essential.

This is a freelance position, not an employment role.

Authority Media welcomes expressions of interest from people of all backgrounds. Please tell us if you need a reasonable adjustment. We will use the information provided only to assess expressions of interest and administer the appointment.

• Fee: £7,200 plus VAT if applicable, paid in two instalments
• Basis: Fixed freelance project
• Project period: October 2026 to March 2027
• Location: Mainly remote, with regular Zoom calls and occasional meetings in Medway
• Working with: Commercial Lead

Authority Media is the independent publisher of the Kent Current and Local Authority, producing original local journalism across Kent and Medway.

Local Authority currently publishes a quarterly print edition and is expected to move to monthly publication. Its early editions have attracted a promising group of local sponsors and advertisers, including repeat supporters.

We have shown there is demand, but our commercial operation remains relatively informal. We want to improve our sponsorship and advertising packages, pricing, prospecting, pipeline management, and partner retention.

We are appointing a freelance Sponsorship and Advertising Sales Specialist to work alongside our Commercial Lead.

This is not an outsourced sales role. We want someone who can improve our commercial offer, test it through selected live activity, and leave us with a manageable system. The specialist will not be expected to assume permanent ownership of our commercial relationships.

We have scoped the project on the basis of around 18 days’ work during the project period. The precise working pattern is flexible, and we will agree on deliverables that can reasonably be completed within that level of commitment.

• Commercial audit: Review our existing sponsors and advertisers, media pack, packages, pricing, inventory, and sales activity.
• Products and pricing: Develop clearer print, newsletter, website, sponsorship, advertising, and combined packages, supported by a practical pricing and discounting structure.
• Partner segmentation: Identify priority sponsor and advertiser types, likely prospects, and the strongest reasons for each group to work with us.
• Sales materials: Improve the media pack and produce usable email templates, call structures, sales scripts, and responses to common objections.
• Pipeline and forecasting: Establish a straightforward prospect pipeline, reporting method, and sales calendar aligned with more frequent print publication.
• Live testing: Work alongside our Commercial Lead on selected prospecting and sales tests, review the results, and improve the approach.
• Retention: Examine why sponsors and advertisers buy, renew, or decide not to continue, and develop practical follow-up and renewal processes.
• Handover: Leave us with documented packages, processes, templates, recommendations, and the skills to continue using them.

We are looking for someone who:

• Has relevant experience in media sponsorship, advertising sales, commercial partnerships, publishing, or a comparable field
• Understands sponsorship and advertising packages, pricing, prospecting, pipeline development, and retention
• Can combine commercial strategy with practical sales activity
• Is comfortable working alongside the person who owns the existing commercial relationships
• Can build an effective system appropriate for a small publisher

Experience in local or independent media would be particularly useful, although we are open to relevant experience from other sectors.

We have outlined the principal work we expect the position to cover, but we are open to sensible proposals about how the available time should be prioritised to achieve the strongest result.

Please email hello@authoritymedia.news by 5pm on Wednesday 14 October 2026, using the subject line Freelance Sponsorship and Advertising Specialist.

Tell us briefly about your relevant experience, availability, and why the position interests you. A CV, LinkedIn profile, website, or examples of previous work are welcome but not essential.

This is a freelance position, not an employment role.

Authority Media welcomes expressions of interest from people of all backgrounds. Please tell us if you need a reasonable adjustment. We will use the information provided only to assess expressions of interest and administer the appointment.