The Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), in collaboration with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, National Association of Hispanic Publications and the Google News Initiative, is launching a Digital Transformation Lab to help members grow their digital businesses with focus on advertising. The objective of the program is to equip these news organizations early in their journey to solve specific digital business challenges.

The AAN Digital Specialist position supports this program, collaboration between the press association partners, GNI and other partners, particularly Borealis Philanthropy and the Center for Community Media at the City University of New York’s Newmark Journalism School, as well as advancing the digital capabilities of AAN members. 

We’re looking for candidates with a strong knowledge of digital tools and a track record of working in a decision-making business role at a digitally-forward news organization, with a strong grasp of digital advertising, reader revenue, and audience development/engagement.

Candidates will have a strong ability to:

1. Represent the Association in a professional manner, with a humble tone.
2. Understand and convey the business concepts key to a news organization’s success in a digital world including (but not limited to) CMS platforms, reader revenue, advertising revenue, audience development, strategy and culture.
3. Utilise their own business experiences in news organizations to relate to the problems and questions raised by their audience.
4. Quickly digest materials provided by Google and Vendor (derived from GNI-sponsored programs) and relay the lessons in a consistent manner, exhibiting the GNI brand during the training sessions.
5. Be familiar with and able to address the local dynamics concerning the news ecosystem in North America.
6. Have a collaborative spirit.

The Digital Specialist will:

• Be a US-based contractor.
• Represent the point of contact among different stakeholders (The Association leadership team, Google and the project manager overseeing the Lab).
• Work closely with the project manager to deliver messages and implement solutions
• Spend time with lab and association members one-to-one and in groups to help on implementing solutions to improve digital capacity, fielding questions, pointing to appropriate resources, promoting training and funding opportunities, organizing publishers into cohorts based on digital needs and helping to support programming that meets those needs.
• Have access to current relationships, resources, collateral in terms of decks, videos and sites for training in case is needed.
• Have technical skills to handle advanced programmatic advertising and memberships needs of association members
• Spanish fluency a bonus, but not required

Role: Digital Specialist Role (9-12 month fixed contract)

Language Capabilities needed: English (1. US/Canada, Spanish (SpLatAm)

Time commitment expected: 20 hours/week 

Compensation: $30,000-$50,000

Reports to: AAN Board Committee and Chief Administrator

Please forward resume and introductory letter to digitalspecialist [@] aan.org.   Questions about this position are also welcome at this email address.

To apply for the Digital Specialist position with the National Newspaper Publisher Association (NNPA), please go here

To apply for the Digital Specialist position with the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), please go here