Community Specialist, MS NOW

Reporting to the Director of Community, the Community Specialist will be responsible for day-to-day execution of community engagement and moderation across the MS NOW platform.

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
• Execute community programming by posting prompts, discussions, and AMA questions
• Support live Q&As, AMAs, watch events, and breaking-news discussions
• Review flagged content and apply community guidelines consistently, escalating issues as needed
• Moderate conversations in real time during high-traffic or sensitive moments
• Use vendor tools to manage moderation queues and identify patterns or repeat issues
• Identify superusers and emerging community leaders
• Surface early sentiment trends, recurring questions, and engagement insights
• Support reporting by pulling metrics and sharing summaries with the Community Lead
• Help document community workflows, guidelines, and onboarding materials

• 2+ 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
• Ability to apply 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. 

This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks.  

Salary Range: $90,000-$115,000

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's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].

VERSANT Media is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We include a good faith pay range for each position to comply with applicable state and local pay transparency laws and to promote equity across our organization. Actual compensation will be based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, experience, and location and may include additional forms of compensation and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, etc.

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.