Digital Strategy Director, Internal Applicants Only

Digital Strategy Director (up to £60,000)

At Immediate, we’re home to some of the biggest and most loved consumer brands in the UK, including Radio Times, Good Food, Gardeners’ World and History Extra. Our trusted, quality content reaches millions of people a month across digital, print, video, podcasts, apps and live events.

We’re the destination for people looking to get more from the things they love. We help inspire them; deepening their knowledge, skills and fuelling their passions, to enjoy more of what life has to offer.

Whether it’s the big things, or the little things; from reaching fitness goals to savouring good food, cultivating outdoor, or indoor, spaces, or enjoying the latest TV sensation with loved ones – we help bring our audiences joy.

About the role

The Digital Strategy Director will provide the leadership Gardeners' World's digital future demands. This is a role for a platform-savvy, editorially grounded creative leader who can bridge the brand's celebrated legacy and its digital future — preserving the journalistic rigour, authority and authenticity that have made it a household name, while transforming the ways that expertise reaches people. You'll see the whole picture: what each digital touchpoint is for, who it serves and what it needs to do. And you'll redefine how the brand plans, produces and publishes content across every format — web, social, video, podcast, app and beyond — building the teams, workflows and culture to deliver it at scale.

It's also a role for someone who genuinely loves gardening — not as a credential, but as the kind of passion that gives instinctive insight into what gardening audiences need, how they think and what earns their loyalty. You'll be a strategic thinker who understands digital ecosystems, platform behaviour and audience development, grasping not just what works algorithmically but what earns real loyalty. You'll be a confident, decisive leader, accountable for outcomes, and a skilled integrator who unites teams, disciplines and formats that have worked in isolation into one collaborative culture — with real multimedia fluency across video, audio, social, editorial and design.

As a Digital Strategy Director, you will:

Digital ecosystem and platform strategy

• Own and evolve the digital strategy, ensuring every touchpoint — web, social, video, podcast, app and aggregators — has a clear purpose, defined audience and compelling content proposition
• Oversee the day-to-day management, optimisation and evolution of gardenersworld.com
• Map the customer journey from discovery to subscription, making confident calls on where the brand should and shouldn't invest
• Champion innovation, from a next-generation app to AI-assisted tools that enhance the audience relationship and production process

Editorial planning transformation

• Work with the Head of Multimedia Operations to make editorial planning multimedia-first, keeping the flagship print product protected and celebrated even as digital becomes the primary engine of growth
• Build a shared vision for the brand's multimedia output, creative identity and editorial style, true to both audience need and brand authenticity

Creative, design and team leadership

• Lead and inspire a team of digital specialists, fostering a culture of ambition and craft and breaking down silos between print and digital
• Lead the upskilling of editorial teams in multimedia and AI-assisted working, recruiting new skills where needed
• Oversee design's evolution from a print-focused discipline to one spanning motion, graphic and multimedia
• Ensure the brand works with diverse talent to elevate its IP, and act as a senior advocate for digital across editorial and commercial

Premium IP and format development

• Deliver premium multimedia IP formats, with third parties where appropriate, securing the brand's credibility as a serious multimedia producer
• Champion bold ideas that expand what a gardening brand can make and open new audience and commercial opportunity

Editorial and brand integrity

• Maintain the journalistic rigour, taste and brand voice that made Gardeners' World a household name, ensuring transformation never costs the depth and credibility audiences trust
• Keep the brand's horticultural expertise the engine of its digital output — leveraged for the right people, on the right platforms

Audience development and subscription growth

• Understand the core segments — established gardeners, new gardeners and hobbyists — and tailor digital strategy to each
• Build subscription propositions that reach beyond the existing base, driving acquisition among new and younger gardeners without compromising authority or depth
• Use data and insight to drive content, platform and product decisions

Operational transformation

• Oversee rationalised, AI-assisted workflows, content management systems and production pipelines, optimising asset capture and reuse across formats
• Establish clear KPIs and reporting for genuine visibility of digital performance, and champion a test-and-learn culture

• Editorial, content or creative leadership in broadcast or digital publishing, having led a team or brand through major digital transformation — ideally print-to-video/audio or traditional-to-social-first
• A strong editorial background (magazines, lifestyle journalism or broadcast) and the judgement to grow audience trust without compromising integrity; experience strengthening well-loved brands is essential
• End-to-end understanding of video production, with experience commissioning short-, long- and social-form video across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and podcasts
• An up-to-date grasp of major platforms and aggregators (Apple News, Google Discover) and where audiences are heading next; audience segmentation, CRM and subscription experience a plus
• A track record of driving transformation across editorial, creative, marketing and commercial teams, with an empathetic, growth-minded leadership style
• Confident use of AI tools across the content workflow
• Comfortable turning analytics and research into strategy that serves commercial and subscription goals
• A strong communicator and influencer, credible with senior leaders and across the wider media industry
• A genuine, longstanding passion for gardening

• A relaxed working environment with regular socials including a summer festival
• Supportive well-being initiatives and benefits, talks & workshops, and Mental Health First aiders & Champions
• 25 days holiday plus a day for your birthday. Our offices will be closed between Christmas and New Year’s which are in addition to your annual entitlement
• Tailored training and development through both our inhouse learning platform and LinkedIn Learning
• A progressive and transparent culture focused on your development  
• Flexible / hybrid working plus early finish Fridays
• Cycle to work scheme
• Enhanced Family Policies including paternity, adoption and surrogacy leave. We also provide a pregnancy loss, fertility, and carers policy
• Competitive pension plans and Life Assurance
• A newly renovated modern office with lots of collaborative spaces

At Immediate, we pride ourselves on our open, inclusive, collaborative, and dynamic culture that empowers our people to thrive and give their best. We care deeply about our people, our local communities and the impact we have on the environment. Our active Diversity & Inclusion network, comprehensive well-being programs, and clear sustainability strategies reflect this commitment.

People are at the heart of our business and creating a diverse and inclusive working environment is important to us. Immediate is an equal opportunities employer. We’ll never treat anyone less favourably because of their sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marital/civil partnerships, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnic origin, age, religion or belief or disability. We’re also committed to supporting applications from those who are returning to work following a career break, maternity leave or caring responsibilities.

Immediate is a place you can grow, be supported, and make a difference.