Work Journalists Published Media Award MA******)
Part-time independent contractor engagement, 12 months from December **** through December ****
Interviews this week over Zoom. Applications by Wednesday 20 August, 5pm AEST.
ABOUT SDC
Sydney Dramaturgical Company is an independent theatre company and web magazine publishing live performance criticism across Sydney, New York, and Montréal. We produce in odd years and write in even ones. We pay writers at working critic rate on first draft, run a paid emerging critic mentorship stream, and operate with a transparent AI/automation policy that keeps human writing central while automating everything around it.
We're hiring a Sydney Editorial Lead to hold day-to-day editorial responsibility for SDC's Sydney coverage across a 12-month funded period (December **** – December ****), while the Founder & Editor is based in Current York completing an MS in Data Visualization at Parsons. Editorial direction stays with the Founder; the Sydney Editorial Lead runs the Sydney arm.
WHAT THE ROLE ACTUALLY IS
Most of SDC's editorial infrastructure is automated — commissioning workflows, deadline tracking, publication scheduling, payment processing, listicles, applicant screening, roster CRM.
What can't be automated is the relationship work and the taste work.
Direct relationships with SDC's Sydney contributors (~30 working critics and emerging writers across the roster of ~90)
Editorial passes on first drafts: judgment, care, sharpening arguments, catching factual issues, honouring voice
Onboarding new Sydney-based writers as the roster grows
Weekly editorial mentorship touchpoints with emerging critics on the Sydney stream
Substantive editorial back-and-forth — the conversations that make a piece land
PR- and venue-facing work
Primary Sydney contact for PR partners (Kabuku PR and equivalent mid-tier firms) and venue programming teams (Belvoir St, Sydney Fringe Festival, and others as the network grows)
Press comps coordination and coverage negotiations




Managing SDC's coverage relationship with Sydney Fringe Festival specifically, including as lead editorial contact for the **** festival cycle
Representing SDC at Sydney industry events, opening nights, and sector gatherings when useful
Social media (Sydney channel)
Editing Instagram carousels for SDC's Sydney feed. Workflow: Gamma spits out three ~15-slide draft carousels from each published piece; you receive both the article and the drafts by email; you collage/cut/re-sequence into a single 9-slide-or-fewer carousel that reads well and honours the piece. ~30 minutes per carousel. Frequency: 2-5 per week, higher during Sydney Fringe.
Uploading finished carousels to a shared Google Drive folder (a downstream automation handles posting)
No caption writing required; captions are automated
WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR
Sharp critical judgment and real feel for editorial voice
Writing background in criticism, journalism, or arts/culture publishing (you don't need to have edited at scale before, but you know good writing from the inside)
Comfortable running warm, professional relationships with writers, PRs, and venue teams
Aesthetically confident on social media, especially the visual/sequencing side
Reliable, organised, communicative — hold multiple deadlines and writers at once without dropping threads
Based in Sydney, available for industry events, opening nights, and Sydney Fringe
Bonus (not required):
Existing relationships within Sydney's live performance sector
Bilingual capacity (English/French)
STRUCTURAL DETAILS
Independent contractor, 12 months from December **** through December ****
15 hours per week, flexible scheduling
$*****/hr standard, ~$*****/hr for the ~1 hr/week evening check-in with the Founder in NYC — per Fair Work Journalists Published Media Award MA******, Digital publications sector, Band 1 Level 5 casual classification
Reports to Founder & Editor; weekly editorial mentorship
Engagement contingent on Creative Australia grant funding (notification early December ****); "subject to funding" clause applies
Classification and scope reviewed at 12-month renewal
#J-*****-Ljbffr

📌 Editorial Lead (Sydney) (New South Wales)
🏢 Sydney Dramaturgical
📍 New South Wales