Josie Salkey

Some of the things people have paid me to do include sticking labels on tins of coffee, working in a pharmacy and serving hot dogs at a football club. That was fun.

Here are some of the other things:

Senior Director of Global Content, Sage
When I joined Sage, my first role was leading the UK small business campaigns function, where I coordinated the marketing campaign for version 22 of Sage 50, the company's flagship accounting software.

That all changed radically though and as the company embraced SaaS and built central global functions to create consistency and remove duplication, I joined and then led the content team. Initially operating as a production and strategy centre of excellence, my team grew to include all local content leads with full responsibility for global strategy and production, coupled with local execution.

My first hire into the team was a measurement, insights and optimisation expert, bringing a commercial and results-focused edge to the team’s output. I grew the team to 25 strategists, writers, editors and producers with responsibility for content across campaigns, web and customer stories in eight markets. With an audience ranging from startups to accountants, CFOs and HR directors, I focused the team on insight-driven, differentiated content strategies.

I created the editorial strategy for our global content hub Sage Advice and launched our ground-breaking content marketing campaign with VICE alongside the video series Member Masterclass and the award-winning Sound Advice podcast, attracting a huge global audience, generating demand and shifting brand perception.

Global Digital Content Manager, Bupa
The Bupa Global Market Unit was formed to appeal to a well-off “globalista” demographic and my remit was to create the content and social strategies to win this commercially valuable audience. Working closely with creative and content agencies, I researched the audience and created processes, frameworks and overall strategies including an owned content hub of rich, premium health and wellness advice.

I also managed the re-brand of Bupa International to Bupa Global, coordinating updates across websites, customer portals and social media channels simultaneously.

Senior Content Editor, British Gas
I joined the digital team at British Gas Business, responsible for creating the company’s first content calendar and introducing the concept of content marketing more broadly.

The business was suffering from a lack of trust due to price rises, poor customer service and automatic renewals and I researched, created and launched Energy Made Simple, an online hub to de-mystify energy supply, pricing and processes for small businesses. The site received the Crystal Mark from the Campaign for Plain English, was cited in parliament as an example of energy suppliers being more customer-centric and won the Best Website Award at the B2B Marketing Awards. I was also content lead on the award-winning Energy Live Challenge campaign to promote smart meters.

Content Manager, Orange
Making the shift from startup to corporate, my role was to drive content excellence in the B2B arm of Orange. I owned web content as well as a range of forums, e-newsletters and customer magazines for entrepreneurs and IT leaders.

I was content lead for the launch of iPhone for business and the redesign of the Orange Business website including editing, reviewing and managing approvals for hundreds of web pages with a small team of contractors and an external creative agency. I was promoted to lead a team of two and worked on content partnerships with BAFTA, Glastonbury, Microsoft, Samsung and Apple.

Head of Content, Melcrum
I was promoted to run the five-strong editorial team at Melcrum, taking responsibility for a global portfolio of e-newsletters, paid subscription magazines and annual research reports. As Melcrum pivoted to online content, I was also the launch editor of The Internal Comms Hub, an award-winning site with part-paywalled content for internal comms professionals worldwide. I recruited a panel of topic experts to lead site sections and answer subscriber queries, managed the balance of free and paid content and oversaw all content creation, build and publishing. 

Editor, Strategic HR Review, Melcrum
As Editor of Strategic HR Review, my mission was to find the most interesting stories from the most interesting HR leaders worldwide. I created a 40-page magazine for our global subscriber base six times a year and owned the end-to-end process including theme and topic research, interviewing experts, writing, editing, approvals, formatting and publishing. I attended and chaired HR conferences in the US and UK, recruited an editorial board and was the launch editor of a sister publication, Total Rewards Strategy. Strategic HR Review is still going strong over at Emerald Publishing.