Mission Local is searching for a senior editor

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Mission Local is looking to hire a senior editor to work with our existing editors to plan news coverage and manage the newsroom.

The senior editor will take the lead in supervising six to nine reporters in news-gathering and reporting efforts. At present, we are expanding to different neighborhoods and want to deepen our expertise in short-term investigative pieces.

The ideal candidate is thoughtful, innovative, ambitious, and fast. They see urgency and strategy in turning breaking news situations into short investigative pieces. They are a thorough editor, familiar with and experienced in daily and enterprise journalism. They can restructure narratives, line edit and copy edit — and do so quickly, on deadline. They’re excited about data and visuals. And they are comfortable giving feedback and training a young staff. 

The ideal candidate will also do their own reporting and writing to the extent permitted by other job responsibilities.

Responsibilities include: 

• Directing the daily operations of the editorial news team, including assigning and editing stories in coordination with two editors and a part-time night editor. 
• Owning and managing the newsroom’s editorial calendar in collaboration with other editors.
• Managing and helping to set goals for the reporters.
• Leading, directing and managing special coverage, and working with editorial staff on longer-term projects such as election planning, thematic coverage or experiments in storytelling.
• Helping to build a culture of feedback in the newsroom, and leading on collecting and responding to feedback on editorial operations.
• Participating in long-term strategic planning.

Relevant skills include:

• 5+ years in a newsroom with at least five years of full-time experience.
• A strong track record of publishing compelling short, medium and long-form stories. 
• The ability to think deeply about journalistic projects, uphold editorial standards and edit and coach journalists through any part of the pitching, reporting, writing, editing or production process.
• Enthusiasm for thinking and working creatively and collaboratively with journalists.
• Excellent verbal and written interpersonal communication.
• Experience with content management systems; WordPress is a plus.
• Ability to work with individuals from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
• Ability and a keen interest in developing young reporters.
• Reporting experience is a plus. The person in this role would benefit from an understanding of reporting values, methods and challenges.

There are great candidates who might not check all these boxes or who possess important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We also encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ people and people with disabilities. 

Benefits: 

• Salary range: $85K to $110K
• 15 days of vacation
• All federal holidays
• One week vacation between Christmas and New Year’s, and two days at Thanksgiving
• Health, dental and vision

 Apply to: applications@missionlocal.com with a cover letter and resume. 

We will be looking at applications as they come in, but the process will remain open until June 8, 2025.