Applications for this role have now closed. Please see our jobs page for our open positions.
Starting salary: $160,000+
Location: Austin, Texas, preferred
The 19th is hiring an experienced, ambitious and innovative editor-in-chief to lead one of the most extraordinary new news organizations in the country, and to take our year-old newsroom to scale.
In this role, you’ll set an editorial strategy for politics and policy journalism that centers the lived experiences of women — particularly women of color — and the LGBTQ+ community, and that deeply examines and explains gender and racial equity issues at the national, state and local levels.
You’ll oversee a dramatic expansion of our journalism, from our daily and breaking news operation to enterprise and accountability coverage, data visualizations, podcasts, community-driven storytelling and more. You’ll play a key role in setting the tone for our newsletters and live events programming. And you will relish in the range of skills needed to lead a digital-first newsroom, from line editing stories to planning ahead for major news events to nurturing a diverse team.
You’ll work in concert with our audience, partnerships, revenue, creative and events leads to prioritize the expanded reach of our journalism (and journalists) across platforms, from our own website to broadcast airwaves to the pages of news organizations across the nation.
Most importantly: You’ll do it with heart, with bravery, with a deep empathy for our team and our readers, and with a vision for the future of news that is far more representative, more inclusive and more sustainable than it is today.
In short order, and in a global pandemic, The 19th has punched far above its weight, from our exceptional journalism to our must-see live events to our stellar fundraising. Now we’re looking for the newsroom leader who can take us to the next level.
Responsibilities include:
- Setting the vision, cadence and strategic course for our entire editorial operation, from the daily drumbeat of news to longer-term enterprise and projects reporting.
- Leading the best reporters and editors in the business, managing a robust editorial budget and overseeing the expansion of our distributed newsroom through key new hires.
- Producing stellar, differentiated, reader-centered journalism that serves our existing audience and dramatically grows our reach.
- Working directly with our creative and audience teams to make daily and longer-term coverage decisions, as well as our events, product and revenue teams to make strategic decisions on upcoming programming, partnerships, platforms and positions.
- Working with our chief people officer and senior leadership team to cultivate an inclusive and collaborative editorial (and organizational) culture.
- Representing The 19th and its brand across TV and radio airwaves, on the event stage and in conversations with supporters.
Relevant skills include:
- 5+ years of experience leading — and loving on — growing newsroom teams, including distributed ones
- A track record of setting and executing a strategic editorial vision
- Excellent story assigning and editing chops
- A keen understanding of audience metrics and analytics, and the ability to make data-driven decisions to expand reach
- Ability to communicate and collaborate with a wide range of teams, from audience to events to product to revenue
- Familiarity with GSuite, WordPress and relevant social media platforms
We know there are great candidates who might not check all these boxes or who possess important skills we didn’t list here. 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
- 20 days paid time off, plus major holidays (13 per year)
- Health, dental and vision insurance
- 401(k) with matching
- Flexible work hours
- Professional development/conference stipend
- Up to 6 months paid family leave
- Up to 4 months paid caregiver leave
- Flex Plan (for medical or child care expenses)
- Disability insurance (ST and LT)
- Life insurance
How to apply
Interested candidates should apply here by September 30. Have questions about this position? Contact [email protected]. (Note: We are not accepting résumés or applications via email; apply here.)