[Hiring] Senior Editor, Local and Engagement @The Marshall Project

Role Description

The Marshall Project is looking for an experienced editor to help oversee our local newsrooms and pursue investigative work informed by meaningful engagement with the local communities we cover, as well as support our engagement efforts on national investigations.

Engagement is a central pillar of The Marshall Project’s mission, focused on surfacing and covering issues that are relevant to the justice-affected community. This means the jailed and incarcerated, the formerly incarcerated, their families and friends, and the neighborhoods with high rates of incarceration and poverty. To do this, we need to be in contact with these communities, offering meaningful ways for them to “engage” with the newsmaking process. Our goal is to build and maintain a sense of trust with the audiences we cover — without sacrificing journalistic integrity.

This editor will:

• Serve as second-in-command of TMP’s local newsrooms, working closely with reporters to tap into the local community.
• Help oversee a team of investigative reporters in TMP’s local newsrooms in Cleveland, Jackson, and St. Louis.
• Help deepen our engagement strategy in each city, working with reporters to establish relationships with members of the community and identify themes for accountability-driven stories.
• Uphold high editorial standards for our local newsrooms, helping reporters conceive and execute high-level, high-impact investigative work focused on inequities within the justice system.
• Work with the Deputy Managing Editor, Local and Engagement to identify common themes from the local newsrooms that could lend themselves to joint efforts and potentially investigations on a national scale.
• Collaborate seamlessly with departments across the newsroom in the production and dissemination of locally produced work.
• Coordinate with editors and reporters across The Marshall Project newsroom on engagement efforts surrounding national investigative projects.
• Coordinate closely with the director of audience on a plan to establish TMP as a brand in each city, and develop a social media plan to drive local readership.
• Travel regularly to meet with local reporters and the communities they cover.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of journalism experience.
• At least a year of dedicated experience with journalistic engagement work with local communities.
• Demonstrated record of producing high-impact investigative work.

Requirements

• Experience with engagement work that informs journalism and helps readers process results.
• Experience in investigative work that delineates systemic problems and holds the powerful accountable.
• Familiarity with investigative tools including filing FOIA and state open records requests, analyzing legal documents, and understanding data.
• Experience managing reporters to set goals and direct reporting.
• Ability to manage competing deadlines on both long and shorter-term projects.
• Attention to accuracy in content production.
• Experience collaborating with colleagues from different sectors of the news organization.

Benefits

• 100% employer-paid medical insurance.
• Employer-subsidized vision and dental insurance.
• Matching traditional and Roth 401k (immediate vesting).
• Voluntary benefits including Health and Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits, pet insurance, and more.
• 17 days of paid time off each year, in addition to office closure between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2.
• Paid parental leave.