Senior Editor, Investigations

Sr. Editor, Investigations

The Houston Chronicle seeks a multifaceted, dynamic editor to lead its award-winning investigative team and build on the Chronicle's tradition of holding power accountable and improving the lives of everyday Houstonians and Texans. Houston, Americas' fourth largest city, is part of one of the most vibrant news ecosystems in the United States. The Chronicle I-Team consistently produces journalism that is consumed voraciously, in part because its work reflects the ethnic, cultural and geographic diversity of our region.

POSITION SUMMARY

The I-Team editor oversees five reporters and a data journalist. The ideal candidate to fill the role will have deep experience as both an investigative reporter and newsroom manager, preferably in another investigative unit at a major U.S. news organization. The editor will be involved in all phases of story development, from conception to reporting process to line editing and story packaging, both digitally and in print.

Familiarity with public records requests, data collection, spreadsheet development, SEO and audience best practices are musts. Experience producing investigative journalism in Texas is preferred, but not required.

The Chronicle I-Team is a fearless but exceedingly fair unit, as can be seen by the depth and breadth of its work here: houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/. From uncovering a pattern of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Church, to shining a spotlight on yearslong wait times for disabled people to obtain services in Texas, to exposing questionable tax-incentive deals, its reporters have drawn national eyeballs to their stories by mining public records; doing shoe-leather reporting that finds human faces and voices to bring stories to life; and working with the Chronicle's visual, audience and technology teams to produce photos, interactive graphics and video that make its storytelling even more compelling. In recent years, Chronicle journalists have won a George Polk Award, a Livingston Award and numerous Texas state journalism awards.

The I-Team editor will be expected to continue to develop stories of that caliber.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

• Push innovative storytelling and be adept at leading the staff in producing high-impact journalism.
• Work collaboratively with editors, photographers, the digital desk and the "DevHub" data visualization team to tell impactful stories across platforms that engage and retain local subscribers and other readers
• Seize opportunities to propel investigations forward with follow-up stories that can lead to changes in public policy and state law. Chronicle investigations often can become sub-beats of sorts for the reporters who launch them
• Demonstrate a high comfort level with analyzing and interpreting metrics - and use them to inform, but not dictate, story selection decisions
• Develop the talents of staffers, offering constructive criticism of their work and overseeing evaluations of reporters and editors on the team
• Coordinate journalism awards submissions newsroom-wide, including writing letters submitted with contest entries.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrated experience managing newsroom personnel and producing high-quality news and enterprise journalism across digital and print platforms
• Demonstrated success working in a deadline-driven environment
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with a proven ability to effectively juggle multiple tasks
• Minimum 10-15 years of experience as a senior reporter and/or editor
• Understanding of social media landscape and SEO
• Command of federal and Texas open-records laws preferred

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's degree

As part of its continued efforts to maintain a safe workplace for employees, Hearst Newspapers requires that all employees who receive a written offer of employment be fully vaccinated (as defined by the CDC) against the coronavirus by the first day of employment as a condition of employment, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Hearst Newspapers will consider requests for reasonable accommodations on an individual basis in accordance with applicable legal requirements.