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About Us
The Athletic is a digital sports media company that brings true sports fans closer to the athletes, teams and leagues that captivate their attention. We serve a multi-faceted audience that craves a richer connection and understanding with immersive storytelling and a like-minded community of fans. Founded in 2016 and with major operational hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Melbourne, we empower a truly global team of more than 600 creators and cover more than 250 professional sports and collegiate teams across the United States, Canada and the UK. Our newsroom has produced thousands of in-depth reports along with more than 120 podcasts and other forms of premium content. Put simply, The Athletic is at the center of a sports fan’s universe.
About the Role
The Athletic is hiring a managing editor for our newly launched Daily Desk, who will focus on leading news coverage across much of our report. The desk works across the newsroom to strengthen the quality of our everyday journalism and to seize on opportunities throughout the sports world for compelling stories. It is staffed from early in the North America day to late in the North America night, and bridges with our team in London to give us 24/7 coverage.
Successful candidates must have a mastery of news judgment and coordination to launch on stories on a wide range of subjects in sports. They will work with individual sport verticals to plan and assess coverage and with colleagues on the Daily Desk to position us well for key moments and the most important stories. The role requires deft editing skills to lift up stories that are already in motion, both directly and through the coaching of editors. Successful editors need to work with accuracy, clarity, thoroughness, flexibility and speed, and must be able to help others do the same. Duties will mainly involve editing and management of the Daily Desk but sometimes include writing, depending on news demands, staffing and other factors. The work will heavily focus on collaboration with reporters and editors as a top advocate for urgent and timely journalism throughout the newsroom.
The job is remote, for candidates located in either the United States or Canada. It will regularly require work during nights and weekends, in line with the newsroom’s needs and the sports calendar.
Responsibilities
- Assist senior managing editor with leadership of the desk and all management duties, with ownership of specific areas of the desk’s functions.
- Maintain staff schedules, working to resolve needs of a large staff and to position editors to do their best work.
- Plan staffing for high impact moments and a balanced workload.
- Rigorously edit and publish stories from sportswriters of numerous types.
- Collaborate with sport editors to launch coverage around breaking news and to strategize around other stories, including coverage of key events.
- Maintain strong ties with leading vertical editors to help in wider coordination.
- Maintain strong story budgets and communicate during key meetings and handoffs.
- When vertical editors are not working, assign stories to beat and national reporters in breaking news situations.
- Coordinate with audience team to maximize story promotion and ensure stories are published in peak publishing windows.
- Coordinate with reporters in the field and editors who are contributing to coverage.
- Maintain strong understanding of style and story structure, with the ability to identify mistakes and to improve pieces as needed.
- Work to draw out the distinctive, compelling and authentic voice we bring to all coverage, particularly for nuanced and difficult stories.
- Regularly lift stories by making sure they are clear and compelling and collaboratively seeking improvements, with an eye toward continuously improving our overall work.
- Lead the improvement of workflow and best practices for the desk and its wide range of assignments and demands.
- Collaborate with design and photo teams and with other areas of the newsroom as necessary.
- Maintain a strong understanding of search optimization and how to identify coverage opportunities.
- At times, write and report spot news and trending stories with accuracy, speed and authority.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience editing news stories of various types, including breaking news.
- 4+ years of journalistic managerial experience, preferably with direct oversight of other editors.
- Strong copy editing experience, with demonstrated consistency in lifting and strengthening stories as well as coaching colleagues on editing and reporting.
- An ability and willingness to work nights and weekends and to serve on call in big moments.
- Interest and knowledge across a range of different sports, with demonstrated experience generating story ideas and helping own a report.
- A demonstrated ability to mentor more inexperienced editors and reporters.
- Familiarity with WordPress is a bonus, but must have strong comfort working in a content management system for news.
- An ability to work in the United States or Canada.
The annual base salary range for this role is $120,000.00 – $135,000.00 USD. The total compensation offered for this position may vary based on factors such as education, experience, skills, and location. It may also include non-cash rewards and benefits. The base salary range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.
The Athletic offers unique perks and benefits to all full-time employees based on their country of residence. Our comprehensive US benefits package includes:
– Highly competitive, employer-contributed medical, dental, vision, basic life and disability insurance plans.
– Savings accounts for medical, wellness, and childcare expenses.
– 401k retirement savings plan and employer match.
– Paid time off including paid sick leave, 12 paid holidays, 15 days of accrued vacation to start, and up to 20 weeks of Paid Parental Leave.
For international candidates: Our global benefits packages offer similar benefits and perks, competitive to the local market.
The Athletic Media Company is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically encourages people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply. The Athletic will consider all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.
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