The Examination is a start-up nonprofit newsroom telling vital stories on the global public health beat. Launching later this year, we strive to produce fact-based accountability journalism that demands change — and saves lives.

Our beats include tobacco, industrialized food, and polluting industries, which we will be covering in partnership with collaborating journalists around the world.

Job summary

The Examination is seeking an investigations editor to steer our most ambitious stories and projects.

This is a position for a journalist with deep experience leading reporters and bringing home successful investigations. The investigations editor should have a passion for creating impactful journalism and for helping reporters accomplish their very best work.

This role requires a strategic thinker with a collaborative mindset. This editor will guide reporters through each stage of the story process, from conception to publication.

Figuring out innovative ways to deliver our journalism to core audiences as well as to the communities most at risk from the subjects of our reporting is a key responsibility.

We believe that the best editors are deeply engaged throughout the editorial process, from concept and pitch through to publication. The investigations editor is expected to guide reporters as they navigate the many challenges associated with accomplishing accountability journalism — and is responsible for ensuring that the resulting work meets the highest standards for accuracy, engagement and readability.

A collaborative spirit should extend to working closely with other staff at The Examination, and to external collaborators: many of our projects will be produced in partnership with outside news organizations. In some cases, we will seek to produce the same or similar story in direct collaboration with a partnering newsroom — requiring the investigations editor to not just oversee internal staff, but to also negotiate reporting and writing decisions with outside journalists.

Tasks will include:

• Evaluate story/project proposals with an eye to feasibility, challenges, opportunity cost and impact potential
• Oversee major stories: Help coordinate news gathering, research, data and analysis to ensure successful, timely roll-outs. Teasing out the most critical and newsworthy findings, presenting that information in a clear and compelling way
• Edit major stories, associated content, always with our mission in mind. Edit multiple drafts of stories, engage other editors on the team to help support the work
• Continuously monitor and assess the global health landscape to identify important and under-reported stories
• Build and manage relationships with partnering news organizations, in concert with global partnerships coordinator and other editorial staff
• Edit news stories, follow ups, profiles, explainers and other stories outside of the project cycle
• Mentor and train reporters, providing guidance and support to help them grow as journalists.
• Represent The Examination at conferences and events
• As a newsroom leader, ensure that The Examination is a safe and supportive working environment for all staffers

Qualifications:

• At least 5–7 years managerial experience in a professional newsroom as an editor or in a related role
• An accountability news or investigative news background, with a proven record of guiding ambitious and impactful journalism

A global outlook is a necessity, as is an openness to collaboration. Past experience working on a reporting or editing team as part of a multi-newsroom collaboration is desired, but not required

Pay and benefits

The estimated salary range for this position is $130,000 to $150,000. The final figure will take into account experience, achievements and location.

The Examination is a fully remote newsroom with excellent health and retirement benefits, a generous vacation and paid leave policy and a commitment to invest in the careers of the journalists on our staff.

We are an equal opportunity employer and have zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age or any other status protected under applicable law.

People of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people and those with experiences in the communities we cover are strongly encouraged to apply.

How to apply

Please email work@theexamination.org with your resumé and 3–5 clips of stories you had a strong hand in shaping, with a note telling us more about your work on these stories. You might describe how they were first conceived, editing challenges involved, any impact, etc.

Please also share your ideas for how you’d oversee an investigative team dedicated to telling accountability stories on the public health beat and how that approach would fit into the mission of The Examination (see more here). As part of that, please include at least one story idea.