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Job Description Summary
The Los Angeles Times is looking to connect with qualified candidates as we begin our search for a deputy Sports editor, a position we anticipate filling at a later date. This newsroom leader would work directly with a team of editors, reporters and producers who shape the story of Los Angeles sports, ahead of a decade that will position the city and region as a leading edge of sports culture.
We are interested in developing relationships with experienced managers and competitive editors with a vision for creative, high-impact, must-read coverage for all platforms, including mobile, print, audio and video, and an ability to inspire colleagues and unlock the full range of their talents.
Job Description
The ideal candidate would have impeccable journalistic credentials, a strong background in both legacy and new media, and ability to think strategically about how to take the stories and ideas of an experienced, award-winning staff and shape them in new, modern ways.
This editor would need to be familiar with high school, club, college and more than a dozen professional sports teams in Southern California and Nevada and be poised to lead coverage of the Super Bowl, World Cup and the Olympics, all of which are scheduled for L.A. this decade.
Here are the responsibilities we envisage for this role:
Assign and edit sports coverage; ensure that reporting is attentive to detail, consistently accurate, delivered with high quality under constant deadlines and edited to conform with accepted journalistic techniques, ethical standards and the style of the publication
Work with the assistant editors to set a strategic course for the department that prioritizes digital development, grows audience, readership and digital subscriptions, and fulfills current company goals
Work with other departments to build ambitious initiatives that speak to sports’ growing intersection with other cultural spaces, such as politics, food, tech and fashion
Help lead the development of coverage of, and engagement with, emerging sports spaces such as esports and legalized gambling
Apply creativity to story generation, visual element generation and the presentation of news and information in the most relevant, interesting way
Direct daily print coverage and shape its strategic path going forward, with the goal of creating a higher-impact product that complements digital initiatives
Ensure that the department meets digital and print production deadlines and maintains ideal story flow
Provide continual feedback to employees on their performance and complete formal annual performance reviews
Work directly with the roster of award-winning veteran columnists to generate story ideas and amplify those voices beyond The Times
Help lead the Sports department’s diversity efforts to build an inclusive staff that reflects the communities The Times serves and covers
Lead talent development efforts and create a clear career development strategy for current staffers while helping identify a pipeline of future industry talent and leaders
These are the requirements and qualifications potential candidates will need to demonstrate:
A minimum of seven years of editing or management experience at a major news publication or website
A nuanced understanding of audience data and analytics and a track record of using data to make informed decisions on coverage
Ability to foster excellent communication with peers, supervisors, department and newsroom
Maintaining up-to-date skills on various digital platforms and keeping abreast of current events and newsmakers in news, sports and culture and topic area trends
Bachelor’s degree or higher, or equivalent experience
The L.A. Times is an equal-opportunity employer and welcomes expressions of interest from people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
Explore our company history, achievement, values, mission and more on our Careers Site.
Times staff is currently working remotely, but after we have returned to the newsroom the position would be based in El Segundo, Calif.
Please upload a resume and cover letter outlining the nature of your interest in this future role as well as any applicable clips to Executive Sports Editor Chris Stone at the Apply link.
The opportunity to attach additional documents appears on the third screen and is labeled “Upload.”
Thank you for your interest in joining our team at the Los Angeles Times! We look forward to reviewing your application.
