Deputy Investigative Editor

This is a Full Time Job

Deputy Investigative Editor (hybrid role)

Are you great at getting people to tell you things they're not supposed to? Do you see problems in your community and itch to figure out who is responsible? Have you ever almost crashed a car because you couldn't stop reading the public document haul you just picked up at the courthouse? Do you have editing experience, or do you read a story and know exactly what you'd do differently to make it sing?

If so, we at the San Francisco Chronicle would love to hear from you.

This hybrid reporter/editor will report and write long-term, high-impact stories, while also coaching and editing quick-strike investigative reporters - watchdog journalists charged with shorter-term accountability work. This journalist will be a full-time member of the investigative team, and work with the investigative editor to keep a constant eye on what's at stake for vulnerable people and taxpayer dollars.

All the big stories that you want to tell are in the San Francisco Bay Area. Whether it's tech and start-up culture, the housing crunch, California's deep inequalities, wildfires, management of public lands, LGBTQ rights or the wine and cannabis industries, our local stories are national stories. We're ripe with crises - homelessness, drug addiction, climate-linked disasters - demanding the spotlight of investigative journalists.

When news breaks, successful candidates will immediately wonder what bigger watchdog story is waiting to be told. Editing experience is a plus, but what matters most is a keen understanding of what it takes to make an investigative story land.

What you will do:
• Develop sources, mine public records and analyze data to pitch and execute investigative projects.
• Manage a team of quick-strike reporters, identifying the bigger picture in daily news stories and shepherding those accountability pieces into the paper.
• Work collaboratively with journalists across the newsroom, including digital, photo and design, while pitching ideas for multimedia presentation of stories.
• Ensure that coverage reflects the diversity of experiences and needs in the Bay Area.

What it will take to be successful:
• At least three years of experience at a daily newspaper, magazine or web publication or the equivalent.
• A keen ability to see beyond a problem to which institutions or people are driving it, then explain how and why.
• Experience and comfort with successfully filing public records requests and working with data.
• Ability to collaborate with all newsroom teams and work in a fast-changing news environment.

About The San Francisco Chronicle & SFChronicle.com:

The San Francisco Chronicle is world-class journalism. With name-brand voices and a keen editorial eye, The Chronicle is an authority that still surprises. The Chronicle, one of the largest news organizations in the West, has been named California's best large newsroom for four of the past five years.

SFChronicle.com is home to the Bay Area's best journalism and has been recognized as the best large newspaper website in California. It is the Bay Area's authoritative online news source, focused on San Francisco but inclusive of all California and Western news that reflects the unique Bay Area experience.

Join our team of world-class journalists.