Senior Editor, Watchdog

Position Summary

As senior editor of our watchdog team, you will lead a small team of experienced reporters with the mandate to hold local government and powerful institutions to account. The work covers a wide range of issues across Southern California, including law enforcement agencies, county government, workplace safety, and the housing and homelessness crises. The team will feature a reporter focused on transportation, two government‑accountability reporters, and additional newsroom resources.

In this role you will shape ideas, deepen reporting and seek creative ways to tell stories across multiple platforms—radio, digital, social, video, on‑demand, and live events. You will advocate for collaboration with other newsrooms and the communities we cover, and partner directly with LAist’s general assignment and beat reporters as needed.

The senior editor should bring a track record of reporting, writing, and editing in‑depth investigative stories that reveal wrongdoing and injustice, and an aptitude for analyzing data and guiding others on public‑records requests. The team will aim to publish at least 12 stories each month.

• Oversee high‑impact investigations and daily enterprise reporting that betters the lives of Southern Californians, producing 12 stories or more per month from your team.
• Develop and execute cross‑platform strategies for your assigned beats that reflect LAist’s mission to deliver distinctive and unique content to our audiences.
• Work with the engagement team to learn and uphold best practices for creating content that emphasizes an audience‑first approach.
• Develop strategies to diversify sources and, in cooperation with the engagement team, establish new relationships with readers, listeners, and other stakeholders.
• Assign and edit daily stories, special projects, and other content for accuracy, fairness and inclusivity across broadcast and digital platforms.
• Provide clear guidance, feedback and supervision to assigned staff.
• Participate in, and sometimes lead, training sessions for the LAist newsroom.
• Embrace LAist’s digital strategy and partner with senior leaders to make data‑informed decisions.
• Encourage creativity and high standards.
• Work with direct reports to develop short‑ and long‑term goals.
• Represent LAist at public events.
• Other duties as assigned.

Watchdog reporters

• Must be able to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Required to move about in an office environment and sit for extended periods of time.
• Required to move about in the community.
• Frequent use of hands for data entry, keystrokes and simple grasping.

• Moderate noise level.

Hybrid, Pasadena, CA

Expected Compensation Range: $120,000 – $124,000 per year. The exact salary rate is determined by experience and education related to the role, organizational compensation structure, and internal equity.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Five years reporting or editing experience, with two years editing or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of two years supervisory experience.
• Experience in maintaining high journalistic standards under deadline pressure, including standards of accuracy and fairness.
• Experience assigning stories and editing copy.
• Experience with digital news production and presentation.
• Experience covering government or editing local, state or federal government beat stories.

• Strong writing and editing skills are essential.
• Knowledge of radio, digital, and print style.
• Ability to make decisions on deadline, direct coverage and communicate effectively with colleagues and supervisors.
• Ability to effectively execute multiple assignments on deadline.
• Leadership and personnel skills and ability to develop high‑performing teams.
• Ability to consistently work well with others and to inspire and lead the staff.
• Strong communication skills.
• Ability to develop complex story ideas that provide analysis and add context.
• Ability to recognize and act on opportunities for tapping audience expertise.
• Well‑established contacts and…