The Sacramento Bee is seeking an innovative, dynamic news editor to lead our coverage of social justice issues, racial equity and the challenges facing diverse communities here. Sacramento is home to an array of ethnic communities, immigrants and demographic groups trying to find their footing in the challenging economic landscape that is California. This editor would shepherd those stories with our reporters devoted to covering those issues.

They are part of our Equity Lab, a community-funded newsroom team committed to delivering ambitious stories and engaging with the community to spotlight those who often do not have a seat at the table. Housing, reparations, schools, health — all beats intersect with our coverage of social justice and equity issues.

The Bee’s Equity Lab is committed to building trust and giving underserved communities a voice through these efforts. Our reporters are devoted to covering communities of color, socio-economics stories and a wide range of equity issues.

The editor will help reporters find new ways to elevate diverse stories and highlight the achievements, cultures and concerns of underserved communities.

Sacramento is the fastest-growing big city in California, and the Equity Lab has an important role to play as the city moves toward an equitable, sustainable future at this pivotal moment of intense change in the region.

This team is focused on delivering both accountability journalism that holds people and institutions responsible for fair practices and representative journalism that reflects the everyday lives and challenges in communities that have not been adequately represented in traditional media. The ideal candidate for this leadership position will be skilled at editing enterprise stories and crafting strategies for connecting with readers through newsletters, listening sessions, social media and events.

The editor will be hands-on, working closely with reporters to shape their journalism. The editor should have strong editing skills and be grounded in journalism ethics. And the editor should embrace contributing reporting and writing columns as part of communicating and outreach for these communities.

This role requires an understanding of varied storytelling techniques and an eagerness to learn in a changing news environment. You will work collaboratively with other editors at The Sacramento Bee. Interpersonal skills and the ability to partner with editors, reporters, visual journalists and community members are essential.

This editor must also be responsive to audience wants and needs. The Equity Lab editor should understand how to interpret audience data to help drive decisions and how to write headlines that draw in new readers and build loyalty with our long-time subscribers. This editor also will be involved in communicating directly with the audience on all of The Bee’s platforms and in public events.

The anticipated base pay range for this position is between $75,000 and $90,000. Individual base pay may vary within that range depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, relevant education, department equity, training, geography and local wage and hours laws.

If this is you, please apply.

Requirements:

• At least one year of supervisory experience in a newsroom

• The proven ability to lead, inspire, and convey knowledge to others and to work effectively with a wide range of colleagues

• Strong editing skills, both for long-form stories and quick-turn stories written on deadline

• The ability to connect with and understand diverse audiences

• Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to “see the story” that is going to matter to readers and to anticipate reader interests before they exist

• A focus on ensuring that our content and our staff represent the fullness of our community and state and the diversity of the people who live here

• An understanding of news analytics and metrics on reader habits

• Impeccable journalistic ethics

• Comfort with a job that will be demanding, fast-paced, constantly evolving and outcome-oriented

• A focus not just on the written word, but also on how stories are told through photos, videos and audio