The Chicago Sun-Times is the hardest-working paper in America, covering the stories and issues that matter most to Chicagoans with depth, integrity, and grit. The newsroom has earned eight Pulitzer Prizes for its hard-hitting investigative reporting, in-depth political coverage, insightful sports analysis, entertainment reviews, and cultural commentary. An industry-leading innovator in local news, it has been recognized nationally for expanding digital and multimedia reporting platforms alongside its indomitable newspaper, the oldest continuously published daily in the city.

In January 2022, the Sun-Times merged with public radio station WBEZ with a shared

mission to strengthen local journalism in Chicago. Under the banner of Chicago Public

Media, Chicago Sun-Times Media, Inc. (CSTM) is now part of one of the largest nonprofit news organizations in the nation. This merger reinforces our commitment to serving Chicagoans with the news that matters most -– fact-based, unbiased journalism that is deeply connected to Chicago communities.

An Opportunity to Make an Impact

Chicago Public Media is seeking an Interactives Editor to join CPM's growing data journalism team. The editor will work on a team with news editors, reporters, data journalists, and developers to conceptualize, assign and help produce interactive digital stories for the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. The ideal candidate is an experienced journalist with a background in web development and project management who can guide journalists to produce visually compelling stories.

Duties & Responsibilities: 

• As part of Chicago Sun-Times management, develop a strategy and workflow for visualizations to help reach our editorial goals.
• Assign, prioritize and edit the work of data and visual journalists who produce interactive graphics, news applications and other visually driven stories.
• Act as a player-coach, producing original projects of your own, as needed, in support of newsroom priorities.
• Collaborate with reporting teams to identify important data sets or visual opportunities, brainstorm coverage ideas, respond to requests and find gaps in project plans.
• Develop and implement a workflow for the newsroom to deliver simple charts, maps, and data visualizations.
• Explore and analyze data for relevance and story potential; also organize and document data to assist developers in building interactives and web applications.
• Develop pipelines and story templates to report and present the news in new and innovative formats.
• Build and support enterprise systems for data journalism and innovative storytelling, working with the product team to develop best practices for news application infrastructure.
• Deploy scrapers, ETL processes, and monitoring services to build data repositories for reporting and production.
• Using Google Analytics, monitor the web performance of stories and analyze for future improvements. 

• At least five years of digital journalism experience in a deadline driven environment.
• Proficient to expert knowledge of JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
• Understanding of mapping and software to develop maps for the web.
• Experience with UX/UI design, visual journalism, or related skills.
• Comfortable setting up AWS or similar web services.
• Ability to produce high-quality work in a collaborative environment.
• CMS and digital media production proficiency.
• They are well organized with a passion for data-driven, multimedia storytelling.
• Ability to stay focused with multiple quick-turn deadlines.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications: 

• In collaboration with other journalists, Python, SQL, spreadsheets, and GitHub. 
• Knowledge of Chicago and the surrounding region.

What We Offer

• A competitive salary and benefits package includes medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability coverage, retirement savings, FSA plan including a commuter benefits plan.
• Opportunity to work within a collaborative team culture
• A flexible work schedules
• Opportunity to be part of an iconic brand
• This a unique opportunity to lead an influential local news outlet in an innovative, exciting market at a time when the Sun-Times has joined Chicago Public Media, become a nonprofit, and adopted a membership model without a paywall.

The information contained in this job description is not intended to create any contractual or other legal commitment. CSTM may change the content or format of this job at any time at its sole and exclusive discretion without notice. This role does not offer sponsorship employment benefits.
CSTM does not discriminate in its employment decisions based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, citizenship or national origin, veteran status, or on any other basis, which would violate any applicable federal, state, or local law.

CSTM is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities.