The Tulsa Local News Initiative seeks an experienced, innovative newsroom leader to help build and oversee our startup nonprofit newsroom. The managing editor will play a crucial role in working with the executive editor to establish priorities and manage the newsroom to its goals, and helping us realize a vision to weave together strong accountability journalism with service reporting, arts and culture, and community engagement for a well-rounded daily news offering in service of Tulsa residents. This position requires a dynamic leader who can balance strategic thinking with operational execution, who is detail oriented and willing, able, and eager to roll up their sleeves and guide their team to produce impactful, indispensable, high standards journalism in a fast-paced newsroom.

The managing editor will oversee a team of editors and reporters covering key topics that may include government, education, criminal justice, and business, as well as community engagement reporters. They will work closely with the executive editor and deputy editor to set editorial priorities, manage daily news operations, and ensure our journalism serves the Tulsa community. They will help reporters and editors alike see story ideas and opportunities, and spot connections between the initiative, its community contributors, and its partner organizations that enhance the journalism we can collectively deliver to our audiences. This may include spearheading collaborative projects, and supporting other editors in making our newsroom one in which people can learn and grow professionally.

The ideal candidate will have a track record of producing excellent journalism, strong leadership skills, and a passion for reimagining local news to be more responsive and accessible to diverse audiences.

The Tulsa Local News Initiative is a yet-to-be named startup nonprofit organization that has raised nearly $14 million so far in service of a vision to give everyone in Tulsa the local news they need. The newsroom will produce high-quality accountability journalism while working directly with residents to produce and distribute community reporting, employing an innovative model for local journalism that is directly responsive to local information needs. In addition to a team of editors and beat reporters, the Tulsa newsroom will have best-in-class community engagement expertise, multimedia production, dedicated capacity for service journalism and research, and Tulsa Documenters. 

At TLNI, we value learning, curiosity and diverse perspectives. We are dedicated to equitable hiring and follow best practices to create an inclusive hiring process. 

• Hire and manage a team of reporters who produce excellent, competitive reporting that earns the trust and loyalty of Tulsans
• Take personal responsibility for initial and ongoing audience growth for a new news organization whose mission is to provide Tulsans with the local news and information they’ve been lacking
• Develop and execute editorial strategy in collaboration with Executive Editor that combines accountability journalism with service reporting, and arts and culture, across multiple accessible formats
• Manage daily newsroom operations and editorial calendar
• Hiring a deputy editor and work with them to oversee and edit work of beat and general assignment reporters
• Manage a food, arts, and culture editor and work with them to source culture stories from inside and outside the newsroom, including from a diverse network of freelancers who represent Tulsa
• Ensure high journalistic standards and ethics of the daily news product on multiple platforms
• Foster a newsroom culture that prioritizes community information needs and diverse perspectives
• Work with engagement team to incorporate community input into editorial decision-making
• Identify opportunities for investigative and enterprise reporting projects
• Collaborate with multimedia team to produce compelling visual and audio storytelling
• Guide reporters in developing sources and story ideas across Tulsa communities
• Edit stories for accuracy, clarity, context and adherence to style guidelines
• Coordinate with other newsroom leaders on audience growth and distribution strategies
• Represent the newsroom at community events and with external partners as needed
• Embrace innovation and experimentation in storytelling formats and engagement approaches

• Directly supervise and mentor the deputy editor, food, arts and culture editor, story editor and art director
• Conduct regular performance evaluations and provide ongoing feedback
• Identify professional development opportunities for team members

• Deep journalism experience, including several years in an editing/leadership role
• Strong news judgment and understanding of journalistic ethics and best practices
• Excellent writing and editing skills across news and feature styles
• Experience managing and developing reporting teams
• Track record of producing impactful accountability journalism
• Track record of producing journalism that measurably resonates with audiences on multiple platforms
• Commitment to community-centered journalism and engagement
• Knowledge of Tulsa communities and local issues preferred
• Experience with innovative digital storytelling techniques and tools
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in a startup environment
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines
• Comfort with data analysis and visualization a plus
• Multilingual skills valued

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $100,000-120,000 with a generous benefits package.