The Philadelphia Inquirer is a public benefit corporation owned by the nonprofit Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Together, we’re at the center of a critical mission to create a lasting future for ambitious, engaging, and useful local journalism. We’re doing this, in part, by deepening our connection with the communities we serve. Our integrated digital and print platforms are the Philadelphia region’s largest media network. We’re passionate about building a sustainable model for indispensable local journalism, and we take pride in finding diverse, dynamic, and talented individuals to help push our team forward.

Sports Editor, Story Formats and Social

Summary

We’re looking for an experienced, multi-skilled sports editor to help manage, lead and conceptualize The Inquirer sports desk’s new digital story formats. Their idea formulation must be creative, innovative and not necessarily focused on the X’s and O’s. They will highlight sports-adjacent, off-the-field storylines to attract casual sports fans and grow audiences. The job requires a keen sense of storytelling, as well as a firm grasp of audience and voice. Candidates will work closely with assigning sports editors to discern stories that best fit a given story treatment, and aid in producing the story from start to finish. Candidates should be excellent wordsmiths, fast on the keys, and possess superior story idea formulation skills. They should exhibit leadership and superior news judgment and temperament. There will be flexibility to work most shifts from home if desired. Skills in SEO/digital headline writing are a must, as is a commitment to teamwork and journalistic integrity.

What You’ll Do

Report directly to and work with the Senior Editor, Digital Strategy and Audience Development
Work closely with the breaking and trending news editors, and night sports editor for reactions, working quickly on viral storylines that would interest Philadelphia sports readers with social media aggregation and writing original content for our audience
Identify opportunities to both create original content and repackage existing Inquirer sports journalism in new and innovative storytelling formats
Monitor relevant accounts on X, Facebook, Instagram, etc. for trending and aggregation
Work with team editors and alerts desk for social amplification of relevant sports stories
Edit copy for content, style and grammar for publication on any platform
Publish content on our website, employing strong SEO, effective multimedia display
Evening and weekend hours will be a regular part of this role, with some holiday shifts and flexibility needed
Help produce and edit alerts, as well as our flagship Sports Daily newsletter

Who We’re Looking For

The ideal candidate will have experience working with reporters, acting as both coach and collaborator through the ideation process, from story formulation, revision, execution and final publishing
The ideal candidate will be a leader and communicator, detail-oriented and a good teammate to writers and fellow editors
The sports editor must be able to work with writers and assess a story’s art, interactive, multiplatform and packaging potential
The sports editor will learn all Philadelphia sports teams to edit/assign stories effectively
The sports editor will also have superior knowledge of national sports storylines
The ideal candidate will be a skilled wordsmith who can incorporate SEO best practices into compelling headlines and link text
The sports editor must have multi platform skills in order to coordinate potential projects with multiple departments, from written stories to podcasts, VOD and radio appearances
This candidate will possess the ability to juggle multiple responsibilities and tasks on deadline

The Philadelphia Inquirer is committed to attracting a diverse group of interested people to join our team, so please err on the side of applying even if you’re unsure if you meet all the qualifications. We encourage anyone to apply who shares our passion for indispensable journalism and our drive to create a sustainable business model to support it.

As an equal opportunity employer, The Inquirer is building an inclusive and equitable workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. We especially encourage people from marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds to apply, including people of color, women, people from the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with disabilities.

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Sports Editor, Story Formats & Social

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