Crain’s Chicago seeks commercial real estate reporter

Crain’s Chicago Business is looking for someone to be the definitive source of news and analysis on commercial real estate, primarily in the downtown Chicago office market, but not limited to that area. In addition to being first and best, our new reporter must be able to write knowledgeably and understandably to a sophisticated audience. We are looking to this reporter to generate his or her own story ideas and be the expert on these subjects.

This reporter must know how to cultivate sources, understand financial reports and crunch data. Trend-spotting is essential. He or she will be expected to break news and write with authority. He or she also must be able to write quickly on deadline and, at the same time, produce long-form profiles or features. We are looking for someone who can move adroitly from subject to subject and beat to beat.

Crain’s Chicago Business publishes four newsletters a week on commercial real estate. Working with colleagues, this reporter will be responsible for providing fresh material to these emails throughout the week.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in related field
Minimum of 3 years of reporting experience in professional business journalism
Background working in a deadline driven newsroom
Ability to generate story ideas, write cleanly and coherently, develop sources, break news, work quickly with minimum supervision
Understanding of financial and business terminology
Must be familiar with the big names in commercial development in the office, retail, industrial and multifamily residential markets
Experience using Microsoft Office, Outlook, Word and Excel
Ability to travel within metro Chicago
Effective communication skills
Be well-read, be curious, be able to work with peers in a collaborative manner and take guidance from editors in a productive manner
Be analytical and comfortable with numbers; accuracy is essential
Know how to organize his or her thoughts and write with a point of view; be a clear and clean writer
Be established on social media and adept at multimedia
Must supply link to online portfolio or samples of work.

Preferences:

Graduate level or higher education in related field
MBA or Law degree a plus
Experience reporting on commercial real estate industry
Preferred candidates will have a wealth of information of Chicago commercial real estate as well as a deep contact list in the industry
Daily newsroom experience
Strong history of generating scoops
Experience reporting on the Chicago business community
Proficiency in Excel
Be ambitious and competitive, and unafraid of challenges or change; the reporter should want to make a difference and be first with news

To apply, go here.