Des Moines Business Record seeks an editor

The locally-owned and growing Des Moines Business Record is seeking a skilled and innovative editor with excellent planning, organizational and process management skills, who can direct and amplify our newsroom’s coverage of the Greater Des Moines business community. The position is of high-demand and requires an individual with a type-A personality who is a master of efficiency, resource management and coordinating multiple ongoing projects.

This person will lead a staff of three reporters, a managing editor and a newsroom operations manager. In addition, this person will collaborate with our company’s full-time copy editor, photographer and creative team to produce our weekly B2B print news magazine, as well as an extensive array of digital insider content, daily enewsletters and specialty magazine publications.

The editor will be the primary news decision maker and will be tasked with informing, enriching and connecting the business community. She/he will achieve this by amplifying, advancing and leading conversation through our unique in-depth analysis of the people, challenges, trends, and initiatives that are of vital importance to those doing business in Central Iowa.

This person will work hand-in-hand with the publisher and executive editor to build and nurture our audience, create innovative new products and publications and position the Business Record for continued growth.

Major responsibilities include:

– Leading the informed, level-headed conversation of our business community through our content and products.
– Leading and planning the extensive day-to-day operations of producing our weekly print product.
– Coordinating and amplifying our content across multiple digital mediums.
– Leading and planning multiple special magazines and publications.
– Long-term planning and execution of the editorial strategy for the organization.
– Working closely with reporters to identify and develop compelling, in-depth, unique and visually appealing content.
– Editing stories, and proofing pages.
– Directing the daily news coverage and analysis in our digital products.
– Executing new and innovative story formats for both digital and print.
– Utilizing new technologies to tell, produce and deliver stories in innovative ways.
– Collaborating to create new digital and print products for our business community.
– Working closely with the design team and staff photographer to lead the visual presentation of our products in print and online.
– Writing occasional feature stories and news items.
– Representing the organization at both company events and at critical community events.
– Coordinating and facilitating the distribution, promotion and elevation of content across our full array of products and social channels.
– Keeping a finger on the pulse of the needs, challenges and major initiatives of the business community.
– Serving as the newsroom’s primary contact point for the business community.
– Assessing situations, to determine the importance, urgency and risks associated with our content, while making clear decisions which are timely and in the best interest of the organization.

Skills & traits required:

– Highly organized: Set priorities, build timelines and monitor the progress of multiple ongoing long-range and short-range team projects.
– Process orientated: Enjoys building and managing systems and procedures to ensure consistent improvement and efficient and effective processes.
– Planning: Ability to make, execute and lead others with long-range coverage plans.
– Deadline oriented: Meets deadlines, and fostersa deadline-oriented newsroom, while managing time and completing tasks within a decided time frame.
– Problem solver: Assess problem situations to identify causes, gather and process relevant information, generate possible solutions and make recommendations and/or resolve the problem.
– Technological savvy: Demonstrate mastery of standard office technologies and utilize new technologies to aid coverage and process efficiency.
– Data orientated: Uses data to inform decision making and evaluate the performance of the newsroom and its products.
– Foster teamwork: Works cooperatively and effectively with a team and others in the company to set goals, resolve problems and make decisions.
– Flexibility and adaptability: Ability to adjust and calibrate a plan or work process given changes to strategy or available resources.
– Editing: Enjoys and relishes working through others to help reporters elevate the quality of their ideas and final copy, while ensuring a clean, factual and clear final product.
– Strong visual skills – Thinks strategically about using visuals and enhancements – sidebars, graphs, photos, infographics – to elevate the visual appeal of our products.
– Team management: Ability to utilize team members strengths, understand weaknesses and be in tune with the staff’s workload to help the team operate at its optimal level, while putting team members in the best possible position to do their jobs.
– Entrepreneurial spirit: Enjoys creating new products, magazines, events and other innovative opportunities to serve our business audience.
Benefits:

– Four weeks paid time off, with increases over time.
– Flexible work hour arrangements.
– Profit sharing.
– Free downtown parking.
– Group life, short-term and long-term disability coverage
– Group medical insurance
– Group dental insurance
– 401(k) plan access

How to apply:
Go to www.businessrecord.com/hiring to fill out an application and submit additional materials including: Resume, cover letter, 2-3 clips of your own writing and/or 2-3 clips of work you helped edit and produce.

Questions?
Contact Business Record Publisher and Executive Editor Chris Conetzkey (chrisconetzkey@bpcdm.com).