Kansas City Biz Journal seeks a data reporter

The Kansas City Business Journal is looking for a driven and innovative Data Reporter to build on the newsroom’s strong legacy of using data to drive essential, exclusive business coverage.

Our Data Reporter is charged with gathering and analyzing original data on the industries, companies and trends driving business decisions in the Kansas City region, and communicating what he or she uncovers using both text and visual storytelling techniques.

The ideal candidate has the intellectual curiosity necessary to find, analyze, understand and explain what’s driving his or her research results, using our database, documents obtained and interviews with local sources.

Duties:
• Collects and analyzes company and industry data for Kansas City Business Journal’s weekly industry Lists, using surveys, public documents and other relevant sources.
• Regularly reports and writes stories based on data from the Lists and other research projects using appropriate narrative and visual storytelling techniques;
• Reports and writes cover stories for our print edition where appropriate;
• Oversees creation of charts and infographics to illustrate research data findings;
• Works alongside reporters and editors on enterprise projects that include or are driven by data;
• Manages Kansas City Business Journal database of regional companies;
• Actively looks for creative ways to tell important stories using data.

Skills
• Strong news judgment, news analysis and news writing
• A drive to uncover new companies to survey, push reluctant companies to provide data and identify new data sources to continually improve our research results.
• Knowledge of computer data-management applications
• Proven ability to work with databases and spreadsheets to find patterns and stories
• Meticulous eye for detail
• Passionate about finding and dissecting data
• Able to get people to tell you things they don’t want to
• Strong customer service skills
• Solid Microsoft Excel skills a must
• Comfort with basic math
• Able to mine and analyze data from surveys, regulatory agencies, other public documents and sources
• A drive for 100 percent accuracy
• Able to work as part of a team and enjoy shared success.

Experience
1-3 years of journalism or equivalent experience
A track record of reporting on business data — including a familiarity with public-company, bank and regulatory filings — a plus

Education
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

To apply, email a cover letter, resume and links to clips that best show enterprising and scoops reporting to Beth Hunt, director of editorial recruiting and development for American City Business Journals
bzhunt@bizjournals.com