SBJ Media is seeking an Executive Editor to lead the newsroom and help shape the next chapter of Springfield Business Journal.
Since 1980, SBJ has covered the companies, people, investments, industries and decisions shaping southwest Missouri’s economy. Today, our journalism reaches readers through Springfield Business Journal, SBJ.net, daily email products, special publications, events, video and other digital platforms.
The media industry has changed dramatically and will continue to change. Technology changes. Platforms change. Reader habits change.
What doesn’t change is the need for deep, intelligent, credible and valuable local business journalism that readers cannot get anywhere else.
SBJ’s position is to be the region’s Business Authority. We are looking for an Executive Editor who can protect what has made SBJ trusted while leading the newsroom toward what comes next.
The Role
The Executive Editor is SBJ’s senior editorial leader and a member of the company’s leadership team, with responsibility for editorial strategy, newsroom leadership, journalistic standards, audience relevance and digital growth.
This starts with excellent journalism.
We want SBJ’s newsroom focused on original, authoritative and unduplicated reporting. That means making strong choices about which stories deserve our resources, going deeper where SBJ can provide distinctive value and helping readers understand not only what happened, but why it matters.
The Executive Editor will:
- Set editorial priorities and guide daily, weekly and long-range coverage.
- Maintain high standards for accuracy, fairness, sourcing, transparency and journalistic ethics.
- Develop deeper reporting, analysis, enterprise journalism and business intelligence.
- Maintain a strong command of regional business news, emerging issues and broader economic and industry trends.
- Help journalists make complex business, financial, economic and public-policy issues clear and useful to readers.
- Provide strong editing, story development, sourcing guidance and constructive feedback.
- Continually evaluate what SBJ should cover, what it should cover differently and what may no longer deserve our resources.
Lead and Develop the Newsroom
We want a leader who recognizes that running a newsroom is about more than managing assignments. It is about helping talented people reach their highest potential.
The Executive Editor will coach and develop journalists, establish clear expectations, hold people accountable and create an environment where people can do exceptional work.
We also expect this leader to draw ideas from the entire team. Innovation should not depend on the person with the biggest title having every good idea.
The Executive Editor should recognize individual strengths, develop talent and create a newsroom where people are encouraged to question assumptions, identify opportunities and contribute to the evolution of SBJ.
Protect Trust and Journalistic Integrity
Trust is one of SBJ’s most important assets.
The Executive Editor will protect and deepen that trust through accuracy, fairness, sound judgment, transparency and strong journalistic ethics.
Great business journalism also depends on strong sourcing. We expect the Executive Editor to help journalists develop trusted relationships throughout the region and greater expertise in the businesses, industries and organizations they cover.
Those relationships are built on trust, and that trust includes SBJ’s commitment to independent, fair and thoughtful journalism. We want our sources and readers to know that we will listen carefully, seek to understand and report with integrity, even when the issues are complex or challenging.
Understand the Audience
Strong editorial judgment and audience awareness are not competing ideas at SBJ. We believe they strengthen one another.
SBJ has invested in understanding who our readers are, how they use our products, what they value and where they believe we can improve. We want an Executive Editor who will use that intelligence and continually seek feedback from readers, subscribers, sources and community partners.
Reader intelligence strengthens our journalism by helping us understand where needs, questions and opportunities exist.
The next editor should continually ask what information regional business leaders need, where information gaps exist and what SBJ can provide that readers cannot get anywhere else.
Lead Digital Growth
SBJ has an established brand and an engaged business audience. We also believe there is significant opportunity to accelerate our digital growth, and the Executive Editor will have a major role in building that next phase.
We want this leader to look at SBJ’s digital journalism from end to end: what we cover, how stories are conceived and packaged, when and where they are published, how readers discover them, how we use email and social platforms, how occasional readers become regular users and what new digital products could make SBJ more valuable.
The Executive Editor will help:
- Develop and execute a digital editorial and audience-growth strategy.
- Strengthen SBJ.net, email and other direct audience channels.
- Use analytics and reader intelligence to identify opportunities and measure performance.
- Improve how SBJ journalism is packaged, promoted and discovered without becoming click-driven.
- Develop new digital products, newsletters, recurring features, data, video and other formats.
- Establish measurable goals for digital audience growth and engagement.
- Evaluate emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, that can improve journalism, workflow, distribution or the reader experience.
We expect the next Executive Editor to make a measurable impact on how SBJ goes to market digitally, from the creation of our journalism through the way audiences discover, experience and return to it.
What We’re Looking For
There is no single career path required for this position. Candidates may be experienced editors, newsroom leaders, business journalists, digital journalists or other accomplished media professionals ready to lead people, journalism and change.
Strong candidates will bring excellent news judgment, strong writing and editing skills, high journalistic standards and intellectual curiosity about business and the forces shaping communities.
We are also looking for demonstrated leadership ability, emotional steadiness, strong communication, an ability to develop talent, digital and audience aptitude, comfort with data and analytics, and the ability to turn ideas into action.
Experience covering business, leading journalists or working within specialized or local journalism is preferred. Leadership ability, editorial judgment, digital aptitude and demonstrated results will be weighed heavily.
Most importantly, we’re looking for someone who understands what should never change and what absolutely must.
Work Environment
This is an office-based leadership position at SBJ Media’s headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, with flexibility to work remotely when appropriate based on newsroom and business needs.
We aren’t focused on a rigid office schedule. We are focused on having an engaged, accessible leader who uses good judgment about when being together matters.
To Apply
Submit a resume and letter of interest explaining why this opportunity interests you.
We would also like candidates to briefly address two questions:
What makes local business journalism indispensable today?
How would you determine what an established media organization should preserve, change and build next?
Examples of journalism, digital products, audience-growth initiatives, editorial projects or teams you’ve helped lead are encouraged.
To apply, go here.
