U.S. News seeks consumer writer to cover cars

U.S. News & World Report is actively seeking an experienced Consumer Advice Writer for our consumer-oriented automotive site, U.S. News Best Cars.

This position is based in our metro-accessible, Washington, D.C. office and will be working in a brand new office suite, set up for the collaborative work environment our employees appreciate, but telecommuting can be considered for the right candidate.

The autos team at U.S. News & World Report is a friendly atmosphere, where individuals are held to deadlines and operate at a fast pace. We are seeking someone with a firm knowledge of journalistic writing conventions and formal writing training.

U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of news and information that helps consumers make decisions, including Best Colleges, Best Hospitals and Best Cars. U.S. News Best Cars helped more than 50 million car shoppers in the past year through rankings and reviews of new and used cars.

Enthusiasm about cars and the automotive market is a big help, but because U.S. News Best Cars is not an enthusiast site, the best person for the job will be just as enamored with writing about minivans as they are with writing about sports cars. Most importantly, the best candidate for this job will be passionate about helping consumers navigate the new and used car markets and forging connections with our users via social media.

Duties:

• Write 1-3 consumer advice automotive stories (700-1,000 words) per week
• Identify and interview experts on story topics
• Responsible for gathering photos, videos etc. to accompany stories
• Upload and publish all pieces in CMS on deadline
• Create social media posts for all stories
• Track and respond to trends on social media, adjusting posts as needed
• Identify and mine existing content for social media posts
• Responsible for creating slideshows by gathering photos and writing captions
• Write 5-15 blog posts per week (200-500 words)

• Coordinate with other U.S. News verticals and promote their car buying-related content with blog posts
• Pitch story topics monthly

Requirements:

• 3-6 years journalism/writing experience, experience writing for a consumer-based audience required.
• Experience with and passion for social media, including analytics, required
• Ability to self-edit and independently develop expert sources required
• Solid interviewing skills required
• Experience writing for a magazine, newspaper or online publication required
• Proficiency in AP style required
• Must have some formal journalistic writing training and a strong understanding of media law, feature writing and ethical writing standards
• Proficiency working with a CMS required
• HTML experience preferred (ability to crop, resize, SEO tag, copyright etc.)
• Prior automotive writing and prior car shopping advice writing preferred

Please submit your cover letter, resume and a minimum of 3 feature article clips for consideration for this position.

To apply, go here.