Washington Post seeking three biz reporters

Washington Post business editor Greg Scneider sent out the following email on Monday:

The Financial section has openings for three energetic reporters.

* A general assignment reporter to cover the hot business story of the day. We need someone who is a fast, clean writer with wide-ranging interests. This person should write with voice, should not be afraid to showboat a little, and must be flexible enough to turn on a dime when news breaks. Business experience is not a prerequisite. We want someone who will write from a reader’s point of view to explain or illuminate trends, big stories or personalities behind the news. This is a national assignment, looking at the forces in the world of commerce that affect ordinary people’s lives. This may mean writing a takeout on how Boeing really, really needs to beat Airbus for the next international sale of jetliners; then pivoting to why all the drug companies are merging and what that could mean for everyone’s medical bills; then spinning out a profile of the person who convinced Wal-Mart to go green. These stories should have a fresh angle, a unique perspective that elbows for readers’ attention in a crowded national marketplace for business stories.

* A national technology correspondent based in Silicon Valley. The reporter should be a self-starter with strong writing chops who can generate enterprise at a rigorous pace. We want to profile figures known and not-yet-known, highlight trends before they reach the East Coast and explain what forces are shaping the gadgets and services our readers find so addictive. We won’t ask for run-of-the-mill stories about companies and executives, but rather deeper takes that explain the tech economy and make a single writer stand out from the pack. It’s akin to a foreign posting: Tell us how Silicon Valley influences the broader culture, commerce, attitudes and policy.

* With the departure of Amrita Jayakumar for Capital Business, the Financial section is looking for a reporter to cover the fast-changing world of retail (one of the many areas Amrita was writing about for us). Retailers are like celebrities; everyone has heard of them, has an opinion about them, has some oddly personal relationship with them. And technology is profoundly disrupting the retail business, changing the way people shop and creating new opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs. The reporter should approach this beat with a sense of fun and with the perspective of an everyday consumer. Tell us why we should care when Walmart tests a subscription retail model, or CVS stops selling cigarettes, or JCPenney takes another drastic personality turn. We’ll want to break news, but the engine of the beat will be our ability to quickly spot trends and explain how events will impact the average pocketbook.

If you’re interested, please let Greg Schneider, David Cho or Tracy Grant know by May 23.