Wired seeks a future of health care reporter

Wired is the place where a better future is imagined. We’re looking for a creative, talented writer and reporter with a strong background in science or technology reporting to tell stories that help our global audience understand the future of health care.

The scope of the job will depend on your level of experience and areas of interest, but you’ll be expected to range widely and keep an open mind about what a health story might be—perhaps a profile of a scientist working to prevent the next pandemic, an investigation into how the personal data from fitness trackers gets used, a report on a new study about contaminants, an explainer about COVID vaccine supply chains, a tale of activists trying to overcome inequities in a healthcare system, a yarn about a baffling medical mystery, or a story about new approaches to mental health.

Whatever the topic, you should be experienced in reading and parsing academic research and data, and as interested in the economic and policy implications of the topics you cover as in the science and technology itself. Yet in your reporting and writing you’ll always have an eye on the human factor: how these issues affect people, what the takeaway is for your readers, and how you can both inform and engage them.

We’re looking for someone who’s excited by the prospect of storytelling across a wide range of formats, from breaking news and sharp, timely analysis to deeply reported narrative features. (If you’ve never written one of those, don’t worry: Wired has some of the finest longform editors in the business, and we love helping people who’ve got reporting chops and raw writing talent grow into gifted storytellers.) You might also get to take part in our podcasts, video series, or live events. We’ll encourage you to find and tell stories from all around the world, and you’ll be part of a growing and increasingly global newsroom of smart, kind, nerdy, and well-informed colleagues who are always brimming with ideas and eager to help each other out.

Because the story of healthcare is so often a story of unequal access to healthcare, we would especially welcome applications from journalists from underrepresented minorities. Our main offices are in San Francisco and New York, but we’re open to applicants based remotely, including in the Europe/Africa time zones.

Primary responsibilities:

• Pitch, report, and write stories on the health beat, balancing news and analysis of the most important health stories with original investigative reporting, features, or essays

• Collaborate with other members of the science team in shaping the WIRED coverage agenda for health-related issues

• Collaborate with audio, video, events, and social media teams as needed to develop ways of telling stories about health on other platforms

Skills and qualifications:

• Experience as a science or technology journalist, preferably covering health, medicine, biotech, or related fields

• A clear, engaging, jargon-free writing style