WSJ seeks a law bureau chief

The Wall Street Journal is looking for an experienced journalist to join our U.S. news leadership team as Law Bureau Chief. In this job, you will run the Journal’s U.S. legal coverage, the scope of which is as vast as the topic itself, and in which nearly every story is ripe with the drama of conflict.

The subject terrain is exciting: white-collar criminal cases; mass civil litigation brought against the biggest corporate defendants; constitutional clashes over freedom of speech and religion and the rights of the accused; and the personalities and institutions that wield power at the center of the legal system.

The topics your team will cover involve some of the most polarizing in the nation: guns, the death penalty, elections and voting access, and abortion, and touch on all facets of American life, from politics to sports; entertainment to real estate; finance to technology. It is an exciting time to be covering the U.S. and this job is at the heart of shaping our coverage.

You will report to Emily Nelson, the U.S. News Coverage Chief. While you will likely start the job working remotely, you will eventually be based in our New York office.

In the job, you will lead a team of six reporters, guiding their coverage and editing their stories. Alongside the reporters, you will help them choose the broader topics to cover, and help them shape individual stories. You will work closely with the US Coverage Chief and her deputy, and will coordinate with colleagues and bureaus from across coverage areas at the Journal. You will need to be able to identify high-impact stories and issues for us to cover.

This is a great opportunity for someone eager to be part of the biggest stories of the day, while striving for deeply reported narratives, investigations and enterprise journalism. You need to love news and big, fast-breaking news stories, and harbor a genuine interest in the legal system, though a law degree or previous experience with legal coverage isn’t necessary. At least five years experience as a reporter — with both breaking-news and feature-writing experience — is required. Experience running a team of reporters is welcome.

To apply, please submit your resume, a cover letter explaining how you would approach the job and relevant clips or work samples.

To apply, go here.