We are hiring an engagement reporter to work on investigative projects in collaboration with traditional reporters throughout the full life-cycle of projects. That means you’ll be involved from the very beginning of story conception to think about what communities and audiences we need to reach and how we reach them, all the way through to story publication and beyond. You’ll help find and reach an audience for the story, and most importantly you’ll be responsible for conceiving and executing a plan to pull our readers into the reporting of the story itself.

This is not just about social media. We assume you know how to do a Twitter collection and why social video is important. What we’re looking for is somebody who will find and reach the people actually impacted by a story, get them to inform our work and be a central player in the storytelling on all platforms to maximize the resonance of the project.

The work can be as a low-fi as flier, or as buzzy as a Facebook video, whatever is best for the story and project.

So what exactly are we talking about? Take a look at a project we’ve been doing about Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange. Unlike traditional investigations, we didn’t start with a story. We announced that we were doing an investigation with a callout to the community. We asked vets to tell us their stories, and we’ve now heard from more than 5,800 of them. This community has fueled our reporting, and it’s already getting results.

We also plan to do more projects where we work openly with and help foster communities of journalists. An example of that: our Red Cross Reporting Network.

Is all of that the kind of work you want to do? Here’s what we’re looking for:

• A track record of organizing communities and audiences, especially in a journalistic context.
• Journalism experience itself, especially involving stories that shed light on injustices or covering marginalized communities.
• Ability to listen for signals from the community and smartly apply them to the project.
• Experience using the various tools of the social web, such as surveys or forms for sourcing, texting or messaging platforms.
• Experience with social and website metrics, since you will be in charge of analyzing what’s working, what’s not, and what we should differently next time.  

Does this sound like a new job to you? That’s because it is. Part of what we’re looking for is somebody who is excited about helping us build it.

To apply, fill out the form below.

This is a full-time position, with competitive salary and benefits. It will be based in New York.

Do you have questions? Email [email protected] or [email protected].

No phone calls, please.

ProPublica is committed to diversity and especially encourages members of underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.