Job Description

Your Impact:

Under the direction of SFGATE’s Managing Editor, the Deputy Managing Editor will help lead the majority of our breaking news vertical editors. The Deputy Managing Editor will be able to toggle between brainstorming content ideas, helping to oversee editorial calendars, dissecting growth and performance data and, of course, editing stories. We want someone who can really do it all — and do it with a unique editorial voice and extensive editing and managerial experience.

Why SFGATE?

Launched in 1994, SFGATE.com was one of the first large-market media sites in the world and served as the exclusive digital home of the San Francisco Chronicle for 19 years. In 2019, the Chronicle (which can now be found online at the paywalled sfchronicle.com) and SFGATE officially became two separately run entities with their own editorial staffs and independent newsrooms.

Today, SFGATE is a digital-only publication that drives more than 300 million visits a year month and tells the stories of the people, places and ideas that make San Francisco, and the Bay Area at large, the weird and wonderful place that it is. We help readers navigate their day, whether it’s by keeping them updated on big breaking news, guiding them to interesting local experiences or sharing a part of the Bay Area they haven’t seen before.

The site is home to nine verticals: Culture, offering a unique mix of the entertainment news you actually need and the underground stories from hidden corners of the Bay Area you want; Local, the premier destination for everything that life in San Francisco encompasses (from wildly expensive real estate to schools to what it’s like to live above a raucous bar); Sports, covering the intersection of sports and culture; Tech, covering the intersection of tech and culture; Travel, covering everything from flight deals and travel news to hotel hacks and under-the-radar day trips; Politics, where we keep you up to speed on all local, state and national politics that have implications on the Bay Area; Food + Drink, where we tell you the backstory of the people behind the bar and in the kitchen; Cannabis, where we cover the sprawling industry of legal weed in California, good, bad and ugly; and News Plus, the site has full-time local editors covering both Lake Tahoe and the Central Coast, a SoCal bureau that focuses on Los Angeles food, culture and the outdoors, as well as Disneyland, a National Parks bureau with editors across the West Coast covering national parks in California, the Southwest, Big Sky Country and the Pacific Northwest, as well as a satellite editor covering Hawaii and California’s North Coast

What you’ll do:

• Consistently have ideas: You need to have a constant stream of ideas yourself, but also be able to workshop someone else’s idea to help them maintain an ambitious calendar with a wide audience funnel.
• Be autonomous: This position comes with a lot of trust to oversee editorial decisions, meet deadlines and manage a crew of editors. You have to be able to do all of these things, and do them well, without a lot of hand holding.
• Be consistent: This is a job that requires solid organizational skills. We want someone who can constantly ensure that all of the editorial machines are running effectively and meeting our vision, applying generous amounts of creative oil where necessary.
• Manage 4-5 reports directly, with a group of about a dozen total in your management line.

Who you are:

• You have 5+ years of relevant experience in writing, editing and management of writers or editors at a publication or in a digital media environment
• You’re comfortable overseeing a growing staff in day-to-day site operations, including assigning and editing stories
• You respond nimbly to cultural and news events, unpacking them to find an SFGATE angle that can help readers find emotional or practical connections
• You have keen eye for analytics and can use data to help you make smart decisions and find areas of opportunity for your team
• You know how to motivate a team and not only keep yourself organized, but inspire others to do the same
• You live in the Bay Area or are able to move here
• You have a passion for journalism and telling stories
• You’ve read SFGATE and have an understanding of the brand and voice

In accordance with applicable law, Hearst is required to include a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role if hired in California. The reasonable estimate is between $125,000 and $130,000. A final decision on the successful candidate’s starting salary will be based on a number of permissible, non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to skills and experience, training, certifications, and education.

About SFGATE:

SFGATE (www.sfgate.com) is the go-to online source for all news and entertainment related to the Bay Area. With a Pulitzer Prize and over 25+ million unique visitors each month, SFGATE publishes a moment-by-moment, 360-degree view of local news in the San Francisco Bay Area and a wider lens focusing on California’s travel destinations. Both local news coverage and travel destinations are wildly popular with a nationally engaged audience.

HNP Overview:

With 2,500 employees across the nation, Hearst Newspapers (HNP) represents a network of 28 daily and 50 weekly publications, including the Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, San Francisco Chronicle and Times Union (Albany). Our portfolio also includes several top digital-only news and lifestyle sites such as Chron., CT Insider, MySA and SFGATE, along with marketing services businesses like Medium Giant and entertainment brands such as King Features Syndicate.

At HNP, we’re investing in new and innovative ways to tell stories — growing newsrooms, diversifying tools and evolving platforms — to support the millions of people who trust us each month to help them make decisions, take action and be inspired.

Be part of something bigger — Your Headline Awaits

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