Assistant Editor, Latino Initiatives

Join the hundreds of talented and innovative team members who are making an impact every day at California Times, incorporating Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, two of the most iconic media brands in the nation. Whether you love to tell compelling stories or want to drive our award-winning powerhouse in new directions, the Los Angeles Times team is the place to be.
Summary
The Los Angeles Times is seeking an assistant editor to join our growing Latino Initiatives team.

Building on the success of the Latinx Files newsletter, digital Día de Muertos altar and packages on the Chicano Moratorium, Fernandomania @ 40 and LA Vanguardia, this team will bring to life the vibrancy of the U.S. Latino experience with a focus on culture and identity. This project will be multi-platformed in approach with rich visual and audio storytelling, provocative commentary, short documentaries and live events.
The assistant editor will be responsible for assigning and editing staff and freelance stories and will work with the editorial director and the design director to ideate, produce and execute on storytelling that will engage with the Latino community in Los Angeles and beyond.
The ideal candidate will be a nimble digital thinker who can visualize stories and how they will appear across multiple platforms. They will be comfortable with the latest trends on social media and effectively implement strategies that will grow our audience and engage our community.
This person will play a key role in the evolution of our initiatives to reach the Latino community through Instagram and TikTok, while focusing on executing on digital best practices across multiple platforms.
In This Role You Will

• Use designated tools, such as an authorized CMS, to clearly communicate editorial coverage plans in a clear and timely manner
• Offer guidance to staff on conceptualizing, reporting and writing content to ensure quality, accuracy and fairness
• Collaborate with managers, the design team, fellow editors and social media strategists to evaluate which aspects of coverage are working best and to further the audience engagement direction for the L.A. Times Latino Initiatives
• Provide timely verbal feedback and coaching to staff
• Provide support to other areas of the digital publishing world, including social media, audience analytics and community engagement
• Collaborate with editorial staff, including photo, design and copy desks, to produce stories on all platforms
• Work with reporters on how best to present their stories in ways that will engage our readers
• Work with freelance writers and content creators on the storytelling while maintaining the team's overall mission
• Work with the editorial director to stay on top of trending topics and assign and edit freelance and staff stories
• Handle contract and production duties for freelance assignments authorized by editorial management

Requirements

• Excellent time-management skills
• A deep understanding of the Latino community
• At least two years of editing experience
• An understanding of audience data and analytics and a track record of using data to make informed decisions
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment
• High energy and enthusiasm for journalism and visual storytelling
• Positive self-starter capable of performing under pressure and making good decisions
• Proven ability to edit for a digital audience and an understanding of the tone and language that resonates online
• Versatility in working across different social media platforms and different mediums including words, images, videos and gifs
• Ability to work on a tight deadline

This position is listed as Assistant Editor in the Los Angeles Times Guild and will be based in El Segundo, Calif. Occasional night and weekend work is possible.
The L.A. Times is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes expressions of interest from people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The pay scale for this position is $94,328 to $110,000. This is the pay scale range the Company reasonably expects to pay for this position at the time of this posting. Compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position. Please visit our career site to view the benefits available to our employees as well as our company history, achievement, values, mission and more.
The Company is a mandatory vaccination employer for COVID-19 and its variants. The Company requires that its employees be fully vaccinated as of their start date. If you require medical or religious accommodation we will engage in the interactive process with you. Proof of vaccination will be required prior to start. If we make you an offer and you are not yet vaccinated, we will accommodate a delay in start date.
Qualified candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to Editorial Director Fidel Martinez. Please note, the opportunity to attach additional documents appears on the third screen and is labeled “Upload.”

Thank you for your interest in joining our team at the Los Angeles Times! We look forward to reviewing your application.