CalMatters/The Markup is looking for a director of product who shares our passion for using technology to investigate technology, catalyze what journalism organizations can accomplish, and create real-world impact for people and communities.
In this role, you will lead a team of web developers, engineers, and technical specialists to envision and execute a range of newsroom products, from practical Wordpress plugins and game-changing privacy detection tools to our flagship email newsletters and unique editorial collaborations.
The director of product will also have a second title based on how newsroom titles are normally structured: Product editor. This represents our belief that our product team is a critical part of our editorial work. The ideal candidate is ready to think outside of the box with us, and lead how the product team can be part of envisioning our newsroom’s future.
This role reports to the deputy managing editor of impact, an editorial department created in July 2024, aimed at ensuring our journalism has the most real-world impact as possible. Impact houses our audience and engagement, membership, data and interactives, product, and partnerships teams. Since theImpact department was created, we’ve launched print voter guide zines, TikTok quiz filters, a regional newsletter, community voter education events, and more. Read more about how we think about impact.
The person we hire will have a voice in shaping the role. Many different skill sets and experiences could be a great fit for this position.
This full-time position with benefits is based in California and requires occasional travel to our Sacramento office. We will consider U.S.-based candidates not living in California.
As product director, you will:
- Manage a team. Whether or not you’ve previously been in a management position, we expect you to have enthusiasm for people management and cross-functional collaboration. You will be supervising people with varying skill sets and working with teams across reporting lines
- Grow a culture of experimentation, collaboration, and innovation that supports user research, design, and testing of new products and audience experiences
- Lead the organization in identifying AI-driven opportunities, developing and implementing promising AI strategies, and helping guide the newsroom’s AI policies
- Explore new opportunities to create ambitious public service tools that innovate around the reporting and/or delivery of our cutting-edge reporting (for example, Digital Democracy and Blacklight)
- Cultivate and edit articles written by product team members, such as technical and behind-the-scenes pieces that highlight their work (for example: here and here)
- Proactively manage team priorities, balancing organizational needs, what work drives the most impact, and innovation
- Lead the development of what impact means in our newsroom, alongside fellow editors within the Impact department, and in the newsroom overall
- Being collaborative, curious, and creative in your approach to your work
- Lead and improve the newsroom’s product workflow, processes, and systems
What We’re Looking For
We’ve done our best to list the relevant qualifications applicants might bring to this job below, but the list isn’t exhaustive. We highly encourage you to share with us other experiences and qualifications you have that may be valuable to this role.
We strongly encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds to apply. Research shows that underrepresented applicants often downplay their skills. Even if you believe that your experience doesn’t match the qualifications listed (and we certainly don’t expect candidates to be equally skilled in the areas we’ve listed), we still want to hear from you. Please apply!
Skills We’re Looking For
- Prioritization. You know how to assess tradeoffs, promote good decision-making, and bring clarity to complex spaces. You have strong project management skills
- Critical thinking. You make judgments based on big picture goals, not specific directives, and know when to pivot or change course based on new information
- Collaboration. You have a clear dedication to working with others and inherent generosity around sharing skills, information, and credit with colleagues
- Technical understanding. You have technical knowledge and can navigate and communicate system architecture and understand the technical dependencies of your projects. You will not know how to execute on every technical project at the organization, but you will know how to communicate, ask questions, and make logical decisions on those projects
- Experimental mindset. You have tangible experience working iteratively, measuring results, and learning from them
- Excellent communication. You pride yourself on your communication skills, and are comfortable communicating with all members of the organization regardless of their level or technical expertise
- Ability to meet deadlines. You understand that at a journalism organization, deadlines are critical and, sometimes, beyond our control
Pluses, but not requirements
- Track record of using and supporting open-source tools
- Familiarity with
- California’s state government or municipal governments
- California’s diverse communities
- Digital privacy and security (see Blacklight)
- Strong familiarity with the thoughtful deployment of HTML and CSS. For example, you’re comfortable discussing best practices around semantic HTML or CSS naming conventions
- Fluency in more than one language
Compensation And Benefits
The salary range for this position is $130,000 to $150,000 per year. We offer a complete benefits package with medical, dental and vision insurance — we cover 95% of the cost for employees and dependents — from a range of HMO and PPO providers. We’ll match contributions of up to 2% of your salary to our 401(k) program and provide life insurance at no cost.
The salary range above is our best estimate, in good faith, of what we expect to pay for this position. Our final salary figure will take into account the candidate’s experience and skills, as well as our commitment to pay our staff equitably.
How To Apply
We are an expanding and collaborative newsroom, successfully forging a new model for sustainable, intelligent, nonprofit journalism. We’re committed to reflecting the people we serve and especially encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply.
If you’re interested, provide a resume and work samples. In lieu of a cover letter, we’d like you to respond to our application questions below. Please do not contact the hiring manager directly, and do not send a résumé to staff at their individual email addresses.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, don’t hesitate to contact jobs@calmatters.org.
Submit via the portal below.
About CalMatters
CalMatters, now in its ninth year, is an award-winning nonprofit, nonpartisan news venture dedicated to explaining the policy and politics of America’s biggest state and the world’s fifth largest economy. We produce vivid, original multimedia journalism, data-driven news analyses and watchdog accountability reporting on calmatters.org, and freely distribute our work to more than 250 media partners. Our success metric isn’t clicks — it’s impact. We’ve received the EPPY for Best News Site in the Nation, the American Journalism Online Award for Best Nonprofit News Source in the U.S., and consecutive first-place awards for general excellence among all digital news sources from the California News Publishers Association.
We also have the most diverse major newsroom in the state. Here you’ll be working alongside dozens of experienced journalists in a supportive, collaborative atmosphere.
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