Position: Editorial Director

Company: Borderless Magazine NFP

Manager: Executive Director

Status: Full-time Exempt Employee

Location: Chicago with hybrid remote and in-person work

Compensation: $75,000 to $90,000 depending on experience, plus benefits

Application Due Date: Rolling

Approximate Start Date: September 15, date flexible

Website: www.borderlessmag.org

Borderless Magazine is an award-winning nonprofit news outlet that is reimagining immigration journalism for a more just and equitable future. We report and publish stories in English and Spanish in our online publication, we work with immigrants and their allies to tell their own stories, and we train journalists to more ethically report on immigration issues. The L.A. Times called us a “must-read publication.” We are the 2022 winners of LION Publishers national Community Engagement Award and 2023 finalists for the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Community Champion Award and Breaking Barriers Award for our reporting on West Chicago’s nuclear legacy and environmental racism. Find out more at www.borderlessmag.org.

Borderless is seeking a visionary editorial director to serve as the news outlet’s primary editor, mentor emerging journalists and lead our expanded investigative work.

This is an extraordinary opportunity to be a leader in a creative environment that values work-life balance. You’ll be part of a diverse team that is committed to ethical reporting that centers the voices and experiences of immigrants. In 2022, 95% of our stories were reported, photographed, or illustrated by people from immigrant communities. We publish one to two stories per week and prioritize investigative features and community-based stories.

As editorial director, you’ll have the power to shape the coverage of immigrants and immigration not only at Borderless, but in the greater Chicago region through our Pathways and Immigration Reporting Lab programs. This is a new role and we are looking for someone ready to hit the ground running.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with our cofounders (our executive director and associate director) to set editorial strategies and develop stories that hold the powerful accountable and shine light on the lives of immigrants in our region

• Manage our reporting and publishing, including making sure everyone meets deadlines, organizing editorial budget and calendar, and uploading stories to our website

• Work with reporters, interns and freelancers on stories from pitch to publication, including story ideation, structural and line edits, copy editing and fact-checking

• Work closely with associate director to ensure editorial stories and products (including occasional print products like comicsand zines) have impactful visuals 

• Work closely with our engagement reporter to edit our twice-weekly newsletter and social media posts and support pre- and post-publication engagement efforts (including our use of field canvassers to distribute content to low-Internet communities)

• Work closely with our executive director to develop impactful investigations and oversee their successful rollout

• Manage our incoming investigative reporter and ongoing Pathways interns and fellows, including providing them with one-on-one weekly feedback sessions and leading internal training sessions on things like story structure, interviewing and FOIAs

• Represent Borderless in national and local editorial partnerships, at conferences and on panels 

• Support Borderless’ team in fundraising efforts, including participating in fundraising events and occasionally editing donor campaign materials

Benefits

The editorial director editor will have access to:

• Subsidized medical, dental and health insurance for themselves and their spouse/children

• 25 days of vacation accrued per year

• 10 days of sick/mental wellness days

• 10 paid holidays plus the week between Christmas and New Year’s off

• Six weeks paid family leave plus additional subsidized leave available through short-term disability insurance

• The opportunity to invest in Borderless’ 403(b) retirement plan

• $1,000 toward professional development (courses, conferences, etc.) per year

• $1,000 toward workspace/tech (laptop, phone, internet, etc.)

• A one-month paid sabbatical for personal enrichment after working full-time at Borderless for five years

Time Expectations

Borderless Magazine operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The majority of the director’s work will happen during these hours, but the director will sometimes need to work evenings or weekends depending on a story or event.

Location

The director will be expected to work in person at Borderless’ office in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood at least once a week. 

Culture

We believe in the power of immigrant voices. We are a small team with five full-time employees and a roster of freelancers. We are a woman-led nonprofit that is anti-racist. We believe in work-life balance, respect and boundaries. If you are sick, we don’t expect you to work.

How to apply

Borderless Magazine is an equal-opportunity employer and we encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including immigrants, women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, older people, and people with disabilities. 

To apply, please send a resume, cover letter, the name and contact information for two professional references, and three samples of your editing or reporting work to Executive Director Nissa Rhee at team@borderlessmag.org with the subject line “Editorial Director.” 

Story samples should be professionally published – no student papers, please – and should showcase your news judgment, investigative skills and unique perspective. 

Your cover letter should answer the following questions:

1. Why are you interested in working at Borderless?

2. What makes you a great candidate for this position?

3. What is your connection to immigration or immigrant communities, if any? (Please note in your cover letter if you can read, speak or edit in Spanish or other non-English languages as those skills are especially valuable to us.)

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and we hope to fill this position as soon as possible.

Candidates should:

• Be an excellent writer with a background in reporting or editing feature or investigation stories

• Be a team player who can work with people with a wide range of experiences and racial and ethnic backgrounds

• Have great integrity and a strong moral compass

• Have a high level of individual initiative, including the ability to work with limited supervision, make deadlines, resolve practical problems independently, multitask and prioritize activities

• Have outstanding verbal and written communication skills

• Have strong news judgment, organization and decision-making skills

• Have experience working with and mentoring early career journalists

Our ideal candidate will:

• Have at least ten years of newsroom experience

• Be familiar with the AP Style Guide

• Be familiar with SEO and its principles 

• Be comfortable using Wordpress, MailChimp, or similar tools

• Be comfortable using Asana or similar project management tools

• Have fluency in a language other than English, especially Spanish

We know there are great candidates who may not exactly fit into this job description or who have important skills we haven’t considered. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.