What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sports Editor position at Advance Local?
SPORTS EDITOR
The Oregonian/OregonLive in Portland is seeking a Sports Editor with a proven ability to develop talent, anticipate and navigate industry trends and lead a high-producing team delivering interesting and essential sports journalism.
We want a strong editor who can help keep our team on the cutting edge of audience development while growing our base of loyal digital subscribers.
We aim to meet readers where they are — and the Sports Editor plays a key role in helping us get there with smart, forward-thinking coverage. This role drives not only a steady stream of content but also exclusive, indispensable reporting that goes beyond box scores and reinforces our position as Oregon’s premier source for sports news.
You’ll work with a nationally award-winning columnist and help steer coverage of professional, collegiate and high school sports. That includes marquee pro organizations like the Portland Trail Blazers, Portland Fire, Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, plus Oregon State and its perennially competitive baseball team and an Oregon Ducks program chasing its first football national championship.
We’re seeking someone who thrives at coaching and managing others while juggling multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment. We want a Sports Editor with a smart eye for story selection and strong editing chops who can drive the daily agenda, working collaboratively and collegially with reporters to deliver breaking news, elevate coverage and execute big-swing projects.
The base salary range is $75,000 to $95,000 per year.
This is a hybrid position based out of the Portland metro area.
What you’ll do:
- Plan coverage, set strategy and standards, and manage reporters and assistant editors
- Push reporters to balance high-interest, high-growth content with in-depth exclusives that drive subscriptions
- Guide story selection and edit a steady flow of work, from game coverage to profiles to enterprise projects
- Collaborate closely with social media, newsletters and visuals teams to grow audience and engagement
- Stay current on media trends to help the team find and engage audiences on emerging platforms
- Closely manage a travel and freelance budget; provide regular and constructive feedback to staff; and work collaboratively with senior leadership and others to develop individual goals and personal development plans for employees
The ideal candidate has:
- Minimum five years' sports journalism experience with three years management experience
- Superb news judgment, ethics and story instincts
- Strong headline writing, line-editing and copy-editing skills
- A sense of urgency around breaking news
- Ability to work nights and weekends based on sports schedules
- Excellent organizational and communication skills; comfort managing in a hybrid work environment
- Ability to juggle multiple stories and collaborate across departments
- A demonstrated ability to reflect underrepresented communities in sports coverage
- Understanding of metrics and how to leverage platforms for maximum reach
- Familiarity with newsletters, podcasting and social media best practices
- Experience working with freelancers and managing a travel budget
- Familiarity with the Oregon sports landscape
- Must have reliable transportation to travel to events and meet with sources.
Salary : $75,000 - $95,000