The Role

The UK’s independent fact checking organisation Full Fact is recruiting a Politics Journalist on a six-month contract, to be part of Full Fact’s editorial team and lead the work on our new Government Tracker, providing reliable, impartial information on the government’s delivery against its promises. If you have experience in research and writing about UK politics and policy, and an interest in communicating with the public, this is a unique chance to join Full Fact’s mission to help rebuild trust in politics. Your work will play a vital role in ensuring accurate and impartial information is available to the public at the start of the new parliament.

You’ll be researching and writing about the government’s pledges – both those within its election manifesto, and those made subsequently. You’ll be able to stay across the latest policy developments, offer accurate and impartial analysis on whether the government is on track (or not) in meeting its commitments to the UK public, and write about this in a clear and engaging style.

You’ll be part of Full Fact’s politics team within our editorial function, contributing to our mission to call out bad information and promote good information. While the focus of your work will be the Government Tracker, you may also be asked to write some fact checks and explainers beyond that, supporting our mission to help rebuild trust in politics. You’ll also be working with the wider Full Fact team – for example informing our policy and communications work – and will help build our links with other organisations and experts.

Full Fact fights bad information. Our team of independent fact checkers, technologists and campaigners works to find, expose and counter it. Your work will be seen by a wide audience and help tackle the harm caused by misleading information.

If you are interested in applying but not sure you have all the skills, please do apply. We are open both to supporting learning on the job and to rearranging tasks within the team to suit the skillsets of the best applicant.

Job Definition

Working as part of Full Fact’s editorial team, you’ll be primarily responsible for researching, writing and updating pages on our Government Tracker.

We’re looking for candidates with journalism experience, or experience of research and writing in a policy role. We will consider candidates from other backgrounds however, and prior fact checking experience isn’t necessary. We would expect candidates to have pre-existing general knowledge of UK politics and policy – either working as a journalist or in some other professional capacity.

You will need to be able to quickly master and explain tricky, nuanced topics in clear, concise and impartial copy – and be able to spot the key points in sometimes complex issues.

Outcomes

• Regularly monitor the media and official sources, with the help of Full Fact’s AI tools, to scan for developments in the government’s delivery against its promises
• Produce accurate, engaging and publication-ready copy conveying the government’s progress
• Working with colleagues, add approximately 50 new pledges to Full Fact’s Tracker over the next six months
• Develop contacts, subject knowledge and expertise across the policy and politics domains
• Work with other teams within Full Fact, such as policy and communications, to align our work on the Tracker with our wider policy asks and mission to help rebuild trust in politics
• As required, support Full Fact’s wider editorial work to produce fact checks and explainers, calling out bad and promoting good information respectively

What We Are Looking For From You

Political impartiality and sensitivity:

• You are committed to the political neutrality of our work and have a good understanding of impartiality (please see the rules on our website)
• Understanding of public debate in the UK and sensitivity to the political context we work in

Job skills/competencies:

• Strong research and writing skills – journalism experience is an advantage but not essential
• An ability to understand and master new topics rapidly
• An understanding of what it takes to meet the highest standards of accuracy and balance
• Communication skills, and a track record of communicating with a non-specialist audience in any format
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of UK policy and politics
• An understanding of digital channels, audiences and formats
• An understanding of Full Fact’s style and principles

What We Offer

• Starting salary of £26,700 – £38,535 pro-rata per annum depending on experience.
• Workplace Pension
• Generous holidays
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Day off for moving home.
• Comfortable, centrally located London office with good transport links.
• Employee Assistance Programme.

Our core working hours are 9am to 5pm, though we do occasionally work different shifts as required.

How To Apply

Upload your CV and cover letter using apply now button below by 10am on Monday 13 January 2025.

Our recruitment platform will remove identifying details such as email addresses to allow us to sift applications anonymously.

Before applying, please read the requirements we place on staff to protect Full Fact’s independence and non-partisanship https://fullfact.org/get-involved/jobs/#standards

How The Application Process Will Work

We want to see you at your best to understand your strengths and the contribution you could make at Full Fact with strong support, including for your learning and development. We also want to make sure that we use your time well during this process and don’t ask for more from you than we need to. We will make any reasonable adjustments we need to make to this process to help ensure you can perform at your best. For more information about this before applying, please contact jobs@fullfact.org.

The interview panel will be Alex Brocklehurst (Politics Editor), Steve Nowottny (Editor) and one other member of the team.

The process starts off with an anonymised covering letter and CV. This will be read by at least two people to produce a shortlist for interview.

The first round interviews will be a phone (not video) interview, lasting no more than half an hour, at a time that’s convenient for you. We will record it so at least two people can review each interview to decide who we invite back for the second round. The recordings will be deleted at the end of the process.

The second round will include a structured interview and a timed task which assumes no prior knowledge. The task can be completed prior to the interview, at a time that most suits you.

The interview will be with the full panel by video and last no more than an hour. We’ll tell you everything you need to know to prepare, including anything we’d recommend reading in advance.

Hiring Manager: Alex Brocklehurst

Job Title: Politics Journalist (Government Tracker)

Salary: £26,700 – £38,535 pro-rata per annum

Location: Remote first within the UK. We work primarily from home but also have an office available in Central London for monthly in-person meetings with your team and quarterly all team meetings.

Reporting To: Politics Editor

Employment Type: Six month fixed-term contract. We are happy to talk about flexible working.

Application Closing Date: 10am on Monday 13 January 2025