openDemocracy is seeking an ambitious and motivated Senior Investigative Reporter to join our award-winning UK Investigations Team.

This is an exciting and varied role. You will play a key part in overseeing major projects, bringing in stories and helping with the day-to-day running of the UK Investigations Team.

Working closely with the UK Investigations Editor, you will develop and execute investigations that build on openDemocracy’s reputation for quality journalism.

As well as producing your own investigations, you will line-manage reporters, oversee long-term projects, commission freelancers, establish collaborations with external media partners and help oversee legal compliance.

Excellent investigative and copywriting skills are essential, along with the ability to turn your hand to a range of subjects such as politics, ‘dark money’, human rights, transparency, social affairs and climate change.

As well as bringing in your own exclusive investigations, you will work with other journalists on the team to help them develop and hone their work. You will expand the volume and range of UK investigations and identify new areas to cover.

We are looking for someone with an armoury of ideas who can hit the ground running. You will be adept at using a wide range of journalistic sources and resources (experience of undercover work would be a bonus).

As part of openDemocracy’s funding comes from grants, you will also need to be comfortable working with the UK Investigations Editor with handling budgets and managing grants – including ensuring that deadlines and deliverables are met. Sometimes, you will also need to liaise with other parts of openDemocracy on funding bids to support or expand our investigative work.

The UK Investigations Team works collaboratively with other openDemocracy teams to ensure our stories create maximum impact. As such, an understanding of social media and how to promote stories online is also important.

Requirements (essential):

– Experience working with national or local newsrooms, including a track record for investigative journalism.
– Previous editorial, line-management, or project-management experience
– A strong news sense and good editorial judgement.
– An ability to turn your hand to a broad range of subjects
– Experience of working collaboratively with other journalists, particularly overseeing or editing their work
– Experience of legal compliance
– Skilled at using a range of journalistic sources (including FOI, company accounts, government transparency filings, data and spreadsheets – as well as working with human sources and whistleblowers).
– Good at meeting deadlines, juggling multiple tasks and keeping workflow organised.
– An understanding, commitment and enthusiasm for openDemocracy’s values and objectives.

Requirements (desirable):

– Experience of more niche types of investigative reporting, such as undercover journalism or OSINT.
– Experience of commissioning freelancers
– Experience with budgets and/or grants

To Apply

Please submit your cover letter and CV via the on the openDemocracy website – (each no more than 2 sides of A4) alongside copies or links to three investigations you have had published (if there are joint bylines, please explain what you contributed towards the piece).

Please submit your application by 31 December at 11.59pm (GMT).

At interview:
Be prepared to talk about some areas/issues you would like to focus on in this role that fit with the remit outlined above – and how you would go about finding stories on these issues.

About openDemocracy:
openDemocracy is an international independent media outlet dedicated to challenging power and inspiring change. Our recent reporting – for example on misinformation, women’s and LGBTIQ rights, Covid-19 and the influence of ‘dark money’ on society – has triggered law change, parliamentary debate, criminal and regulatory investigations, action by public health bodies and much more. Our stories attract widespread media coverage, including in The New York Times, The Guardian, New Yorker, Daily Mail, CNN, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al-Jazeera and many others across the world.