Deputy Editor, The Oaklandside

Job Description

About the Oaklandside newsroom

The Oaklandside is an independent nonprofit newsroom dedicated to reporting on and serving the dynamic, beautiful city of Oakland, California. Launched in March 2020 as part of the Cityside Journalism Initiative, we amplify community voices, uncover the root causes behind systemic issues, and deliver real, actionable information.

With nearly 3 million readers in 2024 and 550,000 monthly pageviews, we’ve built a loyal, engaged audience through our site, newsletters, and social media. Our mission is guided by founding values shaped through conversations with Oaklanders about how local journalism can improve daily life and help build a more informed, equitable city.

Our founding editor-in-chief, Tasneem Raja, is a nationally recognized journalist and nonprofit news leader who champions equitable journalism as a force for change. She won the 2024 Gwen Ifill Award for embodying excellence, integrity, and a commitment to diversity. News editor Darwin BondGraham, a veteran Oakland investigative journalist, is renowned for reporting on social justice, policing, and housing. He’s also the co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night, a gripping exposé on corruption in the Oakland Police Department.

Our award-winning team of six staff reporters dives deep into City Hall, education equity, public safety, housing, homelessness, road safety, and arts and culture. Highlights from 2024 include explosive investigations into the FBI’s raid on the mayor’s home and the missteps that led to a dramatic (and successful) recall effort. Readers also loved our coverage of unexpected Chinook salmon sightings in Lake Merritt, a grassroots push for a BART station in East Oakland, struggles within Oakland’s arts nonprofits, and lots more.

Much of our work happens off the page, like our popular Culture Makers event series, sparking conversations among Oaklanders about our city’s power and potential. We also push the boundaries of journalism with initiatives like workshops teaching Oakland high schoolers—newly empowered to vote for school board members—how to research candidates.

Oaklandside is powered by the Cityside Journalism Initiative, a mission-driven nonprofit organization whose goal is to pioneer new forms of award-winning civic journalism, launch news platforms in communities underserved by local journalism, and offer hope and optimism for the future of local news.

Launched in 2020, Cityside is home to three highly regarded local news sites in the San Francisco Bay Area: Berkeleyside, now in its 15th year, The Oaklandside, which launched in 2020 and Richmondside which made its debut in June 2024. At its core, Cityside produces civic-minded journalism that helps locals engage with and enjoy their city. We want both our newsrooms and our storytelling to reflect the diversity of the cities we cover. Our reporting reaches an average of 500,000 unique visitors a month across our three local news websites and tens of thousands more across social media accounts and newsletters.

About this position

We seek a thoughtful, thorough Deputy Editor with a passion for Oakland’s unique culture, politics, and communities. The right candidate will be ready on day one to calmly and decisively make our story budget more relevant and engaging to our readers, take our talented reporting team to the next level, and ensure our ambitious ideas turn into impactful journalism. They will act as second-in-command in the newsroom, stepping in for the editor-in-chief when they are unavailable. The ideal candidate also has significant experience in digital daily news, ideally in a city like Oakland with similar political and demographic dynamics.

You’ll collaborate with the editor-in-chief and news editor to set and drive editorial strategy, managing editing workflows while ensuring our coverage aligns with our founding values. You’ll edit and supervise about half of our reporting team, providing hands-on mentorship and going above and beyond to ensure healthy communication and mutually satisfying collaboration. You’ll also work closely with other departments like community journalism, audience, and events to help drive audience growth and deepen our impact.

This role is for someone deeply committed to ensuring that our reporting helps diverse Oaklanders understand and engage with our city’s most pressing issues. Strong news judgment is essential for selecting stories and leading editorial discussions. Experience in editing, providing feedback, and setting performance goals is crucial. The ideal candidate also has the knowledge and savvy to challenge prevailing narratives about Oakland with nuanced, impactful storytelling.

This is a rare opportunity to shape the editorial future of a newsroom dedicated to serving Oakland with depth, nuance, and care. If you are passionate about community-centered journalism, thrive under pressure, and have the skills to turn big ideas into impactful stories, we’d love to hear from you.

The salary range for this position is $90,000–$120,000, with a clear and transparent rubric for determining where a candidate falls on our scale.

Candidates must be able to work from downtown Oakland three days per week.

What you’ll do

Editorial leadership

• Works closely with the EIC and news editor to develop editorial strategy in line with our newsroom’s founding values, translating big-picture goals into actionable plans for the reporting staff
• Act as second-in-command, assuming the full responsibilities of the EIC when they are fulfilling other duties such as fundraising or strategic leadership for Cityside Journalism Initiative
• Act as the primary editor and supervisor for half of the reporters on the team
• Oversee and guide daily newsroom operations, including breaking news, enterprise stories, and investigative projects
• Collaborate with reporters to develop and execute compelling, in-depth stories that resonate with Oakland’s diverse communities. Champion the newsroom’s commitment to Oakland’s underrepresented communities and ensure our reporting reflects their experiences
• Provide hands-on editorial support for all reporters during high-pressure news cycles
• Ensure journalistic rigor, from fact-checking to legal review, and uphold our editorial standards

Strategic planning and project management

• Manage newsroom workflows to reduce bottlenecks and ensure smooth communication across the team
• Create systems for tracking ambitious projects and keeping reporters focused on long-term goals
• Organize coverage plans to avoid overlap, control the budget, and spread out stories effectively
• Help the team identify and pursue opportunities for awards, fellowships, and innovative storytelling projects

Team development and culture

• Ensure that the newsroom operates in harmony with the union contract we maintain with the Cityside Guild, a member of the Pacific Media Workers Guild
• Mentor reporters, fellows, and interns, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment
• Encourage open communication and be available to listen and collaborate with the team
• Be a steady presence in challenging times, supporting the team through tough reporting experiences
• Act as an “air traffic controller,” ensuring the newsroom stays organized and focused
• Bring diverse early-career fellows and interns into the newsroom and help supervise their work and experience

Job Requirements

Required qualifications

• Newsroom experience: 6+ years of daily or weekly journalism experience, mostly in a digital context, including editing breaking news, enterprise, and investigative reporting
• Management experience: 3+ years experience managing direct reports, including setting and tracking performance goals and conducting performance reviews
• Digital tools: 3+ years of experience working with WordPress or a similar content management system. Very comfortable working in Google Docs and Slack or similar platforms
• Location: Must be able to work from downtown Oakland 3 days a week. We will provide relocation assistance as needed
• Must be authorized to work in the United States

Benefits and compensation

Compensation:

The salary range for this position is $90,000–$120,000, with a clear and transparent rubric for determining where a candidate falls on our scale.

Additional benefits include:

• $1,000 a year in professional development stipends
• 75% of costs covered for medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan with a 3% company match in 2025 and a 4% company match starting in 2026
• 20 paid vacation days
• 18 paid sick days
• 13 paid holidays
• Paid break at the end of the year between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
• Up to six months of fully paid family leave
• Life insurance coverage of $100,000
• Some benefits are subject to a waiting period

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