Reporter

Housing, devolution, infrastructure – these are the topics that will dominate the future of the UK. B2B publication Place North West is looking for a reporter with an appetite for fast-paced news coverage to join our Manchester-based editorial team.

Place North West is part of Place Media Group, a well-established, employee-owned media and events company that has developed a strong reputation for quality journalism over the past 20 years. We are a growing organisation with big ambitions.

We deliver a daily newsletter that is read by a loyal and engaged community of property professionals in the North West and beyond. Our mission is to deliver them the market intelligence they need to do business and secure investment for the region.

The successful applicant will have experience working in news journalism, preferably with knowledge of business reporting. A self-starter, you will be someone who takes pride in your work, is confident making new contacts, is unafraid of making phone calls to get that exclusive quote, and strives for quality and accuracy in every story you produce.

You will be joining a small team in a highly productive office. While remote work is available, this is largely an in-office role.

Responsibilities:

• Write relevant property and related business news, providing accurate, clear, and concise copy to a daily deadline, following well-defined editorial standards
• Develop and maintain a network of contacts within the industry to support newsgathering and generation of original content
• Deliver exclusive content and conduct interviews with developers, council leaders, agents, architects, and other representatives from all sectors of the built environment industry
• Embed within the property community through networking to spot potential stories, market trends, and event topics
• Navigate public information portals and documents to unearth stories
• Support the news desk during busy periods, such as updating stories, sourcing and formatting images, proofreading, and transcribing interviews
• Work as part of the wider Place Media Group team to deliver conferences, including assisting with speaker sourcing, brainstorming content, delivering social media promotion, and other tasks
• Maintain and develop relationships with Place North West’s key commercial clients
• Travel to industry events in the region and beyond to secure stories and conduct interviews
• Work in our CMS to make sure stories meet a high standard of presentation
• Promote content across social media channels
• Keep up to speed with innovations in journalism, to help develop multiple forms of coverage on Place North West, including podcasts, video, live streaming
• Work beyond typical office hours as required – attending networking events and delivering conferences

Required skills and experience:

• Demonstrable talent for good reporting and a sound news instinct
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, and a clean, competent writer
• Ability to unearth and tell interesting stories about the property industry, be willing to secure interviews and ask tough questions
• Excellent time management skills and ability to write quickly and accurately
• Be able to write in different styles and include the written word, audio, visual, and infographics in content for publication
• Able to develop and maintain contacts with key people in the market
• Business acumen and an awareness of the commercial needs of a small business and its clients, including when it comes to news reporting and other editorial tasks
• Be financially literate and able to use numbers and data to good effect within articles
• Strong work ethic with high degree of determination and drive
• Positive attitude and team mentality

Benefits:

• Competitive salary – Up to £30,000 a year dependent on experience
• 23 days of paid holiday a year, plus bank holidays and the time between Christmas and New Year when the office is closed
• A standard schedule of 8am to 4pm (with the exception of event days). No weekend work
• Mobile phone and travel expenses compensation
• Non-taxable bonus if the company does well, as per employee ownership trust rules
• Company pension scheme

Send a cover letter, CV, and links to recent work to Place North West editor Julia Hatmaker ([email protected]) with ‘Reporter job application’ in the subject.