About  News 

Deputy Director, Product

Who we are

News Catalyst is a two-year, grant-funded project, based at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication that provides tools, fosters collaboration, and promotes experimentation in service of building digitally sustainable news organizations. Product is key to the success of this project.

What you will do

The Deputy Director of Product will lead News Catalyst’s efforts to inject the news industry with product thinking and new product development. This role will achieve this by:

  • Empowering product teams by advocating for different organizational structures and/or processes to be adopted within news enterprises.
  • Working with the Deputy Director, Technology, and/or outside collaborators to improve the tools and technologies available to product teams.
  • Developing training resources, case studies and product playbooks to help guide local news organizations’ roadmaps.
  • Fostering community among product leaders and helps them learn from one another through conferences, associations, peer-to-peer interactions, etc.

A significant part of the job will be working with the Director of News Catalyst and Deputy Director of Technology to identify and lead one to three deep, hands-on product collaborations with news organizations per year. These engagements may take many forms (for example, launching a newsletter designed to attract younger readers), but the focus will be on those that are scalable, replicable and have the potential to drive revenue.

News Catalyst will be totally transparent about reporting out our successes and failures – to our funders, the industry and public at large.

The Deputy Director of Product will lead development of case studies and best practices that, combined with our work to identify the best tools and technologies can ultimately be a sort of digital playbook for local news enterprises to draw on. The Deputy Director of Product will oversee much of the editorial content produced, and supervise our small editorial team.

The Deputy Director of Product will be part of the leadership team of News Catalyst, along with the Director of News Catalyst and Deputy Director of Technology. This person will play a significant role in defining the direction of the project going forward, by setting budget priorities, hiring, managing staff and interacting with existing and potential funders.

This position is remote, though you can work in provided office space in Philadelphia.

Who we’re looking for

  • Bachelor’s degree and at least four years of experience as a product manager in a news environment. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
  • You have extensive experience as a product manager and leader within news: defining product strategies, working closely with engineers, designers and stakeholders to develop, build and launch great digital products.
  • You have broad experience working with (or in) both the editorial and business sides of news enterprises.
  • You possess a strong attention to detail.
  • You have a deep understanding of the current challenges facing local news.
  • You can interact and work closely with students and coworkers.
  • You have a vision for the ways product management should be applied to news, and how News Catalyst can help news organizations embrace the product disciple and empower product teams.
  • You have great instincts but are ultimately driven by testing, data and evidence.
  • You have a willingness to pivot when process isn’t working or shut down a failing project entirely.
  • You are comfortable taking a leadership role within the product community.

Preferred:

  • Experience running teams and managing budgets.
  • Technical skills with design, coding, etc.

To apply, fill out an application here. You will be prompted to make an account on Temple’s job portal before you can apply. Email jobs@newscatalyst.org if you have any questions about the position.

If you feel you don’t meet all of these qualifications, but you are still interested, please apply. We strongly encourage women, people of color, people with disabilities and members of other marginalized groups in journalism to apply.

Temple University values diversity and is committed to equal opportunity for all persons regardless of age, color, disability, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status protected by law.