When Jason and I first began hiring people for The Autopian, there was one rule we told ourselves we’d never break: Always remain lean. This media business is a tough one, and we’d seen far too many car websites go on hiring frenzies, only to lay folks off later. With this in mind, we’ve been careful when bringing on new talent, and we will continue to do so as we look for a key puzzle piece that we hope will launch this site to the next tier. That key puzzle is a News Editor.
Our writers here at The Autopian are sensational; to have eclipsed Road & Track in monthly traffic in two years, and then to beat out The Drive within three years is a monumental feat (even if the latter was just for a single month). It’s a testament to our talented writers’ true love of cars, and to the strength of this community that you, dear readers, have helped build. Thank you!
One challenge to running a company, Jason, Matt and I are finding, is that handling day-to-day operations tends to bleed into, well, everything. The reality is that it just can’t if we want this place to continue thriving; leadership has to be able to spend significant time not just on planning out business strategy, but on actual execution of things like partnerships, membership, and ad optimization.
Beyond that, from an editorial side, we’ve found that the biggest area where we stand to improve is in news coverage.
Thus, we’re on the hunt for a News Editor — someone who knows what’s happening, not just in the industry, but also around the forums and on social media. But as much as writing is part of the job, we’re not just looking for a News Writer; the person we’re looking for can assign pieces, edit pieces, and above all: Knows what stories work for our audience and which don’t.
This person, whoever they end up being, should open up Jason, Matt, and me to spend more time on making this site run better, while filling the news gap that we sometimes find in our editorial coverage. They are to be a dual-threat, so to speak.
You can view the News Editor job posting here (it says “no longer accepting applications,” but just ignore that since we’re not taking applications through LinkedIn), or you can just ignore that link and read the job description and application instructions below:
About the job
The Autopian, in our continued quest towards remaining the greatest car website on the web, is seeking an experienced News Editor who can keep us in the conversation. The ideal candidate knows the industry back-and-forth, has their own set of sources, is aware of conversations being had on forums and social media, is comfortable interviewing people, and is interesting enough to write about their own car-life in a way that keeps our readers engaged.
Our site has massively grown in its first three years to become an essential community for gearheads and the car-curious. We’ve done so by carefully curating a staff and a vibe that’s fun, informative, and thoughtful.
This News Editor’s role is multifaceted. It involves staying ahead of the news so that The Autopian is the place where the conversation happens. When we say news, we don’t just mean traditional industry happenings, but especially human-interest stories shared through word-of-mouth, internet forums, or social media. This position primarily involves writing, though assigning pieces to other writers and editing will also be key.
Qualifications:
- A history of reporting/blogging
- A strong technical understanding of how cars work
- A deep understanding of conventional news sources (trades/wires) and less traditional news sources (Discord, social media)
- Experience with WordPress or other CMSes
- Experience with Discord
- An understanding of modern web metrics (Chartbeat, Google Analytics, et cetera)
- A roster of industry contacts
- A personality that comes out in your writing
- An obsession with cars
- Photoshop/topshot creation/image editing skills
- Humility and compassionate leadership
Expectations:
- You read The Autopian and get our style/mission.
- A belief that leadership is service, and that as an editor it’s your job to make everyone you work with better.
- You treat people with respect, especially our readers.
What You’ll Get:
- $70-100k a year based on experience
- Health/Life Insurance benefits
- Time-off, including but not limited to pursuing hilarious car projects
How To Apply:
Send a cover letter that includes a description of what you think makes The Autopian unique, and give us five headlines for potential features that you think would perform well (in terms of traffic) on The Autopian. Additionally, send a resume and three writing samples to careers@theautopian.com.
If you know a great writer/editor/human being who lives and breathes cars, send them this article! Otherwise, we’ll keep all you dear readers apprised of the status of this job listing, whose applications we plan to be very diligent in assessing. We’ve built something special here, and whoever is coming to fill this News Editor role has to not only understand what that special things is, but also fit into that thing harmoniously.
(top image source: Chrysler)
I’m tempted, but at my current stage in life, I don’t think I have the energy to scour the dark reaches of the web constantly for work. I’m more a consumer than producer at this point.
Best of luck!
Don’t apply. They will rip you off like they ripped me off with the membership I paid them for (took all the money, and I did not get anything back. No shirt, sticker, still bombed me with ads, no trivia nights, no drawing…)
Counterpoint – I promptly received a T shirt when I became a member and they mailed me another one just the other month when my membership renewed. Have you tried reaching out to them? Do they have your correct address?
Good on you! While I enjoy this site a lot, I have felt it has been very news-light from the get-go.
Serious question. Does one need to be of Stars & Stripes to apply for this job? Either in location or a legal member of the nation?
Looking forward to more great content, like how your growing it all slowly and carefully – no financial implosions and then Private Equity bros coming and in scorching the earth with a trail of destruction of ads and bad content…
Random rant, please don’t hire anyone who uses fuming, plummeting, soaring, unprecedented, curated or crafted in articles… So far I’m really liking all the writers on the website, hope it stays that way… I’ll step down from my soapbox…
My favourite is throwing in idioms and getting them wrong, or slang.
And referencing iconic famous people I’ve never heard of as a metaphor.
Like there is an AI checklist somewhere.
A few questions:
Is a suspicious level of knowledge of obscure taillights a requirement or merely nice to have?Is experience hacking out a lead acid battery with a chainsaw required?If reliable transportation is required, is there anyone of staff that is qualified to determine what that is? (David, Jason, and Mercedes cannot).
I read every research paper I could find on auto lighting design before I heard of Autopian.
I brought up an issue with efficacy ratings that caused charts to be altered.
Fyi, some of the best lighting research is done by the navy, of all people!
At some point in my life I did freelance work for two auto magazines back in Puerto Rico. They don’t exist anymore, and I swear it’s not my fault.
I reviewed cars and even wrote about a couple races, including the only Trans-Am race ever run in Puerto Rico, at the Isla Grande airport. That was quite the experience!
Why am I saying all this? No particular reason; I’m just having my morning coffee and seeing this job post reminded of those fun times. I should’ve pursued my writing further, as I was pretty solid at it, especially in Spanish.
Anyway, good luck finding someone for this position!
Any organization that would hire me is not worth working for.
And since you would never hire me you must be a great organization! I will accept your job!
However, at that moment you are no longer worth working for, and so I hereby resign.
Your logic is impeccable.
Petition for Adrian to get a new role. I’d love to hear his take on the news. Daily.
I don’t think they can afford the storage capacity for that many f-bombs.
The poor man smokes enough as it is. Let alone dealing with this role.