Founding Investigative Reporter (Remote)

📋 Description

• • Shape the DNA of a new investigative powerhouse. You will be one of the first journalists in the door, co-authoring the style guide, the sourcing rules, and the fact-checking playbook that every future hire will use. Your fingerprints will be on every process, every standard, and every major story for years to come.
• • Own end-to-end investigations that matter. From the first hunch to the final fact-checked paragraph, you will conceive, pitch, report, and write deeply researched pieces on issues of national consequence—whether that is federal contracting fraud, hidden environmental liabilities, or the opaque algorithms shaping public policy. You decide what deserves sunlight, and you chase it until the evidence is airtight.
• • Surface what others miss. You will combine shoe-leather reporting with modern tools—FOIA/FOIL mastery, advanced database queries, satellite imagery analysis, and forensic document verification—to uncover facts that contradict prevailing narratives. Your work will routinely force corrections, resignations, or policy changes.
• • Audit the national conversation. Beyond original investigations, you will systematically fact-check major claims made across the political and media spectrum. When a viral statistic, a congressional report, or a corporate press release doesn’t add up, you will publish a meticulous audit that shows exactly where the numbers or assertions break down.
• • Build and protect high-value source networks. You will cultivate whistle-blowers, subject-matter experts, and data insiders across government, industry, and academia. You will develop airtight source-protection protocols and earn the kind of trust that makes sensitive documents and off-the-record tips flow your way.
• • Collaborate without compromising independence. While you will work closely with editors, data scientists, and visual journalists, you will retain final say over your sourcing, framing, and conclusions. We provide rigorous peer review and legal vetting, but never ideological pressure.
• • Publish across formats and timelines. One month you may release a 6,000-word long-form investigation; the next, a 600-word rapid-turnaround exposé that moves markets or triggers congressional hearings. You will also experiment with data visualizations, audio explainers, and annotated source documents to maximize public impact.
• • Mentor the next wave. As the team grows, you will help onboard junior reporters, teaching advanced sourcing techniques, narrative structure, and ethical decision-making. Your byline will become a seal of credibility that elevates the entire newsroom.
• • Work from anywhere, chase stories everywhere. Fully remote by design, the role lets you live in Missoula or Manhattan as long as you can hop on a plane when a paper trail leads to an oil refinery in Houston or a data center in rural Oregon. We cover travel costs and provide secure field kits for sensitive assignments.
• • Measure impact, not clicks. Success is gauged by real-world outcomes—laws changed, officials held accountable, hidden risks exposed—not page views. You will have the runway to spend six months on a single story if that is what the evidence demands.