SmartCompany Business Journalist

SmartCompany is looking for an energetic, passionate business journalist to join its editorial team to produce original and high-quality news and special interest stories for its audience of small and medium business operators and entrepreneurs. 

Journalists who write for SmartCompany are in tune with the issues affecting Australia’s small business community, they can generate ideas, research stories, conduct interviews, and write and edit stories, all to the lightning-fast pace of online news. If this sounds like you, read on.

Reporting to the SmartCompany editor, this person is well-versed in social media and interested in using those channels and other digital marketing practices to connect with the SmartCompany audience and increase the number of people who see our stories. 

The ideal candidate is:

  • Self-directed as well as receptive to editorial guidance; 
  • Confident and keen to experiment and learn;
  • Digital media savvy, including knowledgeable around SEO best-practice and writing-for-the-web;
  • A team player comfortable with tight turnarounds and producing multiple stories a day to regular deadlines; 
  • Comfortable with working to traffic and engagement targets; and most importantly 
  • Excited about finding new ways to deliver great content to SmartCompany’s engaged audience of business owners and entrepreneurs.

This role would suit a journalist with some experience in a newsroom. For the right person with particularly good skills, this role could also suit a recent graduate who is ambitious and keen to forge a path in business journalism. The role is equivalent to a nine-day fortnight. 

The person we are looking for has knowledge of Google Analytics and key social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Experience with WordPress would be highly desirable.

Location: our team is based in Melbourne (currently from home) but we’re happy to meet with people from elsewhere in Australia. 

Benefits & Culture:

SmartCompany is part of the Private Media network – home of sister publications Crikey and The Mandarin. We’re a small, digital-first business that’s been around for 20 years, and we punch above our weight. 

People love working here because we’re studiously attentive and responsive to changes in the media, highly collaborative, flexible when it comes to working arrangements, and deeply supportive of our fellow colleagues. We’re prepared to step in to help solve problems no matter how big or small. We’re accountable for our actions, and fiercely independent when it comes to the journalism we create. 

It’s an excellent environment to grow and learn for people who love to have their ideas vigorously contested, as well as happy to see them followed through with, and fast. If you’re not engaged and passionate about digital media and journalism, or someone who thrives when improvising and making the most out of every opportunity, then we’re not for you.

Please submit an expression of interest responding to the criteria above, along with your resume and examples of prior work, to hr@privatemedia.com.au.