Lead, Abc News Verify

• Be a part of Australia's independent national broadcaster
• Location Flexible
• Work alongside some of the ABC’s most respected journalists

About ABCNews

ABC News is the most respected name in news and current affairs and the nation's leading independent news service on television, radio, digital and social media. Our flagship brands and services include Four Corners, 7.30, Australian Story, AM, PM, Foreign Correspondent, Insiders, Q&A, ABC News 7PM, ABC News on digital and social media and ABC news channels on radio and television.

About the Role

This newly created role will see you lead a team of highly skilled, dedicated verification journalists, investigating and producing original verification reporting. You will provide editorial leadership and direction in open-source intelligence and other verification practices and stories across the ABC News network.

This great opportunity will also see you:

• Commission and create compelling multi-platform journalism that is timely, accurate, impartial, impactful, and relevant for audiences.
• Possess editorial excellence, creative autonomy and discretion, making immediate and sound decisions under pressure.
• Keep up to date with the technical skills and knowledge required for verification work across the following disciplines: open source intelligence, machine-learning and artificial intelligence, visual investigation, geo-location.
• Create and maintain best-practice verification workflows for the wider ABC News division.
• Research and build training modules for best-practice verification, and manage the team’s training work across ABC News.
• Manage a team at two-speeds: deep-dive investigations and scaling up to daily news during major news events like natural disasters and global conflicts.

About You

You are a highly experienced journalist with proven leadership skills, reliable editorial judgement and skills in verification reporting. You are effective in building and leading a capable, skilled and motivated team in a positive, collegial environment.

You also have:

• The ability to articulate and deliver a strong slate of original investigations, while also being able to regear the team for verification support and story production during major news events.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills.
• Demonstrated experience in leading training and skills development in highly technical areas of verification.
• Outstanding understanding of open source intelligence, machine-learning and artificial intelligence, visual investigations, geo-location skills, user-generated content verification and other types of social media investigation.
• Demonstrated track record in promoting diversity and inclusion, with a focus on Indigenous, gender and CALD perspectives.
• The proven ability to exercise budgetary control over a team, and to manage resources and facilities.

The ABC strives for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and to promote a culture of opportunity. Through its services the ABC seeks to represent, connect and engage with all of the Australian community. In line with our focus on diversity, applications are strongly encouraged from Indigenous Australians, people from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, people with disability and LGBTIQA+ individuals. The ABC also aims to achieve a gender-balanced workforce.

For more information about working at the ABC, please feel free to explore our careers page at https://www.abc.net.au/careers/

For further details on the role and requirements, please refer to the full position description:   50068467 LEAD, ABC NEWS VERIFY.pdf

We would love to see your work. Please submit material with your application online (include examples, links to websites or attach audio/video files up to 5MB).

For further information on this position please contact Clare Blumer, Editor, Innovative Storytelling via blumer.clare@abc.net.au. 

Please feel free to contact accessibility@abc.net.au or 02 8333 2348 where you can request recruitment and selection information in alternate formats, request adjustments, or have accessibility requirements met wherever possible.

We are unable to accept email applications, please ensure that you submit your application via the online portal.

We respectfully request that Recruitment Agencies do not submit applications for this position.

Applications Close: 11:55 pm, Sunday 7 April 2024