YouTube Senior Producer

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. 

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force. We dig deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and we stick with those issues as long as it takes to hold power to account.

We are seeking a YouTube senior producer to build and manage a new team that will adapt our long-form, written investigative journalism into mid-length video for the platform. 

In early 2024, ProPublica launched a short-form, vertical video team that has successfully helped us reach and engage with new and existing audiences on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Their work has adapted Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Supreme Court and nationwide abortion bans, showcased reporters and their investigations into secret militias and suspicious patient deaths, and spotlighted whistleblowers sharing revelatory experiences on camera for the first time. 

Now, as we look to the second phase of our social video strategy, our ambition is to build out a more comprehensive YouTube strategy. We are looking for a leader with a passion for accountability journalism who is excited by the opportunity to answer: What does ProPublica look and sound like on YouTube? 

We want to experiment with creating mid-length, explainer-style videos; behind-the-scenes and reporter-led POV pieces; and recurring shows focused on specific reporting topics or themes that help build audience habit and retention. The creation of this YouTube team is also happening alongside the launch of a new ProPublica podcast.

The videos you help produce for YouTube are meant to serve as stand-alone editorial products, and we’re looking for your platform-native expertise to drive experimentation that helps us learn quickly, adapt and deliver the most compelling storytelling formats while adhering to our rigorous editorial standards and practices. You should be comfortable working with journalists and editors across the newsroom.

This is a full-time role that will report directly to the deputy audience editor and will work collaboratively with our social video editor for vertical video. This role will supervise the members of the YouTube team, which sits within the larger ProPublica audience team.

Essential responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a YouTube-first content and programming strategy aligned with editorial priorities that includes a mixture of short-form and mid-length as well as vertical and horizontal videos.
• Maintain ethical journalistic principles, standards and practices, and use editorial judgment to translate stories to video with the sensitivity, care and appropriate tone required of our investigations.
• Oversee and manage the video production pipeline, setting editorial direction and leading a team of producers as well as a technical editor.
• Collaborate with reporters, senior editors, visual editors, audience team members and other staffers to identify and produce compelling video storytelling.
• Monitor the editorial calendar and pitch ideas for YouTube video content and packages.
• Define and maintain our YouTube workflow processes and systems to ensure a consistent weekly production of video content.
• Recruit and manage freelance producers, editors and technical staff, as needed.
• Work closely with the audience data analyst to maintain monthly video analytics reports that help inform future optimization, strategy and more. 
• Keep up with trends and changes on YouTube and in the video-viewing habits of audiences consuming news content.
• Supervise the YouTube team, including a producer and other roles.
• Ability to travel for assignments, training and meetings as required.

About You

The ideal candidate will have many of these skills:

• Six-plus years in social video production. Your portfolio should demonstrate videos you have produced for YouTube specifically.
• At least three years managing a team producing YouTube videos in a newsroom, media organization or production studio. 
• Experience creating a YouTube platform strategy that conceptualized and executed on several content formats and series — with goals of driving both channel growth and audience retention.
• Deep understanding of beginning-to-end video content production, including script writing, filming, editing, motion graphics and animation, and packaging for publication.
• Strong understanding of YouTube algorithmic trends and optimization strategies, including expertise in crafting effective video titles, thumbnails and descriptions — all with a goal of driving channel growth and maximizing reach and engagement for our videos across the platform.
• Strong understanding of video analytics, including a proficiency in YouTube Studio, to guide and shape content strategy for the platform.
• Fluency in translating complex reporting into compelling video scripts with an eye for editing scripts for pace, hooks and viewer retention.
• Ability to communicate video storytelling pitches through memos, scripts or storyboards to advocate for projects with YouTube potential across the newsroom.
• High proficiency in media production software, such as Adobe Creative Suite, including Premiere Pro and After Effects, Avid and Figma.
• Experience with project management software such as Trello, Airtable or Notion.
• Strong leadership and management abilities, with experience overseeing teams and projects.
• A collaborative mindset, stellar communication skills and the ability to work on several projects at once. You’ll need to stay organized and focused and lead a team to meet concurrent deadlines.

And some of these:

• Experience building and scaling teams from the ground up.
• Experience in on-site production, including shooting on professional camera equipment and knowledge of lighting and audio setups.
• Experience using a digital asset management system such as Woodwing.
• Knowledge of media rights and clearances and a working knowledge of copyright permissions.

This job is full time and includes benefits. Candidates located in or willing to relocate to the New York or Washington, D.C., metro area are preferred. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We have offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Chicago; Austin, Texas; Phoenix; and Berkeley, California. 

The expected salary range for this position is $120,000 to $130,000.

This is a good-faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The final salary figure will take into account a person’s experience, accomplishment and location. ProPublica is committed to paying its staff equitably, and these ranges should not be considered career salary limits or caps.

We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, but we will continue to consider candidates as long as the posting remains live on our site.

Questions? Send an email to talent@propublica.org. 

No phone calls, please.

We know there are great candidates who may not fit into what we’ve described above or who have important skills we haven’t thought of. If that’s you, don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself.

We are dedicated to improving our newsroom, in part by better reflecting the people we cover. (Here is a breakdown of our staff.) We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. And we are taking steps to meet that commitment. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age or any other status protected under applicable law.