Features Reporter, Power & Culture

The San Francisco Standard • San Francisco, CA

7d • Onsite

About The Position

The Features Reporter, Power & Culture will report on the people and institutions shaping San Francisco’s public life through private wealth, philanthropy, business, politics, and culture. The beat spans financial affairs, investing, political giving, cultural institutions, philanthropy, and the personal lives of wealthy and powerful people. Reporting may take place in cultural-institution boardrooms, political campaign and ballot-measure operations, and conferences and events. The role combines profiles and features with investigations, long-term projects, and quick-turn daily stories. The reporter will build on The Standard’s previous ambitious coverage of leading cultural institutions and figures.

This is an in-person newsroom position based in San Francisco; remote work is not offered. The job sometimes requires early mornings, evenings, or weekends, including attendance at events connected to the beat. The target salary range is $80,000 to $110,000, with actual pay depending on experience and other candidate-specific factors. The company offers competitive and equitable total compensation packages, stock options, medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible paid time off, and professional development opportunities.

Requirements

• At least three years of professional reporting experience, with clips demonstrating strong feature writing and accountability reporting.
• A record of breaking news and building sources in hard-to-access worlds.
• An authoritative handle on San Francisco’s cultural institutions, philanthropic networks, and political landscape.
• Comfort working with financial documents, including campaign finance disclosures, IRS 990s, and corporate filings.
• A distinctive voice and the judgment to write about powerful people with skepticism, fairness, and wit.
• Skill in handling sensitive sourcing and legally complex stories.
• Strong AP style and clean, accurate copy.
• Ability to work in person in San Francisco; remote work is not offered.

Nice To Haves

• Profile-writing experience.
• Experience covering arts, culture, philanthropy, or money in politics.
• Data skills.
• Spanish or Cantonese language skills.

Responsibilities

• Report and write features, profiles, scoops, and accountability investigations about the Bay Area’s cultural institutions, major companies, and wealthy and powerful residents.
• Build deep sources among donors, board members, social players, nonprofit leaders, artists, gallerists, political operatives, and the people they work for.
• Investigate financial activity using campaign finance filings, nonprofit tax returns (990s), property records, and public records requests.
• Pitch and produce a steady mix of quick-turn stories and long-form investigative reporting.
• Work with editors and photo, video, and design teams to publish ambitious, visually rich stories.
• Occasionally represent The Standard at events, panels, and social functions required by the beat.

Benefits

• Target salary range of $80,000 to $110,000; actual pay depends on experience and other candidate-specific factors.
• Competitive and equitable total compensation packages.
• Stock options.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Professional development opportunities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed