Investigative Journalism Professor and Investigations Editor

University of Maryland • College Park, MD

3d • $160,000 - $185,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism is seeking an experienced investigative journalist to join its faculty as an investigative journalism professor. This person will also serve as the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism’s lead investigations editor. The Howard Center is an investigative reporting unit and journalism training program based at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation, it regularly partners with major national newsrooms — such as NPR, PBS NewsHour, KFF Health News and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project — to produce deeply reported investigations. The center, founded in 2019, specializes in investigative reporting that incorporates complex data and digital document analysis, advanced computational methods, and, increasingly, visual forensic and open source intelligence (OSINT) reporting techniques. In a partnership with the Associated Press global investigations team and a FRONTLINE (PBS) documentary unit, the center was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2025 for an in-depth, data-driven investigation into police custody deaths. The center has also won dozens of major journalism awards for its investigations, including two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Headliner Award and an IRE Medal.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working as a journalist.
• Experience producing investigative journalism as a reporter.
• Experience managing complex investigative journalism projects as an editor.

Nice To Haves

• Teaching and mentoring experience (university-level teaching or workshops at professional conferences like IRE and NICAR).
• Experience working with data journalists on data-driven investigative projects.
• Openness to experimenting with new reporting methods that incorporate artificial intelligence and open source intelligence.
• Experience leading or participating in investigative collaborations involving multiple newsrooms.
• Experience with long-form writing and editing.
• Experience with — or a clear interest in learning — storytelling forms tailored to reach new audiences on multiple platforms.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism’s lead investigations editor.
• Teach investigative journalism.
• Mentor students in investigative reporting.
• Conduct and oversee investigative journalism projects.
• Incorporate complex data and digital document analysis into reporting.
• Utilize advanced computational methods in investigations.
• Employ visual forensic and open source intelligence (OSINT) reporting techniques.
• Collaborate with national newsrooms and partners.
• Engage in storytelling forms tailored for multiple platforms and new audiences.

Benefits

• 41 days of leave per year (22 vacation days, 3 personal days, 16 holidays)
• 15 days of sick leave per year
• Choice of a defined-benefit retirement plan (pension) or a defined-contribution retirement plan with a generous employer contribution (employer contributes an extra 7.25% of salary, with no employee contribution required to receive it).
• Excellent healthcare, prescription drugs, dental, vision, term-life, accidental death and long-term disability insurance for individual, spouse and dependents.
• Tuition remission at the University of Maryland, College Park, and other University System of Maryland schools for faculty and their dependents.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree