About the role

The Financial Times is looking for a reporter to join its Visual Storytelling team. The successful applicant will be a key part of this innovative group, and research, write and pitch ideas to help us communicate and investigate the biggest stories of the moment in visually compelling ways.

You will collaborate with graphics journalists, editors and FT correspondents from across the globe to produce stories driven by visuals across a range of topics. You will also work closely with colleagues in the wider Visual and Data team.

An experienced journalist with a track record of producing original journalism, you will be passionate about developing and realising story ideas and keen to take our visual journalism to new heights.

Comfortable working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary environment, you will be confident combining reporting skills with tech, design and data to deliver news and analysis in ground-breaking visual formats that delight and inform our readers.

An enterprising and enthusiastic team player, you will be keen to work with the rest of the Visual Storytelling team to deliver projects at pace.

You don’t have to be a designer or graphics expert for this position, but it’s helpful if you have an eye for identifying and shaping visual and/or data-led stories.

A normal week

• Read the news and spot opportunities for explanatory or investigative stories ripe for visual storytelling. These could be on the biggest global events of the moment, stories that transcend the news agenda or underreported topics that deserve to be told.
• Work closely with designers, developers, reporters and editors to shape these stories, and decide how visuals and text can be combined to best communicate them to readers.
• Conduct interviews, research and write content for these stories. Combine your work with on the ground reporting to help readers make sense of the world.

Aptitudes

• Strong news judgement as well as excellence in reporting and writing
• Knowledge of global business, finance, economics, politics and/or related subjects
• An awareness of the latest visual storytelling techniques and an understanding of how they can be used to create exceptional journalism
• Excellent communication and people skills
• The ability to clearly and articulately express ideas
• A desire to collaborate with others
• Numeracy, data handling skills and the ability to think statistically
• A desire to push the boundaries of creative visual journalism
• Technical skills (experience of front end development and/or advanced data handling) are desirable but not essential

About the team and how we work

The work produced by the Visual Storytelling team is incredibly varied.

One month we might use CT scanners to take readers inside 3D models of earbuds for a story going on the front page of the FT magazine. Next we might be rocketing them into lower earth orbit to explain why space debris poses a threat to life on earth.

Our projects are united by the visual elements, which play an essential role in communicating the story and help us break down complex or abstract topics in a way that goes beyond what you can achieve with words alone.

Taking readers inside one street’s rebuilding efforts in Ukraine, questioning how likely Europe is to wean itself off Russian gas or making them the key protagonist in our efforts to save the planet from climate change are all examples of the stories you could be working on.

We work together to tell these stories, and our roles on projects are loosely defined by our job titles. You might nominally be the reporter, but we welcome ideas and creativity in every aspect of a project.

Key relationships

The successful candidate will report to the Visual Stories Editor and be part of the Visual Storytelling team (made up of an editor, designer, two graphics journalists and a reporter). The team sits within the Visual and Data Journalism team.

Please submit your application by Thursday 6th October 2022.

What’s in it for you? Our Benefits

Our benefits vary depending on location, but we are committed to providing best in class perks across all our offices as well as an inclusive environment to develop your career. Examples of our benefits include; generous annual leave allowances, flexible working (including working from home), medical cover, enhanced maternity & paternity packages, subsidised gym memberships and Giving Back opportunities. Full details of our benefits can be found here.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace

At the FT, we aim for employees across all regions to have a voice so that diverse perspectives are heard and valued. We believe that a supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves at work and have the flexibility they need to meet their personal needs. We’ll continue to remove barriers for all, and in particular barriers facing employees from underrepresented groups.