Staff Writer, Travel/Outdoors, NYT Wirecutter

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for.

Job Description

About the Role

Wirecutter is seeking an experienced staff writer to join our Travel team, which covers gear for travel. This writer will be responsible for maintaining existing long-form guides, writing new guides, writing related how-to articles, seasonal blog posts, newsletters, and social posts, and contributing to other editorial projects as needed.

You need not be a digital nomad or a dedicated one-bag traveler, but you should have experience in and enthusiasm for travel, and a desire to help our readers with what can sometimes be a daunting, expensive, stressful experience. (And if you want to help everyone get on the road—regardless of their size, shape, skin color, age, physical capabilities, budget, geographic location—so much the better.)

You have a strong sense of what’s essential and what’s unnecessary when traveling, with a passion for the topic balanced by a healthy skepticism of marketing claims, influencer-touted trends, and unproven ideas. You’re also a resourceful, curious reporter who can make informed, research-based decisions about which products are worth recommending, and communicate those findings with simple and straightforward, but engaging, writing. We don’t take freebies or press trips, so if you’re in it for that kind of thing, this isn’t the place for you. But if you want to help readers make the best choices for their needs, it is.

You will report to the senior editor for the Outdoors and Travel sections; it is remote eligible (please see the list of possible states below).

Please Include

• Résumé/CV*
• A cover letter with links to five to seven of your published pieces (you may instead include PDFs of those pieces, if you prefer)
• A short writing sample (500 words max) that explains a purchase you’ve made recently that turned out to be a mistake—what you bought, why it failed, and how you figured out what to get instead.
• You can only upload one file in the “Résumé/CV” box, so you can either upload your résumé, cover letter, and writing sample all as one PDF file or use the “My Experience” section to attach additional documents.
  
  

Responsibilities

• Research, report, and write long form guides and short-form posts for our travel section; think creatively about sources, identify experts, and plan and conduct meaningful short- and long-term tests
• Request product samples and process their return
• Call experts and review academic journal articles and other scientific data; methodically scan user reviews and forums to find what truly matters to readers
• Collaborate with editors to conceive new content and formats and move ideas from pitch to publish
• Collaborate with photo, video and illustration departments to produce visuals to support guides and blog posts
• Work with our community team to respond to reader feedback and questions; work with our affiliate team to resolve stock issues on recommendations; work with our operations team on product orders and testing plans.
• May be required to attend trade shows and product news events as needed to build contacts and expertise in relevant topic areas
• Perform related work as assigned
  
  

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years of professional writing experience.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• An innate understanding of why one would feel a need to deeply research a purchase, no matter how small, and an ability to explain why one product is better than another in a natural, accessible, and detailed way.
• An inherent skepticism of marketing claims, a science-based approach to research, and a commitment to high standards of reporting and accuracy.
• Comfort gathering large amounts of data, organizing it in spreadsheets, and probing the work for missing information and inaccuracies. Familiarity with Google Sheets and Airtable is also a plus.
• Experience doing original reporting and research for features or how-to guides is preferred; experience covering products or services, especially involving hands-on or lab testing, is also valuable.
• Ability to work collaboratively and patiently through multiple rounds of edits and balance multiple reporting projects and deadlines simultaneously.
• Adept at finding ways to get in touch with product managers, designers, engineers, and other experts.
• Excellent communication and task management skills in a remote work environment via Slack and video calls, with a distributed team that works remotely across many time zones.
• Empathy for the frustrated or confused reader. We are writing not only for the experienced enthusiast but for everyone who cares about spending their money wisely and buying the right thing the first time.
  
  

The annual base pay range for this role is between $71,000.00 and $82,000.00.

Locations

Even with our office in New York City, Wirecutter remains a highly remote-friendly culture and is proud to employ incredible people across the country. Right now, we are eligible to hire in the following states: CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, ME, MA, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, UT, VA, WA.

Please include your résumé/CV and a cover letter with your application. You can only upload one file in the “Résumé/CV” box, so please combine and upload your résumé and cover letter as one file.

This is a union position as classified by the News Guild of New York.

The New York Times is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce, one that reflects the varied global community we serve. Our journalism and the products we build in the service of that journalism greatly benefit from a range of perspectives, which can only come from diversity of all types, across our ranks, at all levels of the organization. Achieving true diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing for our business. So we strongly encourage women, veterans, people with disabilities, people of color and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.

The New York Times Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. The New York Times Company will provide reasonable accommodations as required by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws. Individuals seeking an accommodation for the application or interview process should email reasonable.accommodations@nytimes.com. Emails sent for unrelated issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

The Company will further consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable "Fair Chance" laws.

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