Assistant Director (West and Central Africa Assistant News Director) at Associated Press (AP)

Job Description

• The Associated Press seeks a talented journalist and newsroom leader to lead its coverage of West Africa in all formats as an assistant news director.
• In this role, you’ll help shape the AP’s coverage of the region comprising Atlantic coastal states, the Sahel, Central Africa and several small island states, leveraging format-specific resources in every country to deliver competitive and engaging coverage of breaking news and enterprise.
• You’ll guide and support field newsgathering journalists as they strive to make the biggest stories of the day shine through fresh angles, arresting visuals, compelling data and investigative threads, and innovative storytelling techniques.
• The successful candidate will have knowledge and/or experience of reporting on regional politics and society, climate change and the environment and development news.

Responsibilities

• Reporting to the Deputy News Director, Africa and based in Lagos, Nigeria, you will help lead a team of staff and freelance reporters, photographers and videojournalists who cover over 20 countries.
• You’ll have direct responsibility for crafting an all-formats news report that is rich in exclusive spot news and distinct, deeply reported enterprise.
• You will plan for upcoming events and prepare to cover breaking news, as well as lead and execute longer-term projects on topics like climate change, crime, politics, natural disasters, health and sustainable development.
• You’ll interact with AP’s planning editors to ensure up-to-date information about our news report is available to customers in real time, and you’ll search for new and unique ways to promote the best of AP’s coverage on its customer, consumer and social media platforms.
• As an AP journalist, you’ll also have the ability and willingness to work at night and on weekends as coverage demands. You may also be required to travel to hostile environments, including conflict zones.

Requirements
Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience, such as five years of full-time work as an editor or reporter at a daily newspaper, broadcast station, online or digital news outlet or AP bureau.
• All applicants must be able to work in Nigeria or be able to gain permission to do so.
• Advanced-level professional competency in written and spoken English. Professional competency in a regional language other than English is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:

• We’re looking for a newsroom leader with a background in any media format; those whose experience is rooted in visual, text or digital storytelling are welcome to apply. What’s more important than your format history is that you bring to the job a strong record of creating and guiding exclusive and distinctive news from inception to publication.
• We’re seeking managers who can work collaboratively with a diverse team of journalists to identify opportunities for strong coverage, and then lead that team to deliver it. Of course, you should be able to work swiftly and accurately under tight deadlines and help others to do so.
• In this role, you will cultivate an inclusive, team-first culture, collaborating with journalists across the AP in news gathering, production and digital news.
• You must be resourceful and able to work through complex and sensitive obstacles, have be able to demonstrate an ability to move quickly and decisively on breaking news while simultaneously developing future coverage angles and story plans.

We’re looking for someone who: 

• Has a great news sense, with the ability to communicate and drive stories that people will want to share on social media and other platforms. 
• Excels at planning and multi-tasking, with the ability to anticipate future coverage needs across a wide territory while pivoting quickly when news breaks. 
• Pursues innovative and inclusive coverage that maintains AP’s standards for integrity and objectivity.