Mill Media is hiring a staff writer for its soon-to-launch title in Glasgow. We are looking for a brilliant writer who has strong reporting experience and will enjoy being part of a new venture that follows in the footsteps of our award-winning publications Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Sheffield. Our new Glasgow title will cover the city in a new way, publishing rich long reads, in-depth data journalism and insightful political analysis during a period of massive change in Scotland.

About us

By taking on this job, you will be joining Mill Media, a pioneering company founded in June 2020. Our success so far has been based on a simple idea: giving journalists the time they need to produce great stories. In the past few years, this approach has turned Mill Media into a new force in British journalism, described as “One of the most interesting and impressive media startups of the last decade,” by the FT’s John Burn-Murdoch, and as “very, very impressive” by the Wall Street Journal’s Emma Tucker. Most recently Tina Brown, the legendary former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, said: “If I was a young writer right now, I would want to work for Mill Media.”

Last year, we raised money from a group of our readers, including the CNN chief executive and former New York Times and BBC boss Mark Thompson, who said he was investing because of the “exceptional quality” of our work. You can see all the roles we are hiring for here. One of the first things that happened after we raised money was that several great journalists in Glasgow got in touch asking us if we would launch our next title in their home city. Those people will be among our first group of staff and freelance contributors, and we’re incredibly excited about launching this summer.

What we are looking for

This role requires at least three years of experience in professional journalism. It is a job for a journalist who believes in our mission, loves the kind of reporting we do and is passionate about applying our brand of journalism to many more stories in the years ahead. We need someone who has a natural flair for writing — who will deliver the kind of stories our readers look forward to when they open our newsletters.

This role also requires the kind of person who relishes trying to get hold of people on the phone and enjoys chasing stories even if they seem like dead ends; who likes getting to grips with complex issues and can explain those issues clearly to readers.

You will be working closely alongside another fantastic staff writer in Glasgow, including sometimes collaborating on stories, and you will have a lot of contact with the editors and writers from the wider Mill Media team. You will also be expected to pitch in with various non-writing tasks, like helping with our social media and liaising with freelancers.

Key responsibilities

• Producing consistently high-quality writing that informs and delights our readers and makes us stand out.
• Generating lots of highly original story ideas every month, both for you and for our other staff and freelance writers, ranging from culture to crime, food to local politics.
• Developing exceptional contacts within the city region’s political, cultural and business worlds so that we can break big stories.
• Helping to grow our audience by posting on social media, assisting with our marketing and fostering strong bonds with our community of members.

Working pattern: This is a full-time role. You will work three days a week at a co-working space in Glasgow, and remotely the rest of the time. You will make monthly visits to the company’s head office in Manchester.

Attributes required

• Superb writing: Someone who can write stories that our readers don’t just like but love, whether it’s a colour piece, an interview or a newsier feature. A key part of this is being able to write with clarity and distil complex issues for readers.
• Reporting flair: Someone with an unusual talent for unearthing information, including huge energy when pursuing a story, a knack for getting hold of people on the phone and the ability to develop contacts over time.
• Independence: Someone capable of working independently without lots of supervision from editors — that means being exceptionally organised, very communicative with colleagues and self-motivated when working on stories.
• Growth mindset: Someone with an entrepreneurial spirit who is motivated by our growth as well as our journalism and will enjoy growing our social media accounts and spreading our brand.
• Mill Media values: Someone who is committed to our key editorial values: accuracy, nuance, thoughtfulness, fairness to sources and giving readers the context they need to understand what is going on.

Start date: July/August 2024

Application deadline: Sunday, 7 July. Scroll down for details on how to apply.

To apply for this role, email hiring@millmediaco.uk by Sunday 7 July at the latest, with an explanation (in the body of the email) about why you are interested in working with us and why you think you might be a good fit for this role. Please also include a few links to some of your favourite work you’ve done and please attach your CV or link to your LinkedIn. Feel free to include story ideas you have that you would like to work on if you joined us.

If you have any questions, just get in touch via the same email.