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.
The Graphics department at The New York Times is looking for an expert in technologies like computer vision, machine learning and cloud-based data analysis to engineer new approaches for reporting and storytelling. You will work with designers, developers, cartographers, reporters and editors to unearth new stories that are not possible with traditional reporting methods and to create new tools for visual and data storytelling.
Your work will help the department produce new and creative approaches to visual journalism, and will enhance the team’s workflows and tooling used to report and create stories. You will pursue both proven and novel engineering methods to find storytelling solutions and will make journalistic and visual decisions to ensure the highest levels of accuracy and clarity in your work.
This technologist’s work will integrate a range of reporting and engineering methods and disciplines (examples listed in the responsibilities section below.) Your primary charge will be to anticipate and respond to news events and patterns in our news coverage through computational solutions and original software. You will keep up with emerging technologies and methods, and bring that knowledge to bear on the department’s coverage.
Here are some examples of the types of work you might do while also driving forward new approaches that have not yet been applied in our work:
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Write code to extract speed data from burst photography to explain how an Olympic sprinter wins the 100-meter dash.
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Create models to detect damage to buildings and infrastructure in satellite imagery of areas affected by war and natural disasters.
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Build an artificial intelligence system to explain how new technologies work to Times readers.
The Graphics department is a group of journalists and visual thinkers with creative backgrounds ranging from architecture to cartography to computer science. We are curious about all kinds of things and try to find individuals who bring their own curiosity to bear in creative approaches to storytelling.
This is a hybrid position based in New York City and includes regular attendance in the office each week per your departmental guidance.
You will report to the Special Projects Editor for Graphics.
Responsibilities:
This technologist’s work could include but is not limited to:
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Use machine learning and computer vision to scale and accelerate visual and data reporting to find new stories
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Perform large-scale data analysis using cloud computing
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Create novel geospatial and remote sensing solutions to process and analyze large quantities of imagery
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Uphold the standards of independence, accuracy, fairness and clarity expected of all Times journalists
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Remain current on cutting edge techniques in machine learning and computational analysis, and help judge when it is appropriate for The Times to implement them
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Be a collaborative domain expert and teacher in the newsroom for cutting edge engineering methods
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Maintain documentation and repositories for technical workflows
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Maintain and foster relationships with technical sources
Basic Qualifications:
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3+ years of relevant professional experience
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Expertise in some of these engineering approaches, with an interest to learn more of the following: machine learning, computer vision, geospatial analysis, remote sensing, image analysis, statistical analysis
Preferred Qualifications:
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Familiarity with web development, including JavaScript, HTML and CSS
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A pragmatic innovator whose solutions elicit responses that justify the effort and investment
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Interest in news coverage and in learning from other journalists
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Interest in visual and interactive design
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Experience collaborating to solve technical challenges
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Experience meeting deadlines and adapting to change in a daily, unpredictable news production environment
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Experience working collaboratively with members of a multidisciplinary team
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Commitment to The New York Times mission and values
Applications should include links to work samples or code repositories to demonstrate the creation of software to solve large-scale data and research challenges. A cover letter describing your role in specific projects is encouraged.
This position is represented by the NewsGuild of NY.
REQ-016613
The annual base pay range for this role is between:
$111,711.62—$160,000 USD
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.
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