Contributing Editor – Indonesia

    ABOUT US

    Founded in 1999, Mongabay is a leading conservation news web site. The site today draws more than 2 million visitors per month, making it among the most visited eco-focused destinations on the Internet. In 2008, mongabay.com was designated by Time Magazine as one of the 15 best “green” sites on the Web, while Mongabay Founder Rhett Butler was honored by the Field Museum with The Parker/Gentry Award for Conservation in September 2014. Jane Goodall joined the Mongabay board in October 2014, adding further prominence to the site.

    Mongabay.org, the non-profit arm of Mongabay, was formed in 2012 to facilitate the development of new education and journalism initiatives and leverage its existing network, traffic, and reputation. Mongabay.org aims to raise awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems. You can read our daily conservation news stories here.

    Once the non-profit was formed in 2012, Mongabay began to expand using a network approach, starting first with an Indonesia-based service that relies on dozens of local correspondents. Since its launch in May 2012, Mongabay-Indonesia has become one of the leading environmental web sites in Indonesia and the dominant place for reporting on the intersection of social and environmental issues. More importantly, the site has become well known in key decision-making and policy sectors, including the palm oil sector, government agencies like USAID and other important civil society groups. The site as even garnered attention at the highest levels of the Indonesian government, including a call out by President Jokowi. Mongabay-Indonesia has published more than 3,000 stories and is experiencing continued growth in readership and social media following, receiving 1.3 million readers in 2014. Mongabay-Indonesia now ranks in the top 3,000 most popular web sites in Indonesia, according to Alexa.

    CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ROLE – INDONESIA FOCUS (YEAR-END CONTRACT – FULL-TIME)

    Mongabay.org is seeking a full-time Indonesia-focused contributing editor to be hired on a year-end temporary contract (potentially renewable) to manage all English-language Indonesia content. The contributing editor will be expected to consistently produce their own English-language articles on Indonesia-related environmental topics, while managing, editing, and posting all submissions from our team of worldwide contributors. This person will help select the team of Indonesian-focused contributors, manage assignments, edit articles, and ensure adherence to grant guidelines and reporting expectations. The contributing editor will also work closely with the Mongabay-Indonesia team, translating and re-writing Indonesian language stories for an English-speaking audience. A competitive candidate must be a native English speaker (or exceptionally fluent) and speak/write fluently in Bahasa Indonesia. The candidate must be familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within journalism (with specific experience in Indonesian environmental journalism) and will be driven by Mongabay’s mission. This is a high-visibility, high-impact role.

    JOB DUTIES

    • Write publication-ready English-language environmental journalism articles on Indonesia-related topics.
    • Help select team of worldwide journalists (contributors) to contribute Indonesia-focused articles
    • Manage assignments and edit contributor submissions
    • Work with the Mongabay-Indonesia team to produce high-quality translations/summarizations of their articles
    • Track progress towards grant objectives, produce timely reports for funders
    • Project plan to reach established goals in the set timeline

    SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

    • Ability to make timely decisions and demonstrate good judgment
    • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
    • English as a first language (or exceptional fluency) and fluency in Bahasa Indonesia
    • Demonstrated editing ability for a variety of content, including writing/grammar, HTML, photo captions, etc.
    • Providing other support as needed to ensure content meets Mongabay’s high standards of professionalism, consistency, authenticity, and reliability
    • Concrete examples of effective organizational skills and systems
    • Extremely self-directed and motivated
    • Strong sense of professionalism and reliability
    • Ability to self-edit
    • Ability to adjust approaches according to feedback
    • Contributes to the team effort by following through on tasks and delivering results


    DESIRED EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS

    • Prior experience: Two to four years of previous journalism / editing experience (especially environmental issues in Indonesia) strongly preferred, but not required
    • Location: This position is a home-office position. Home-office work experience strongly preferred, but not required. The editor can be based in any country.
    • Technical experience: Microsoft Office, WordPress (or similar), Google Drive
    • Education: Bachelors degree in relevant field, or equivalent experience

    PAYMENT & CONTRACT

    This editor will be hired for a 2015 year-end contract to start. The pay rate for this contract depends on prior experience.   With strong performance, there is potential for this position to lead to a staff role in the future.

     

    TO APPLY

    Apply online here. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position has been filled. On the application you will be asked to fill out basic contact information, pay rate expectations, reference information (2), and to upload the following two documents:

    • Cover letter – please provide specific examples of your experience writing / editing in the realm of environmental journalism as it relates to Indonesia, clear information as to your language background and abilities in relation to English & Bahasa, as well as specific examples of your ability to work effectively from home and meet deadlines (1-2 pages)
    • Resume – (1-2 pages)

    QUESTIONS

    If you have any trouble with the online application or logistical questions about applying, please contact Tiffany Roufs at tiffany [at] mongabay [dot] org.