FOIA & Public Records Content Acquisition Lead

Law & Crime; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Law & Crime is seeking a Content Acquisition Manager (FOIA & Public Records) to lead a four-person team in securing primary-source materials behind major legal and true crime stories.

You will oversee FOIA, state open-records, and court-records requests, expand coverage with public agencies, and ensure compliance with public records laws and company standards. Strong news judgment and leadership are essential.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience filing FOIA and state public records requests in a newsroom, investigative reporting, or media environment.
• Working knowledge of court systems and processes for obtaining filings, exhibits, and evidence.
• Experience managing and motivating a team in a deadline-driven, high-volume environment.
• Strong news judgment and ability to prioritize stories and records based on editorial relevance and audience interest.
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple active requests, deadlines, and escalations.
• Strong written and verbal communication, relationship management, and negotiation skills.
• Comfort working with request portals, court records databases, project management systems, and newsroom workflows.

Responsibilities

• Monitor breaking news, trending cases, and emerging stories to identify valuable footage, records, and other primary-source content.
• Develop daily acquisition priorities based on editorial strategy, audience interest, and anticipated content demand.
• Translate leadership priorities into actionable requests and recommend the cases, agencies, and asset types that warrant investment.
• Move quickly from news identification to filing, pursuing high-priority assets before competitors.

Skills

FOIA experience

Newsroom background

Team management

Editorial judgment

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Public records portals

Tools

GovQA

NextRequest

Job description

Law & Crime is seeking a Content Acquisition Manager (FOIA & Public Records) to lead a four-person team in securing primary-source materials behind major legal and true crime stories.

You will oversee FOIA, state open-records, and court-records requests, expand coverage with public agencies, and ensure compliance with public records laws and company standards. Strong news judgment and leadership are essential.