Managing Editor

Tulsa Flyer; Tulsa, Northern (OK, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Tulsa Local News Initiative, Inc. is seeking an experienced managing editor to lead The Tulsa Flyer and The Oklahoma Eagle. You will guide an editorial team, drive audience-focused journalism, and partner with executives to set priorities across daily, enterprise, and community-facing coverage.

You will oversee budgets, collaborate with the art director on visuals, and ensure the newsroom evolves with data-informed strategies and strong donor engagement.

Qualifications

• The ideal candidate is an experienced editorial leader with a track record in high-quality journalism.
• They are actively preparing to step into executive-level leadership and serve as a strategic partner to the executive editor.
• Experience shaping audience-first journalism and leading multi-platform coverage will be essential.

Responsibilities

• Oversee editors and reporters, setting editorial priorities with the executive and deputy editors.
• Lead long-term and enterprise reporting alongside senior editors.
• Collaborate with art/visuals to guide photography and video coverage.
• Oversee newsroom budget and work with the COO to track spend.
• Align editorial strategy with audience growth through partnership with audience team and donors.
• Coordinate with newsroom partners and contribute to joint publications like Snapshot.
• Support editors in professional growth and succession planning.

Skills

Editorial leadership

Budget management

Audience strategy

Newsroom operations

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Reports to: Executive Editor
Position Status:Regular, Full Time, Exempt

The Tulsa Flyer seeks an experienced, innovative newsroom leader to oversee and lead our nonprofit newsroom. The broad purpose of the Tulsa Flyer and The Oklahoma Eagle is to provide information, news and connectedness to audiences in Tulsa that makes their lives and Tulsa better. The managing editor of the Tulsa Flyer has to be the leader of that effort and will play a crucial role in working with the executive editor to guide the newsroom in reaching its goals, including realizing a vision for audience-first journalism. They will play a pivotal role in weaving together strong accountability journalism with service reporting, arts and culture, and community engagement for a well-rounded daily news offering in service of Tulsa residents.

This position requires a dynamic leader who can balance strategic thinking with operational execution, who is detail oriented and willing, able, and eager to roll up their sleeves and guide the team to produce impactful, audience driven, high standards journalism in a fast-paced newsroom. Within that, the managing editor must be a leader in audience-first journalism: embedding the audiences’ needs, interests, and problems to be solved across the newsroom. This person must be able to lead even from a position of their own limited understanding and experience to lead the effort with an eye toward social, video, and the best uses of AI.

• The managing editor will oversee a team of editors and reporters covering key topics. They will work closely with the executive editor and deputy editor to set editorial priorities, manage daily news operations, and ensure our journalism serves the Tulsa community.
• They will lead the development of Tulsa Flyer’s long term and enterprise reporting, working with senior editors to forge the vision for the Flyer’s enterprise strategies.
• They will work with the art director to establish the goals for and execution of visuals for the Tulsa Flyer including photography and video coverage.
• They will oversee the Tulsa Flyer’s newsroom budget, working with the COO to ensure that we set budgetary goals and adhere to them.
• They will work with the membership and audience director and the executive editor to ensure that the editorial strategy is aligned with audience growth.
• They will oversee the shared services that support both The Oklahoma Eagle and Tulsa Flyer, including all related work flows, working in partnership with the Eagle Managing Editor
• They will work with The Flyer’s newsroom partners in creating and producing the quarterly joint publication Snapshot.
• They may also work with the Executive Editor to spearhead other collaborative projects with partners.
• They will support other editors in making our newsroom one in which people can learn and grow professionally.

The ideal candidate is an experienced editorial leader with a track record of producing excellent journalism, strong leadership skills, and a passion for reimagining local news to be more responsive and accessible to diverse audiences across multiple platforms. They are actively preparing to step into executive-level leadership, acting as a strategic partner and designated backup for the executive editor, with opportunity for advancement within the organization for the right candidate.

In the First Year

In the first year, we expect the managing editor to allocate their time in these buckets:

40% — Audience & Mission-Driven Editorial Strategy

• Executing high-impact, data-informed editorial strategy that directly responds to the evolving needs of our community while advancing our organizational goals.
• Analyze audience metrics provided by the audience team and community feedback to refine coverage, ensuring our journalism remains deeply relevant, trustworthy, and impactful.
• Alongside the Executive Editor, build a collaborative, mission-driven culture across both of our newsrooms and foster strong, collaborative relationships with our external media and community partners.
• Set a high standard for internal communication and cross-functional teamwork, to foster an inclusive and unified newsroom.
• Drive all phases of enterprise, investigative, and long-term projects, functioning as a top editor or direct editor as needed.
• Provide high-level editorial guidance that frees up line editors to focus intensely on daily and weekly story cadences.
• Coach and mentor editorial staff, building on the newsroom’s existing strengths while fostering continuous professional growth and skill development.
• Identify talent gaps and create a culture of feedback and professional growth.

10% — Newsroom Operations

• Create and document newsroom workflows to support a well-run nonprofit newsroom and its team
• Manage the editorial budget responsibly, ensuring resources are aligned with our strategic priorities.

5% — Organizational Leadership

• Transition from leading the newsroom to helping lead the organization.
• Over time, intentionally building connections with our board and donor community and serving as a public voice for our journalistic mission.

About the organization:

Tulsa Local News Initiative, Inc is home to both The Oklahoma Eagle and Tulsa Flyer. TLNI, Inc is a startup nonprofit organization started in 2025 that has raised $14 million so far in service of a vision to give everyone in Tulsa the local news they need to live more informed and more connected lives. The newsroom produces high-quality accountability journalism while working directly with residents to produce and distribute community reporting, employing an innovative model for local journalism that is directly responsive to local information needs. In addition to a team of editors and beat reporters, the Tulsa newsroom values best-in-class community engagement expertise, multimedia production, service journalism and research, and Tulsa Documenters.

At Tulsa Flyer, we value learning, curiosity and diverse perspectives. We are dedicated to equitable hiring and follow best practices to create an inclusive hiring process.

Essential Functions:

• Hire and manage editors and reporters who produce excellent, competitive reporting that earns the trust and