Food Editor
Hearst · Dallas
Role Overview
North Texas is one of the most exciting food scenes in the country and The Dallas Morning News is looking for an editor who’s as obsessed with covering it as our audience is with consuming it. This is one of the most-read, most-engaged beats in our newsroom — and we’re just getting started. We’re growing fast with digital stories, social video and our popular Eat Drink D-FW podcast, and we’ve kicked off a series of top restaurant guides that our audience is already devouring. This is just the start. We need a leader who’s ready to make all of it happen. This is a role for someone who thinks big, moves fast and genuinely loves food culture, not just what’s on the plate, but the people, places and stories behind it. If you’re the kind of editor who can inspire a team, spot a great story and understand what keeps an audience coming back for more, we want to hear from you.
You’ll lead a talented, well-sourced team of two food reporters, a restaurant critic and a food digital producer, all of whom bring serious energy to everything they do. You’ll direct the digital producer to build new audiences and find creative ways to tell stories on emerging platforms.
You’re a strategic thinker who knows how to balance the fast pace of breaking news with the patience and vision that great enterprise storytelling requires. You’re fluent in analytics, plugged into audience behavior and always thinking about what will resonate and why.
This is a deeply collaborative role. Beyond leading your team, you’ll work closely with our Audience, Audiovisual, Product and Marketing teams to drive everything from the weekly Eat Drink D-FW podcast to newsletters, news alerts, social media and the launch of our top restaurant guides. If you thrive at the intersection of content and strategy, you’ll feel right at home.
You’re also a people-first leader, someone who invests in the growth of the journalists you supervise and is genuinely committed to diverse hiring, sourcing and coverage that reflects the full richness of North Texas.
What You’ll Do
- Lead and manage a team of two food reporters, a restaurant critic and a digital producer, setting priorities and providing hands-on coaching to help each person grow.
- Oversee strategy for food coverage, including assigning and editing stories for digital and print, managing newsletters and monitoring metrics to identify opportunities for growth.
- Use analytics to make informed decisions about story timing, placement and audience engagement, and share those insights with your team.
- Work with editors to ensure stories are publication-ready with strong visuals and compelling presentation.
- Coordinate with our social media, audience and photo teams to maximize the reach and impact of coverage.
- Help plan coverage strategies for major events, breaking news and enterprise projects across digital and print.
- Assist with planning and coordinating video and audio projects, including the weekly Eat Drink D-FW podcast.
- Lead the next phase of our top restaurant dining guides series, growing it into a must-read franchise that keeps our audience coming back for more.
- Responsible for all aspects of employee management, including recruitment, interviewing, selection, onboarding and retention.
- Conduct regular performance evaluations; provide constructive feedback and coaching to support employee development and accountability.
- Administer progressive discipline and counseling as needed, in alignment with company policies and procedures.
- Oversee scheduling, workload distribution and delegation of responsibilities to ensure balanced team performance and productivity.
What You’ll Bring
- A bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field and at least five years of experience.
- Exceptional news judgment, accuracy and core journalism skills, including a flair for headlines and a sharp editorial eye.
- A genuine passion for food culture that informs smart, impactful coverage.
- Strong ability to edit everything from quick-turn breaking news to in-depth enterprise stories.
- Fluency in audience analytics and the ability to translate data insights into newsgathering decisions.
- Expertise in multi-platform digital content strategy across desktop, mobile, social and emerging platforms.
- Strong planning and organizational skills with keen attention to detail.
- A collaborative, people-first approach to coaching and developing journalists.
- An excellent communicator who thrives under deadline pressure and works well across diverse teams.
- Creative, forward-thinking mindset aligned with our growth goals.
Work Smarter with AI
Through our strategic content partnership with OpenAI and our exclusive ChatGPT Enterprise license, we have access to the latest advancements in AI technology. Our access to AI tools, including those built by the Hearst DevHub, our editorial innovation team, acts as a smart assistant for routine work, including:
- Generate headline options, SEO keywords or alert language.
- Clean up grammar, apply style and improve clarity.
- Version stories for different formats (video, audio) or platforms (social media).
- Monitor public meetings and get alerts with transcripts and video.
- Process and summarize data with AI assistance, human-verified before use.
Advanced AI is not a journalist, but it can facilitate and accelerate the work of journalism.
Additional Information
- Sponsorship: This position does not provide immigration sponsorship. Applicants must have the right to work in the U.S. without immigration sponsorship.
- Accommodations: We are committed to an accessible application process. If you need an accommodation to apply, please contact hnpemployment@hearst.com. This email address is for accommodation requests only.
Benefits
We support our employees through personal and professional development and promote physical, financial and emotional wellbeing for employees and their families. Our benefits include:
- Physical Wellbeing: Medical, dental and vision coverage to help keep you and your family healthy.
- Invest for the Future: Competitive retirement plan with a matching program in most markets.
- Generous Paid Time Off: Ample time off, including holidays and vacation.
- Paid Parental Leave: Paid leave to support growing families and new parents.
- Monthly Child & Dependent Care Reimbursement: Financial support for the care of your loved ones.
- Emotional Wellbeing: Mental wellness benefits to support your emotional wellbeing.
- LGBTQ+ & Inclusive Health Services: Inclusive healthcare designed for individual needs.
- Fertility Coverage & Menopause Support: Support throughout different stages of your health and family journey.
- Pet Wellness Reimbursement & Rover Credits: Support to help keep your pets happy and healthy.
- And more: Learn more about additional benefits and details here.