The ideal candidate will be:

• Steeped in local news reporting and storytelling across platforms, able to draw on that experience to coach and edit a talented group of five local news reporters. 
• An expert at planning, scheduling and juggling resources, able to work with a team to produce news quickly for digital platforms while meeting daily print deadlines and helping create Sunday magazine stories that resonate with readers' passions.
• Able to work collaboratively with colleagues who focus on digital presentation, multimedia creation, print design and community interaction in order to seamlessly reach and engage readers with compelling community journalism. 
• Someone who can step back and take a broad view, teaming with the executive editor as a partner in our organization's continued digital transformation.

We use a broad array of tools to tell stories, including video, blogs, story chats and more. We've found ways to replace much of our traditional meeting coverage with live blogs, we've remade the Sunday print newspaper to make room for a longer-form cover story and we're not shy about pushing news out first to our apps, our web, mobile and tablet sites, Twitter and Facebook as we maintain our role as our region's premier local news organization. 

We've already retooled with a new print CMS; a new digital CMS is coming soon; and we've already transitioned to a paid subscription model. Now we're moving ahead as we grow readership and develop further into a 21st century local news operation.

As the chief assigning editor, the Local Editor shapes coverage across platforms and shapes discussions in our area's homes and coffee shops. Relying on reporter shoe leather, reader input, community passions, a keen eye for trends, a strong sense of what stories are ripe to localize and just plain gut feelings about what makes a good story, the Local Editor crafts the local news report to keep it lively and compelling. 

Getting bogged down in government minutia is not what we're about, but we never want to abdicate our watchdog role over local government. It's the most important thing we do. 

Our local news model — in touch with our readership and reflecting its priorities — is what many larger newspapers are trying to reinvent. We don't have to win our local news franchise back from others, even though this is a competitive market with another daily newspaper. Readers look to us for their news in print and online. We've come through the last couple of years with something not all newsrooms have: Strong achievements and momentum. It's a great position to be in. 

It may even be a great place for a journalist tired of being unable to bring about change in a larger organization, someone who wants to grow as a leader and manager and who wants to soar as a part of the company that boasts the nation's largest roster of journalists — Gannett. 

If the job sounds exhausting, it isn't for you. If it sounds like an adrenaline rush, you might be the right person. 

The market itself is beautiful. Look east and you see the Blue Ridge. Look west and you see the Alleghenies. Between, it's rolling hills, quaint cities and great places to live. Camping, fishing and hunting abound. Fully a third of our county is national forest or national park. We're minutes away from major universities. Our historic downtown is doing well, despite the big box stores in the region. We're within two hours of major cities and three hours out of D.C.

Interested? Excited? Curious? Send your resume, a summary of your thoughts on and experience in newsroom leadership, and work samples to David Fritz at dfritz@newsleader.com. We are a Gannett newspaper and we value diversity.