Job Description
The Washington Post is searching for its next Chief Technology Officer, serving as a strategic advisor to the CEO and playing a prominent role on our senior executive team with broad responsibility over engineering, product, design, and information security functions.
Motivation
First and foremost, you possess sterling integrity and personify the highest values of The Post: truth, accuracy, quality, speed, and continuous experimentation and innovation. You are deeply technical, yet can fluidly change altitudes to understand and address issues at the strategic, tactical, and transactional levels. You enjoy teaching others and can distill complex technical challenges into language that non-technical audiences can understand. You’ve always been enamored with the future and, as such, are grounded in the latest technologies, their potential impact, and how they can be used to good effect. You possess a growth mindset and are adept at growing employees’ careers, growing audience, and growing an organization’s capacity to iterate and launch new products at speed. Your energy level is very high, enabling you to inspire, enable, change, and protect a fast-paced, growing, 24/7, and global organization. You have an aptitude for building diverse and inclusive teams where people can do their best work. You bring an entrepreneurial – even scrappy – approach to organizations, yet function effectively within large, interdependent systems and frameworks. You are naturally data-driven and comfortable analyzing large, complex data sets, homing in on critical insights and galvanizing action around those insights.
Structure
The Chief Technology Officer role reports to the Publisher & CEO and is part of the executive team that leads The Washington Post in long-term strategy, planning, investment, growth, change, culture, policy, and innovation. As a trusted advisor to and member of this team, the successful candidate must build solid relationships and work effectively with leaders across the company, including news, editorial, sales, marketing, subscriptions, finance, legal, HR, production, circulation, and security, helping the C-suite in problem-solving and seizing opportunities that directly support The Post’s ongoing transformation and growth.
Responsibilities
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Lead the engineering team of The Washington Post and continue a culture of agile and collaborative software development at speed, cultivating a willingness to experiment, disrupt, fail, succeed, and keep trying throughout the organization.
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Play a significant role in developing the company’s strategy and align engineering infrastructure and capital with that strategy. Help the company achieve its short- and long-term goals by focusing the right engineering resources in the right place at the right time.
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Advance the company’s technical capacity and progress by monitoring the latest digital trends, identifying potential opportunities for the company and focusing our efforts accordingly.
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Strengthen our information security environment and systems, and work proactively to reduce vulnerabilities.
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Act as a technical advisor for our global Arc XP SaaS business, which has successfully evolved from start-up to growth phase, including partnering with the President of Arc XP.
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Lead product and design by growing the capacity of our newsroom to more effectively surface, cover, report, and edit the news and building new digital products that grow readership, subscribers, and revenue.
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Lead our partnerships with technology platforms, including our relationships with Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, and others.
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Cultivate a fast, brave, innovative, experimental, metrics-driven, and customer-focused culture—not only within your own organizations—but across the entire company.
Requirements
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An undergraduate degree in computer science or related field; a graduate degree or MBA is strongly preferred.
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At least 15 years of progressively responsible experience in the engineering field, including hands-on experience in several different technology functions (e.g., software development, cloud-based technical architecture, product management, big data, and information security).
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At least five years in a senior leadership role leading a large, complex, interdependent organization of at least 300 employees that includes engineering and related functions.
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Significant experience building customer-facing products that increase audience, revenue, and future growth opportunities.
Location
This role is based in The Washington Post’s headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. If the successful candidate is not already based in the D.C. region, relocation will be necessary. This role is based in the office five days per week.
About The Washington Post
When you join The Post, you are joining a mission to connect, inform, and enlighten those around the globe with the highest caliber, most trustworthy news and information. Our multicultural, multi-generational workforce is constantly creating and innovating, leading the media and technology industries to better solutions. We welcome perspectives and celebrate diverse backgrounds. Whether you contribute to journalism, engineering, finance, or marketing, you are helping define the future of news. We continue to shine a light into the darkness and hope you will join us.
Wherever you are in your life or career, The Washington Post offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits for every step of your journey:
Competitive medical, dental and vision coverage
Company-paid pension and 401(k) match
Three weeks of vacation and up to three weeks of paid sick leave
Nine paid holidays and two personal days
20 weeks paid parental leave for any new parent
Robust mental health resources
Backup care and caregiver concierge services
Gender affirming services
Pet insurance
Free Post digital subscription
Leadership and career development programs
Benefits may vary based on the job, full-time or part-time schedule, location, and collectively bargained status.
The Post strives to provide its readers with high-quality, trustworthy news and information while constantly innovating. That mission is best served by a diverse, multi-generational workforce with varied life experiences and perspectives. All cultures and backgrounds are welcomed.
The innovation doesn’t end in the Newsroom – dozens of teams power The Washington Post. We are now hiring the next innovator – how will you Impact Tomorrow?
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