Apply to our Investigative Reporter role:
Position: Investigative Reporter
Reports to: Executive Director
Application due: February 15th, 2026
Salary: $82,900, full time, with benefits
The Invisible Institute is hiring an investigative reporter to join our team and work alongside our staff to report on police abuse, state violence, and official secrecy in Chicago and beyond. We are looking for a reporter with experience covering Chicago’s South and West Sides and who has the ability to take a leading role in ambitious investigations that help Chicagoans better understand how police policies and police misconduct affect their lives
and how they can respond.
We are looking for an experienced investigative reporter who is capable of helping to develop ideas, tips, and leads into small, medium, or large investigative stories and projects, as well as contribute to reporting led by other members of the organization or one of our collaborators.
This reporter should feel equally at home in telling the stories of people directly impacted by police misconduct and violence with deep care and respect, and in pulling back bureaucratic layers to help readers understand and hold accountable the systems that allow the same violence to continue. The ideal candidate has a strong understanding of the criminal justice system in Illinois and of issues that intersect with policing. Ongoing projects include reporting building on the findings of our Beneath the Surface project, which focuses on gender-based violence at the hands of the police. The reporter will work as part of our investigative team and contribute to collaborative projects, including our partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network.
This is a hybrid role. We are looking for candidates based in Chicago who are able to work alongside our team at our office in Woodlawn on a regular basis, but we also support regular remote work.
Key Requirements and Responsibilities
• At least three years of journalism experience with a demonstrated ability to handle
major investigative projects
• A strong writer who can craft a compelling narrative as well as clearly explain
complex policy issues
• Demonstrated ability to develop a rich network of sources, including policy experts
and people who are impacted by the criminal justice system
• Experience interviewing a range of sources from government officials to people who
have direct experience with police violence
• The ability to work with a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary team and
participate in shared decision-making around reporting priorities and strategies
• An interest in teaching and mentoring less experienced reporters
• Willingness to use investigative tools like Pacer, TLO, and LexisNexis
• Experience accessing public records through FOIA and other sources
The following skills and experience would be useful for the role, but we do not expect a candidate to have all of them. We welcome hearing about other experiences and skill sets that you believe could help you perform this role.
• Experience reporting on the South and West Sides of Chicago
• Experience reporting on criminal justice system (especially policing) or related
issues, including mental health, housing, or violence prevention
• Experience reporting in the field of wrongful convictions
• Knowledgeable about communities of the greater Chicago area
• Experience working with data to support investigations
• Fluency in Spanish
• Experience with audio reporting or photography
Benefits and Compensation
• This position pays $82,900 with annual cost of living increases. The Invisible Institute uses set tiers of pay for all staff.
• Four weeks paid time off, plus sicks days and family leave
• Regular holidays, including team-wide weeks off in August and December
• Fully-covered healthcare, dental, and vision insurance
Application details
Please apply using this form, which includes a series of short questions and a space to upload your resume or CV. A cover letter is not required for this position. People who have experienced policing firsthand are strongly encouraged to apply, and we welcome candidates with a diverse range of identities and experiences.
About the Invisible Institute
The Invisible Institute is an innovative, non-profit journalism production company based on the South Side of Chicago. We work to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable. Among the tactics we employ are investigative reporting, multimedia storytelling, human rights documentation, the curation of public information, and the orchestration of difficult public conversations. Our work coheres around a central principle: we as citizens have co-responsibility with the government for maintaining respect for human rights and, when abuses occur, for demanding redress.
Founded by award-winning writer and journalist, Jamie Kalven, the team at the Invisible Institute has produced groundbreaking, internationally recognized work. This includes the investigative reporting that first brought to light the circumstances surrounding the murder of Laquan McDonald, as well as stories uncovering a web of corruption inside the Chicago Police Department that have thus far led to the exonerations of 171 individuals. Our newsroom has won three Pulitzer Prizes since 2021, including for our 2023 collaboration with City Bureau, Missing in Chicago, and our 2023 podcast, You Didn’t See Nothin.