Jobs at Topix

Come Work with Us

Whether your passion is French cuisine, family and parenting, or social technology, you can find the latest news and information - from mainstream media and bloggers - on Topix.

Topix is an alternative news site that aggregates news from 74,000 sources and 450,000+ news topics. With over 11.6 million US unique visitors a month, Topix offers local news and discussion forums in every U.S. city and town. The Topix audience consists of consumers who are engaged and passionate about hyper-local issues that directly affect the communities where they live.

We're expanding the concept of news to include blogs, comments, and forums. We're breathing life into local news, turning passive news into active dialogue.

To learn more about Topix, check out our blog, and peruse our open positions. If you like what you see, please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@topix.com with the position name as the subject line.

Current Open Positions

• Software Engineer - Platform
• Software Engineer - Front-End
• Part-time Community Manager
• Director of Sales Midwest

Engineering

Software Engineer - Platform

Topix is looking for experienced software engineers to join our team in Palo Alto! Software Engineers are the creative force that build and drive our success. You're not just a small cog in a big wheel here. You have a say in what gets built and how to build it, both on Topix and on Politix.

Requirements

• B.S. or higher in Computer Science.
• Extensive experience with web infrastructure, distributed systems, performance analysis, and/or large-scale data processing.
• Strong algorithms and data structures background.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Self-motivated. Able to design, code, debug, and test independently.
• A desire to help product manage the areas for which you will be responsible and watch over them so that they grow and flourish.
• Interest in owning features end-to-end.

Perks

• A carefully stocked kitchen.
• Flexible hours.
• Working with talented individuals without the ego that you might find elsewhere.
• No bureaucracy to get in your way.
• A sane development environment that is centered around making the right design and implementation tradeoffs.
• We don't spend time worrying about meaningless and arbitrary schedules.
• If this sounds like your kind of gig, send your resume and cover letter to jobs@topix.com..

Software Engineer - Front-End

Topix is looking for experienced software engineers to join our team in Palo Alto! Software Engineers are the creative force that build and drive our success. You're not just a small cog in a big wheel here. You have a say in what gets built and how to build it, both on Topix and on Politix.

Requirements

• B.S. or higher in Computer Science
• Experience working on publicly available web sites.
• Very strong in HTML5, CSS, Javascript frameworks (JQuery and Prototype), MVC.
• Able to convert mockups into functioning web interfaces.
• Mobile experience a plus.
• Familiarity with common data structures and algorithms.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Self-motivated. Able to design, code, debug, and test independently.
• A desire to help product manage the areas for which you will be responsible and watch over them so that they grow and flourish.

Perks

• A carefully stocked kitchen.
• Flexible hours.
• Working with talented individuals without the ego that you might find elsewhere.
• No bureaucracy to get in your way.
• A sane development environment that is centered around making the right design and implementation tradeoffs.
• We don't spend time worrying about meaningless and arbitrary schedules.
• If this sounds like your kind of gig, send your resume and cover letter to jobs@topix.com..

Community Management

Community Manager

Topix is a top local community web site, with more than 16 million unique visitors per month, who contribute more than 4 million forum posts per month across thousands of forums.

We're looking for a part-time community manager to help us cover nights and weekends. You will be working from home but must be able to report to the office during training period.

Responsibilities

• Foster community's audience & site usage
• Tackle busy customer feedback queue
• Stay up-to-date on trends with social media/online communities

Experience Required

• Passion for, and deep understanding of, the inner workings of successful online communities
• Interest in political discussion
• Experience as a moderator or power user of an online community
• You know Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act by heart
• Sense of humor
• Excellent listening & people skills
• Excellent organizational & communication skills
• Ability to work in a team environment with maturity and leadership
• BA preferred

Notes

• Please include links to online presence with submitted materials
• If this sounds like your kind of gig, send your resume and cover letter to jobs@topix.com

Ad Sales

Director of Sales Midwest

If you can sell advertisers on a site that features local community news and opinion (think everything from local school board meetings to the Debt Ceiling crisis), and have experience selling through advertising agencies in the Chicago Area, we have a great opportunity for you.

MUST HAVE online ad sales experience, regional and local online ad agency contacts, and a solid work history to apply.

Who we are:

Topix is a premium news site, focused on local, and powered by vibrant commentary across the US. The audience on Topix is talking about local news and local gossip, to the tune of over 125,000 posts every day. We launched in 2004, and have backing from Gannett, Tribune and McClatchy, and we are based in Palo Alto California.

Why you want to work at Topix:

We are a growing, privately held company with quite a bit of revenue upside in the area where you are.. The "local" online space is heating up and the largest opportunity to monetize our success and audience is in your backyard. Did we mention that we're up for creating a plan with a lot of upside? Also, we've been selling into agencies for nearly five years, have the infrastructure to sell and serve online advertising, and you won't be working with a "pre revenue" or "pioneering" mindset, with the issues that entails, but rather working a new territory that has a lot of audience.

What you'll be doing:

• Main responsibility is to drive online advertising sales with digital advertising agencies and in-house client marketing departments within the assigned territory, and sell them on the audience we serve
• Excellent prospecting and cold calling skills necessary. An aggressive attitude in getting to closing sales quickly will be key
• Communicate with potential clients with various methods including, phone, email and face to face meetings
• Prepare proposals (with the help of sales planning team) and respond to RFP's with a high degree of quality and in a timely manner
• Negotiate rates and terms with agencies
• Work with the rest of the company (including ad operations) to ensure that client's needs are being met to the best of our ability
• Prepare sales forecasts monthly and sales reports on a weekly basis

What you'll need:

• Bachelors degree in a related field or equivalent experience
• 3+ years sales experience in related field, online sales a must
• Established contacts with regional accounts/agencies in the Chicago Area REQUIRED
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Proven ability to work autonomously, and work with corporate staff from a remote office, can self motivate and self direct activities
• Knowledge of business and advertising trends and the ability to translate this knowledge into advertising solutions for customers
• Advanced understanding of online advertising and marketing, including pricing structures (CPM, CPC, CPA, CPL) and media types (e.g., banners, skyscrapers, box ads, mobile,email newsletters)
• Excellent attention to detail, highly organized and flexible

Respond with resume and cover letter:

• Cover letter must include reasons why you are passionate about working at Topix
• Send the above to jobs@topix.com