Investigator, Airwars Investigations and Accountability

Airwars is a not-for-profit watchdog that tracks, assesses, and investigates civilian harm in conflict-affected countries. Through its investigative arm - Airwars Investigations and Accountability - the organisation conducts award-winning longform research and investigations, often with major international media partners, into civilian harm and its causes., The individual is an integral part of the small Investigations and Accountability team. They will be responsible for leading a number of investigations per year, and shaping the output of the unit in the coming years. Key tasks include:

• - Identifying, pitching and leading investigations as the senior investigator in the investigations unit. This includes coordinating with and supporting junior members in delivering investigations.


• - Identifying and leading major partnerships with international media organisations to ensure stories achieve maximum impact.


• - Management of more junior members of the team, including aiding their development.

The right candidate will be


• - Passionate about open source collaborative journalism, and new forms of investigations and accountability.


• - Have a demonstrable interest in human rights, with a particular focus on justice and accountability in conflict.

Essential skills and competencies
We do not require any particular educational qualification for this role, though we are looking for, As we monitor incidents of civilian harm, this brings with it a risk of secondary trauma due to repeated exposure to difficult and violent content. While this risk is embedded in the nature of the work we do, we work to put support mechanisms and procedures in place to mitigate this risk.
Airwars strives to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome in particular applications from communities often underrepresented in journalism, including people from conflict-affected nations.


• - At least four years of relevant investigative, journalistic or research practice, with published examples.


• - Record of developing and building source networks and turning these into exclusives.


• - Strong written and spoken English.


• - Open source and archiving skills, including verification and newsgathering.

Additional desirable skills + competencies


• - Additional language skills, with a particular preference for Arabic, Ukrainian or Russian.


• - Experience in database management and stories involving large datasets.



• - Previous team or project management experience, including managing junior staff.


• - Proven record of working on matters of conflict and focussing human stories.


• - Strong pre-existing source network on the areas and subjects Airwars specialises in.


• - Experience reporting from and travelling in high risk environments.


• - Experience writing stories specialised in commercial data, focussed particularly on the

defence industries.


• - The organisation is currently based at Goldsmiths, University of London. As such there is a strong preference for London-based staff who can travel into our offices.


• - London-based staff typically operate in a hybrid but flexible workplace - a mixture of office and remote work.


• - 12 month fixed term contract, with possibility of extension


• - Full time contract, 35 hours per week. Our office hours are 9.30-5.30, with some

flexibility depending on employee needs.

• - 25 days of paid annual leave, in addition to bank holidays.

Salary and benefits
The salary range for this position is currently between £36,000 and £39,000 dependent on experience. All UK-based applicants must have the right to work in the UK.
In this position, we will offer significant networking and career development opportunities - particularly in the field of open source investigation and conflict documentation and analysis.