Acting Paris Correspondent

The Role

There is an opening in the Paris bureau for a correspondent to cover parental leave from early December.

We are looking for a skilled reporter and French speaker to cover business and the economy, including the banks, energy, industry and the auto sector. 

The beat covers some of the biggest industrial and financial stories in Europe, with a crossover into policy and politics at a moment of big changes. 

France, Europe’s biggest nuclear power champion, is at a critical juncture as it tries to lay the ground for its energy future and not rack up further delays that could affect upcoming plants. French carmakers are grappling with more punishing emissions rules.

The French finance sector, meanwhile, is going through an overhaul too in a bid to finance these big industrial shifts, while combating strong competition from US banks. As France’s political situation becomes more unstable, a key theme will be whether President Emmanuel Macron’s pro-business policies will fade, raising the question if the country will remain attractive to foreign investors and banks. 

Corporate France is fertile territory to break news and produce in-depth analysis stories for the FT’s companies, markets, and world desks. The person will also be responsible for quarterly earnings reporting and capable of pulling out themes and  insights from the numbers.

In France, politics is never far away from the boardroom: the state is a major shareholder in large companies, intervenes in deal-making, and especially in energy, it essentially runs the sector via both regulated prices and its ownership of nuclear energy group EDF. Macron has also poured investment into everything from start-ups to electric batteries to try to create a more innovative, manufacturing-based economy, so chronicling the successes and failures of this effort is a priority.  

The successful candidate will be able to turn their hand to any topic - corporate, economic or political - to work smoothly with the two other members of the Paris team. Key skills include identifying emerging companies, personalities, and themes of interest to readers, and developing sources to break news.

Key responsibilities and skills:

• Understand and communicate well in French
• Generate scoops and exclusive interviews, as well as smart analytical features
• Develop and execute ideas for investigations and long-form journalism 
• Experience covering business, companies, deals, and debt 
• Cooperate effectively with colleagues in London and across the European and global networks, especially the sectoral teams 
• An interest in data-driven journalism would be a plus
• Identify opportunities to collaborate with visual and data journalism teams
• Frequent weekend shifts are required as part of the team rota 

Please submit your application by the end of the day, Wednesday 11th September 2024. 

Benefits

Our benefits vary depending on location, but we are committed to providing best in class perks across all our offices as well as an inclusive environment to develop your career. Examples of our benefits include; generous annual leave allowances, flexible working (including working from home), medical cover, enhanced parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and Giving Back opportunities. Full details of our benefits can be found here.

How we work

Our hybrid setup means staff are expected to come into the office 3 days a week.

Our office is located on the rue La Boétie in Paris

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the workplace

The FT is committed to providing an inclusive working environment for all. We are an equal opportunities employer who seeks to recruit and appoint the best talent regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We believe that a supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves at work and have the flexibility they need to meet their personal needs. 

Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements, or have any questions, please contact [email protected] and a member of our team will be happy to help.

About the Financial Times

The FT has an uncompromising mission: delivering independent, quality information, news and services to individuals and companies around the globe. It’s the cornerstone of our reputation and the heart of our ambitions for the future. But for our people, the FT offers so much more than what we do. FT people come from all kinds of backgrounds and work across a huge range of disciplines and locations, and find an empowering, warm and welcoming culture that values curiosity and rewards smart, ambitious thinking. Those who are willing to unite around our mission and live our values will find plenty to challenge, inspire and interest them. Like the audiences we serve, no two FT people are the same; but together we help our audience be better informed and understand the world around them. It’s a job that’s never mattered more, and a career that can take you anywhere you want to go.

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