he San Antonio Express-News invites outstanding candidates to apply for a staff position covering federal courts and federal law enforcement.

The job involves reporting on notable investigations, indictments and trials in San Antonio and other federal districts in Central and South Texas. The reporter will be expected to break stories and generate enterprise about human trafficking, immigration, public corruption and other matters of urgent public interest.

The reporter will operate with considerable independence and will be trusted to develop stories from official and unofficial sources and public records.

Coverage of immigration is an important component of this beat, as San Antonio is the major city closest to the U.S.-Mexico border, and the reporter will regularly travel to the border on assignment.

The successful candidate will be a self-starter skilled at developing sources and discerning the broader trends within the routine business of the justice system. The federal courts in San Antonio are filled with compelling stories and the makings of great investigative journalism. We’re looking for a reporter who will take advantage of that opportunity.

Applicants should have at least five years of reporting experience, including covering courts and criminal justice. Applicants must be conversant in the fundamentals of digital journalism, including SEO, basic story production and social promotion of stories. They must embrace the obligation not only to do outstanding journalism but to make it visible and engaging to readers.

Spanish fluency is not required but is highly desired.

Salary is competitive, and Hearst Corp. benefits are among the best in the industry.

The San Antonio Express-News is the third largest newspaper in Texas. It publishes in print seven days a week, operates two news websites, ExpressNews.com and MYSA.com, and publishes three regional magazines -- San Antonio Magazine, Austin Monthly and Austin Home – and their affiliated websites.

The work of Express-News staff reporters regularly appears in the Houston Chronicle and other properties in the Hearst Newspaper Group, whose 24 daily papers include the San Francisco Chronicle, the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, the New Haven (Conn.) Register, and the Laredo Morning Times and the Beaumont Enterprise in Texas.