After more than 10 years working as a reporter for The Seattle Times, I am taking a new job on the digital side of the newsroom! I will be a producer for mobile platforms and user analytics. I am excited to work on getting our news content in front of readers wherever and whenever and however they want it.

It’s been an incredible ride covering Microsoft, the world’s largest software company. We have made our coverage real-time and in-depth with big-picture stories on the front page of the newspaper, snack-sized in the Microsoft Pri0 blog, instantaneous with Twitter and interactive with live chats and live blogs. (Since business reporters love numbers, here they are from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2011: 244 print stories; 908 Web posts; 2,848 tweets and almost 2,000 followers.)

This means The Seattle Times is hiring for a new technology reporter to cover Microsoft! This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced business or tech reporter to cover a premier beat for The Seattle Times. Our newsroom has made diversity, innovation and excellence — as they say at Microsoft — Pri0.

This job reports to technology editor Mark Watanabe, a former AAJA national officer. I will continue to report on Microsoft until we hire a new reporter. Please help us recruit a new one by sharing this job opening with people you know.

Seattle Times Microsoft reporter job opening

The Seattle Times Business staff is seeking a hard-driving, enterprising reporter to cover one of the most influential corporations in the world: Microsoft. This reporter should have considerable experience covering business and/or technology and should take pride at being ahead of not only local competitors, but the national media as well. He or she must be skilled at working with financial documents, understanding technology, building sources and breaking through a PR machine second to none. This person needs to be skilled at anticipating events, putting together stories that connect the dots and explain to our readers why these events are important. Writing abilities must be sharp and wide-ranging enough to appear regularly on A1, the Business section cover and above the fold online. This candidate should also be comfortable using a variety of tools, from capturing Web video to leveraging social media to engage readers and sources. Availability to travel is also a must.

This reporter, part of The Times’ technology team, must be able to work cooperatively with other team members, as well as peers throughout the newsroom, including photo, graphics and online. He or she will be principally responsible for daily and enterprise coverage of Microsoft’s corporate affairs, strategies, core products, personnel and workplace issues, and software industry trends. Other members of the team will contribute to coverage of the company, especially in the areas of digital media, gaming and wireless technologies. Contributions to the larger Business section staff is expected, including story ideas and suggestions for the betterment of business coverage.

If you think you are up to the challenge of covering one of our premier beats, contact Technology Editor Mark Watanabe at mwatanabe@seattletimes.com or at The Seattle Times, P.O. Box, 70, Seattle WA 98111.

EEOC. Drug free workplace.

Here is a link to the job posting.