Community Researcher to co-found innovation lab

Schibsted and the Tinius Trust are setting up a new innovation lab at the intersection of journalism, technology, and democracy. We are now seeking two skilled researchers to join the inaugural team!

About the lab

The new lab will focus on the democratic function that independent journalism plays in providing diverse groups of people with trustworthy, fact-based information about societal, political, and everyday issues.

The lab will run experiments to provide better conditions to access and trust independent journalism among groups currently underserved in Sweden and Norway; people who for many different reasons and in many different ways are not consuming it today.

Using design thinking methodologies, we aim to understand the realities of current news outsiders and explore solutions for the future through rapid prototyping and experimentation with emerging technologies, particularly such within the AI-domain. Our job is to explore possible futures for journalism.

About the role

As a Community Researcher in the lab, your core responsibilities will be to unearth the needs, wants, motivations, and pain-points of current communities of news outsiders to inform product experiments and new editorial efforts that cater to them. Your work will lay the foundation for the lab’s experimentation.

Your key responsibilities will include:

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Initiating, planning and conducting interviews, workshops, discussion forums, or other events that enable meaningful, judgement-free dialogues with news outsiders that expand our understanding of their perspectives.

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Establishing and nurturing relationships with organisations and/or individuals that can act as “door-openers” to our target groups.

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Spreading insights from your research, including tailoring communication to different audiences.


The role will include travelling for research trips within Sweden and Norway, and as part of a small and experimental team your tasks are guaranteed to vary.

Please note that we expect most of your working time to be spent “offline” and far away from a desk, in face-to-face dialogues with news outsiders. While we offer a hybrid working place, the team will be based in Stockholm and members will be expected to be present in the office (located next to the central station) for regular in-person meetings.

You will report to the Head of Lab. In addition to the collegiality of the lab team, you will be part of a large network of User/UX-researchers across the Schibsted ecosystem sharing support and best practices.

About you

This is a highly experimental initiative, and the people joining its pilot phase will have a unique opportunity (and responsibility!) to shape it. To enjoy and excel in this role, we believe that you should be an entrepreneurial and flexible person who is skilled at engaging with diverse stakeholders, and dares to take ideas from the drawing board into reality.

Before joining the lab, we believe that you have gained skills within (user and/or UX) research and worked in collaborative innovation processes. We think that you are known as a curious, dependable, and organised person.

We believe that you have some kind of higher level education, for example within anthropology, ethnography, psychology, or journalism. In addition, we believe that you have a proven interest in the possibilities offered by emerging technologies.

What you want to do in the future is more important to us than what you have done in the past. If you think you have the right skillset to co-found this lab, please apply!

Working proficiency in Swedish is required for this role.


Schibsted is a family of digital brands with a strong Nordic position, and more than 5,000 employees. Millions of people interact with our companies every day through our leading online marketplaces such as FINN, Blocket, and Oikotie; world-class media houses including Aftenposten, VG, and Aftonbladet; and smart digital services such as Lendo. We also help new promising businesses grow. Our joint mission of empowering people in their daily lives is rooted in the values of our media heritage and a legacy of bold change. At our best, we are a fearless force for change in a society built on trust and transparency.