[5][6][7] Mulholland rejoined the Guardian Media Group as deputy editor of The Observer in 1998,[8] overseeing the magazines, sport, travel and culture sections.
[4] He developed and launched the monthly food, sport and music magazines and led the change of format to Berliner.
[10] Mulholland succeeded Roger Alton as editor in January 2008 (announced in October 2007), having read The Observer as a teenager,[11] and reshuffled the paper's editorial team.
[14][15] Mulholland faced criticism and calls for his resignation due to an article by Julie Burchill published in The Observer on 13 January 2013, later withdrawn from the website, which was seen as transphobic.
[18] From July to Autumn 2017, Mulholland was the temporary editor of Guardian US while Lee Glendinning was on maternity leave.