Managing Editor for East Asia

Radio Free Asia•Washington DC, WA

8d•$150,000 - $181,000

About The Position

Overview Who We Are Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with editorial and operational bureaus in Taipei, Bangkok, and Seoul. A congressionally funded grantee of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), RFA operates with full editorial independence. Our mission is to provide accurate, uncensored news and information to people living in countries hostile to a free press. We broadcast in nine languages and dialects — Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan, Uyghur, Burmese, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, and Korean — reaching audiences across China, North Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and beyond via shortwave, satellite, and the internet. Our journalists work in some of the world’s most difficult media environments, often at considerable personal risk, filling a critical gap in access to truthful, timely news for millions of people who would otherwise have very little of it. That reality shapes everything about how we work and who we hire to lead this organization. Job Summary Reporting to the Executive Editor, the Managing Editor for East Asia is a senior editorial leadership role with full accountability for the performance, editorial standards, and programming output of five language divisions: Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur, and Korean. The Managing Editor exercises direct authority over personnel, content, and operations across all five divisions, delegating day-to-day editorial supervision to Directors of News Content and Senior Editors while retaining ultimate responsibility for each team's output. The role carries budget authority across all teams and, as a senior member of the Editorial Management team, is responsible for translating the Executive Editor's strategy into editorial and programming reality across the East Asia region. Success in this role requires the capacity to lead at scale — setting editorial direction, making high-stakes independent decisions, and driving long-range strategy — while remaining close enough to daily operations to identify and address performance issues before they compound. The Managing Editor is expected to hold News Content Directors and Senior Editors to clear standards, sustain journalistic quality under pressure, and ensure that RFA's audiences in restrictive environments across Asia receive accurate, independent, and timely news across platforms. Candidates must bring substantial prior experience managing at scale, ideally across multiple news units, either across multiple language services simultaneously, across geographically dispersed news operations, or both.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Media Studies, Communications or related field, or equivalent experience; Strong preference for Masters degree in same.
Minimum 15 years of progressive experience within a professional news organization, with at least 10 years management experience in journalism; preference given for experience overseeing multiple, simultaneous teams across distinct coverage areas, languages or platforms, with direct accountability for budget authority, resource allocation and performance outcomes across each unit.
Demonstrated professional experience reporting on, editing or managing coverage of East Asia, with direct knowledge of the political, cultural and media landscape across the regions served by RFA's five language divisions. Candidates without direct professional or lived experience in one of the five regions will not be considered.
First hand cultural fluency across the East Asia regions, reflecting genuine familiarity with the distinct political, social, and cultural contexts that shape journalism in each area. This may be evidenced through personal or professional ties to the region, experience managing journalists native to it, or a sustained career engagement with its communities and complexities.
Proven track record of resolving complex personnel, operational and resource challenges across a large, diverse workforce, including experience managing unionized staff, international contractors or journalists operating in high-risk environments.
Documented experience exercising independent editorial and ethical judgment on complex, high-pressure decisions — including legally sensitive content, coverage of restricted environments, or significant audience-facing calls — where the candidate can speak concretely to the decisions made, the process followed, and the outcome.
Exceptional writing and editing skills, at a level that confers credibility with experienced journalists, underpins sound editorial judgment across five language divisions, and enables the Managing Editor to lead by example, not just by title.
Strong communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of working with and managing diverse teams.
Willingness to travel overseas as needed.
Willingness to work outside regular office hours when required.

Nice To Haves

Editorial Agility: Demonstrated ability to make rapid, confident editorial pivots under pressure — with specific examples where speed of judgment materially changed the reach or impact of a story.
Cross-Divisional Editorial Vision: Proven track record of identifying stories, formats, or assets with multi-team potential and driving their execution across more than one division, platform, or language service.
Bilingualism : English and one other language within RFA’s coverage areas. ( Proficiency in one or more of the five languages — Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur, or Korean — is strongly preferred )
AI Aptitude: Working knowledge of AI tools as applied to journalism and content production, including demonstrated curiosity about emerging applications, a commitment to staying current, and the judgment to evaluate when and how AI can enhance editorial output responsibly.
Multiplatform Journalism Experience across Audio, Video, and Text — with a practical understanding of how content performs differently across formats and platforms, and the ability to lead teams in producing for all three.
Newsroom Culture Builder: Brings the self-awareness, warmth, and humor to foster a progressive, collaborative newsroom culture, creating an environment where diverse teams feel seen, motivated, and proud of the work.
Change Leadership: Proven ability to bring teams through significant organizational or editorial transformation, building buy-in across culturally diverse groups, maintaining momentum under resistance, and translating strategic shifts into operational reality without losing the confidence of the people being led.
Resilient Leadership: Absorbs pressure, adapts to rapidly changing circumstances, and maintains composure and decisiveness under sustained deadline stress, modeling the steadiness that high-performing teams depend on.
Leadership Presence : Commands respect through expertise and consistency rather than hierarchy, direct and decisive without being rigid, and tactful enough to lead across cultures without alienating any of them.

Responsibilities

Hold direct editorial authority for high impact journalism over the five East Asia language services, setting standards for content quality across Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur and Korean programming and holding Directors of News Content and Senior Editors accountable for day-to-day execution
Responsible for transforming how East Asia content is produced, shared, and amplified, moving five language teams from parallel operation to active collaboration. The Managing Editor is expected to identify, in real time, when a story, clip, or asset produced by one language team has reached potential across other teams, and to drive its timely repurposing without waiting to be prompted. In partnership with the three other Managing Editors, extends this approach across the full range of RFA language services, ensuring that high-impact journalism finds the broadest possible audience, in as many languages as possible, as quickly as possible.
Shares collective responsibility with the three other Managing Editors for the editorial standards and programming quality of RFA as a whole — not only within East Asia. Working in close partnership with the Senior Editor for Standards and Training, the Managing Editor is expected to continuously assess the quality of output across the East Asia divisions, identify patterns of editorial weakness before they become systemic, and ensure that the right personnel are targeted for training and development. This is a proactive standard-setting function, not a reactive one.
Serve as a first point of escalation for complex legal and ethical issues within the East Asia editorial teams, coordinating with RFA's legal counsel and human resources to ensure matters are addressed in accordance with RFA's rigorous ethical standards.
Translates the Executive Editor's strategy and RFA's core mandate into a clear, actionable editorial vision for the East Asia language teams— establishing concrete programming priorities that Directors of News Content, journalists, and content producers can execute against — while inspiring, championing and mentoring editorial staff at all levels to understand, embrace and deliver against that vision.
Cultivates a high-performing, collaborative editorial culture across five culturally and linguistically distinct teams — modeling editorial excellence, providing substantive mentorship to Directors of News Content and senior editorial staff, and creating the conditions in which journalists across the East Asia divisions can do their best work.
Treats journalist safety as a non-negotiable editorial priority, partnering with the Executive Editor and Director of Journalist Safety, and when needed Legal Counsel, to assess risk on sensitive content and assignments.
Exercises sound judgment and absolute discretion in handling confidential and sensitive matters, including personnel, editorial, and institutional issues, with the composure and diplomacy expected of a senior leader operating at organizational level
Champions RFA's highest journalistic standards across all editorial decisions while driving a platform-spanning programming and content strategy — grounded in audience insight and data — that measurably expands RFA's reach and impact.
Hold full budget authority for the East Asia language services, overseeing resource allocation across content production, personnel and operational needs, and ensuring funds are managed responsibly and in alignment with organizational priorities
Work with Technical Operations, Finance, Human Resources and Legal, address and manage operational issues related to the East Asia coverage regions, as well as staff, contractors and stringers within the assigned language teams.
Serve as the senior operational point of contact for Technical Operations, Finance, Human Resources and Legal on all matters affecting the East Asia language services, including issues related to staff, contractors and stringers, and ensuring timely resolution of operational challenges across all five divisions.
Liaise with Technical Operations to ensure there is technical support for the assigned editorial teams to adapt to emerging technologies and publish content in the most efficient manner.
Manage or delegate editorial hiring within the Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur and Korean content teams, making equitable decisions based on skills and qualifications of the candidate and needs of the organization.
Lead the development and execution of long-range, multi-platform programming strategy for the East Asia language teams working in close coordination with News Content Directors for Mandarin, Tibetan, Cantonese, Uyghur and Korean divisions to set coverage priorities, allocate resources strategically, and position RFA as the authoritative news source for audiences across the region — in alignment with the broader organizational strategy set by the Executive Editor.
Stay current on all political, cultural, economic and social development across Asia, but particularly on East Asia, to inform programming decisions.
Translate big ideas into action and innovation, with the overall strategy of positioning RFA as a respected and reliable news organization within a media landscape proliferated by misinformation and fast-evolving technology.
Represent the President of RFA and/or the Executive Editor when communicating with key stakeholders and other news organizations or adjacent journalism entities.
Represent RFA at internal and external events, which may include speaking engagements.
Fill-in for the Executive Editor when assigned.