Senior Editor, Vox

Vox Media Group•Washington, DC

32d•$120,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Vox is seeking an experienced editor to help oversee its distinctive coverage of policy in a changing America. This editor will lead a team of multiplatform journalists who explore and explain the world of policy and ideas for Vox’s wide-ranging and curious audience, in a variety of formats including text, podcasts, and video. Vox’s coverage is dedicated to original reporting and analysis on issues, personalities, and movements that help people truly understand what’s at stake. We cover policy with a strong grounding in the news, but an eye toward the future and delivering smart solutions. We’re looking for a dynamic, creative team member who can help Vox grow and adapt in a fast-changing political news landscape – and a pivotal moment in the national conversation. The editor should be eager to manage Vox’s coverage with urgency and ambition. They should also be highly collaborative and excited to work across Vox’s multimedia newsroom, finding creative ways for journalists to contribute to Vox’s signature podcast and video franchises, as well as its growing portfolio of newsletters. We’re looking for a leader who closely tracks the news, staying on top of major storylines and nimbly finding ways for Vox to offer distinctive coverage in a busy space. This editor should be able to find smart, original ways into major storylines — and guide reporters to uncovering fresh issues to bring to public attention. They should have a gift for finding points of intersection between American political currents and big-picture areas like technology, religion, and social policy. The ideal candidate should have a clear track record of managing journalists to deliver sharp, original angles that cut through the conversation, publishing original pieces on crisp deadlines, while also creating space for longer, more ambitious articles that help shape the public conversation.

Requirements

5 years’ experience editing
Strong leadership, management, communication, and editing skills
Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to bring analysis and sharp angles to news stories
Analytical rigor. We want an editor with the ability to pressure-test arguments and take opposing ones seriously. We want an editor who can confidently edit pieces that explain ideas and/or stake out intellectual claims, and who is eager to assign and edit pieces that embrace nuance and complicate narratives without sacrificing clarity.
Passion for Vox’s mission of serving the audience and making complex concepts accessible through explanatory journalism

Nice To Haves

While experience with audio and video production is not necessary, the candidate should have an understanding of the politics and policy podcast and video landscape

Responsibilities

Manage and lead a team of 4-5 reporters to conceive, assign, and edit pieces rooted in reporting and research. These include both fast analysis off the news and longer-horizon features — all driven by Vox’s commitment to explanation, solutions, new ideas, and improving people’s’ lives.
Guide Vox’s coverage of big policy topics with a clear hand and vision, staying on top of the news to find fresh angles
Collaborate closely with Vox’s editorial director for politics, as well as other Vox editors across multiple platforms, to deliver a rich and compelling political report.
Shape stories and broader coverage plans to ensure they are rigorous, compelling, and aligned with Vox’s editorial strategy and audience goals. You should be able to spot when a piece needs a sharper argument, a stronger evidence base, or a fundamentally different frame. You should also be able to see how each beat fits into Vox’s overall coverage, and identify ways to collaborate, prevent overlap, and build on our strengths.
Collaborate with other teams across the newsroom to help develop and sharpen your reporters’ stories in other platforms, including audio, video, and social video.
Work closely with colleagues in policy and politics, the executive editor, and the managing editor for audience and membership to ensure our editorial approach connects to Vox’s broader strategy in the membership era.