Senior Politics, Policy, and Ideas Editor

Vox is seeking an experienced editor to oversee a team of writers who explore and explain the world of policy, politics, and ideas. This editor should be comfortable leading a diverse team covering a wide range of subjects — from economics and family policy to the intellectual currents on the right and the left.

They should also be creative in thinking about opportunities for writers to appear across all Vox platforms, collaborating with other editors and the audio and video teams to make sure we're reaching all our audiences.

This position will work under the Editorial Director for Politics, Policy, and Ideas. This is not a role consumed with the coverage of breaking news: while keeping up with major storylines and nimbly brainstorming assignments is a must, we don’t do moment-to-moment news coverage. Instead of writing about, say, the latest developments in the Middle East in an incremental way, we want writers to find a sharp angle that cuts through the conversation, or a step-back explainer that gives the reader a comprehensive understanding of the region. Instead of reporting the daily back-and-forth on a bill in Congress, we want an editor to assign pieces that zoom out to the underlying problem, or offer a crisp perspective on what the fight says about the state of the American political system. 

In other words, we want distinctive angles on the day's news, something that adds value to what's already being reported in dozens of other outlets.

This editor should be comfortable and nimble when it comes to working with different formats – is an idea best suited for a brief explainer, a big-swing essay, a vertical video, a newsletter, a podcast? They’ll need to think creatively about the best way to approach major events and conversations of today, while guiding writers to find the emerging ideas that will shape those events tomorrow. 

Vox candidly shepherds audiences through politics and policy, business and pop culture, food, science, and everything else that matters.

Vox is part of Vox Media, the leading modern media company. We guide our audience from discovery to obsession. We inspire essential conversations about what’s now, what’s next, and what’s possible.

As a community of journalists and storytellers, business professionals, creators and technologists, we believe it is a moral and business imperative to amplify voices: to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and media. This applies to our candidates, our teams, our storytelling, our creative work, and our platforms, products, and partnerships.

• Conceptualize, assign, and edit pieces rooted in reporting and research, including explainers, argument-driven essays, and features
• Work with editors across the Vox newsroom to find opportunities to elevate writers’ work on other platforms, including audio, video, and social video
• Stay on top of the news, both foreign and domestic, to find the angles that will lead to truly distinctive analytical, contextual, and deeply informed journalism
• Set the broader editorial vision and daily coverage priorities for a small team of reporters
• Manage and lead a team of 3-4 writers, and collaborate with other editors on the broader policy, politics, and ideas team to pick up edits as necessary

• 5 years’ experience editing
• Strong leadership, management, and editing skills
• Analytical rigor. We want an editor with the ability to pressure-test our own writers’ arguments and steelman opposing ones. 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. 
• Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to bring analysis and sharp angles to news stories

If you think you have what it takes, but don't meet every single point in our job posting, please apply with a cover letter to let us know how you believe you can bring your unique skills to the Vox Media team or get in touch! We’ve hired chefs who became editors, DJs who became UX designers, and sommeliers who became writers.

This job is remote. We’re dedicated to the health and wellbeing of all of our employees, and when we reopen, will require everyone who works from one of our offices to be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19. Employees with approved religious or medical exemptions may be subject to additional safety requirements, such as submitting to regular COVID-19 testing and/or wearing a face covering in our offices.

This is a permanent, full-time position. This job is benefits-eligible. We pride ourselves in providing comprehensive benefits to support all of our employees wherever they are in life. You can find more information about our benefits here.

Vox Media is committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can show up as their authentic selves and create their best work. We recognize that great stories, platforms, products and services come from people with all manner of backgrounds and experiences. We recognize that our commitments require ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability, transparency and communication. Learn more about our values here, and our approach to corporate citizenship here. 

Vox Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer and qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, national origin, protected veteran status, age, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state, or local law. Vox Media will also consider all qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with applicable Fair Chance laws. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations as part of the application process to candidates with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact our People & Culture team ([email protected]).

Our recruiting team will go through applications in a timely manner. Please note that our recruiting team will only contact you from @voxmedia.com email addresses, never via text message. Read more about how our recruiting team operates, and how to protect yourself from recruitment fraud, here.