We’re looking for an experienced Development Editor to oversee soliciting, developing and editing new podcasts under the Serial banner.
This person will form relationships with reporters, producers and editors inside the New York Times newsroom, at This American Life (our sister producing team), and with outside organizations and individuals. They’ll focus on seeking out new voices, identify under-covered stories, and create shows that fulfill Serial’s mission to produce stories that defy convention and genre.
The Development Editor will guide the initial development process of reporting and editing, working with Serial’s editing team to hone story structure, identify characters and lines of inquiry, and assess what a story needs to move forward, or not. They may be expected to manage a team of producers to help in this process. For certain stories, they’ll stay on as an editor of a project through completion.
We’re looking for someone with experience producing and editing longform and multi episode audio stories. The right candidate will be a hands-on editor who can brainstorm story ideas, can work on multiple projects at various stages of development, can quickly assess tape and has a strong sense of story structure. They’ll be a gifted collaborator who is excited to explore and work within different editorial processes, as each story has its own unique set of circumstances. At Serial we believe there is value and editorial integrity in killing stories, changing focus, and finding inventive ways to tell a story in its best form. The Development Editor would be a person who is expert at making those determinations and guiding that process.
Responsibilities Include:
- Building and maintaining close relationships with editors and reporters to find story ideas
- Guiding editors and reporters through the development process, including training on tape gathering
- Producing interviews and field reporting during the development phase
- Possibly managing and overseeing junior producers who are working with reporters to develop stories
- Building calendars and timelines to keep the development process efficient, with clear goals
- Building story/show structures and being able to communicate those structures to the team
- Working with the Serial staff to determine how best to support a story as it moves into production
Qualifications:
- At least five years experience in audio production.
- At least three years of editing experience, including experience editing longform narrative stories.
- Sound news judgment.
- Fluency in audio editing, ideally using Pro Tools.
- Able to quickly identify problems with structure & tape.
- Communicate notes & feedback clearly and compassionately.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Well-developed and adaptive cultural competence and emotional intelligence.
- Able to uphold the existing editorial standards of The Times.
- Experience working with print-to-audio journalists preferred.
The annual base pay range for this role is between $106,000.00 and $131,000.00
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