Civil Eats, the award-winning, nonprofit news organization, seeks an experienced editorial director to join its hard-working team. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing our editorial team, overseeing the production and distribution of all editorial content, and leading Civil Eats’ newsroom.
The right person for this role cares deeply about food and agriculture policy, social justice, and environmental issues, is interested in news and trends on these subjects, and has a passion for storytelling and elevating underreported stories. They are a sharp and engaging writer and seasoned editor who enjoys helping reporters shape their stories and hone their craft, and enjoys working remotely with a small, dedicated team. This position is exempt.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Serves as a key member of the executive leadership team of Civil Eats and works closely with the executive director and strategy and operations director.
- From assigning stories to fielding pitches, shape Civil Eats’ editorial strategy while working with a talented team of editors, staff reporters, and freelance contributors.
- Lead the development and execution of news and editorial content, including overseeing the production and distribution of reporting, analyses, and op-eds.
- Offer hands-on structural and line editing, and work with the editorial team to put the finishing touches on stories with headlines, art, and social media.
- Oversee a team of three editors, who oversee two staff reporters and one fellow. Work with and help to oversee a stable of two dozen regular freelancers and other individual contributors.
- Develop team members’ skills and knowledge and regularly provide feedback to help them develop their professional skills.
- Develop workflows that enable writers, freelancers, and editors to work efficiently and effectively.
- Develop a broad, outstanding network of freelance writers, editors, videographers, photographers, designers, illustrators, and editorial contributors.
- Monitor industry trends and news to identify relevant topics for reporting.
- Build and maintain relationships with experts and thought leaders to ensure Civil Eats content is leading the conversation.
- Act as the public face of our editorial team; represent Civil Eats as a guest, interviewee, spokesperson, moderator, and expert.
- Possess excellent communication and presentation skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to effectively collaborate across the organization.
- Develop and interact regularly with a strong, trusting, extremely devoted community of readers and members.
- Contribute as an author, expert, and facilitator.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Demonstrated strength as a writer and editor in a food, agriculture, and/or environmental journalism setting, ideally with at least 10 years’ experience in journalism, editing, or publishing.
- Experience leading a mixed team of internal editors/writers and freelance contributors on a fully remote, national basis.
- Strong judgment and experience developing food, agriculture, and/or environmental content and coverage that builds an engaged and loyal audience of readers.
- Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines with strong attention to detail.
- Experience creating a positive work environment that encourages teamwork and collaboration in a remote environment is essential.
- Demonstrated vision and creativity for developing new editorial ideas as well as improving existing editorial content to grow readership and engagement.
- Four-year degree from an accredited college or university, or equivalent experience.
- Ability and willingness to work on deadlines and handle multiple tasks at once with a precise and detail-oriented approach.
- Knowledge of digital content best practices, SEO, and audience development tactics.
- Excellent communication, organization, leadership, and time management skills; collaborative and team-oriented spirit.
SALARY: This 40-hr/week position starts at $120,000.
LOCATION:
Civil Eats operates a virtual newsroom, with the senior management team based on the West Coast. This position can be located anywhere in the U.S.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
All applications must be accompanied by a cover letter, CV, and writing sample. Cover letters should be responsive to the mission of Civil Eats.
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