Journo Jobs

The New York Times seeks a lead editor, baby & kid, Wirecutter

February 16, 2023

Posted by Mariam Ahmed

Wirecutter is seeking a lead editor to help manage assignments and edit product coverage in the Baby & Kid category.

As the lead editor of this section, you will assign and supervise guide rewrites and new content and work closely with freelance writers to get work completed on schedule. You will report to the senior editor heading up an editorial team that’s also focused on health and fitness coverage, and will sometimes work on content that crosses categories. Our work is highly collaborative. In addition to working closely with individual writers, you will work together with other editors to plan future coverage and rethink older work.

This role has the potential to be remote.

Responsibilities:

  • Work with senior editor to develop the strategy for the Baby & Kid section and assign projects to freelance and staff writers
  • Project manage multiple guides, blog posts, and other content with different writers; manage deadlines; plan and oversee product research and testing; review writers’ supporting documents and notes; edit and revise copy; and work closely with experienced Wirecutter editors to ensure stories are up to the editorial standards we’ve established in our hundreds of guides
  • Contribute original ideas to test planning, suggest creative reporting strategies, and challenge writers’ assumptions
  • Use data to support potential story ideas and track performance; work with our SEO team and editorial managers to plan new content
  • Write short form and occasional long-form content as necessary
  • Collaborate with and respond to queries from fact checkers, copy editors, and producers to prepare pieces for publication
  • Work with our community team to respond to reader feedback and questions; work with our affiliate team to resolve stock issues on recommendations; work with our operations team on product orders and testing plans; work with our photo editors to coordinate photography plans
  • Perform related work as assigned

Qualifications:

  • 5+ years of experience working at a media company with at least two years of experience editing and working directly with freelance writers
  • Strong knowledge of the category, with the ability to discern what’s essential and what’s unnecessary; skepticism of marketing claims
  • Ability to work collaboratively and patiently through multiple rounds of edits and balance the demands of multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously
  • Excellent communication and task management skills. Ability to work efficiently in a remote work environment via Slack and Zoom calls, with a distributed team that works remotely across many time zones
  • Experience creating product test plans, collaborating with an art director and/or photo editor to present content visually, and expressing complex ideas using visualizations such as charts, graphs, or infographics is advantageous as well
  • Experience with SEO (from an editorial perspective, not the technical aspects of optimization) is a plus, as is a sense of how to use web analytics data to make editorial decisions
  • Empathy for the frustrated or confused reader. We are not writing only for the experienced enthusiast, but for everyone who cares about spending their money wisely and buying the right thing the first time.
  • While we have an office in Long Island City, New York, we are primarily a remote company. A history of working remotely, or with remote colleagues, is a plus.

Please Include:

  • A cover letter explaining your relevant experience and mentioning a few of your favorite items of baby/kid gear (either ones you own or ones you’d like to).
  • Résumé/CV
  • A short writing sample (500 words max.) that explains a purchase you’ve made—what you bought, how you reached your decision, and what regrets you have, if any.

The annual base pay range for this role is between $76,500.00 and $95,000.00.

For more details click here.

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