US News seeks senior editor to oversee auto coverage

U.S. News & World Report is seeking an experienced, full-time Senior Editor to lead our new car editorial team for our consumer-oriented automotive site, usnews.com/cars.

This position is based in our metro-accessible, Washington, D.C. office and will be working in a brand new office suite, set up for the collaborative work environment our employees appreciate. The autos team at U.S. News & World Report is a friendly atmosphere, where individuals are encouraged to bring ideas to the table and employees are rewarded by the work they do as well as regular engagement activities.

U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of news and information that helps consumers make decisions, for example with Best Colleges, Best Hospitals and Best Cars. U.S. News Best Cars helped more than 50 million car shoppers in the past year through rankings and reviews of new and used cars.

The primary responsibilities of the senior editor will be to lead the new car editorial team, managing both projects and staff. The senior editor will also edit new car reviews that are written based on the opinions from automotive critics along with safety, reliability and cost of ownership data that have been translated into scores. The senior editor will ensure that all reviews correctly summarize reviewer opinion and meet publication standards for accuracy, style and tone. The senior editor may be occasionally called on to write reviews, features, blog posts and other content, as well as to edit or update other content not specific to used cars.

Enthusiasm about cars and the automotive market is a big help, but the best person for the job will be just as enamored with tracking down the details on minivans as they are the latest sports cars performance numbers. Most importantly, the best candidate for this job will be passionate about helping consumers navigate the used car market.

The Senior Editor, New Cars will do the following:

• Manage a team of used car research writers, including setting deadlines, hiring, career development and performance reviews
• Manage multiple long- and short-term projects at the same time
• Edit new car reviews for accuracy, flow, consistency, SEO and formatting
• As needed, write clear, objective and concise used car reviews based on scored research to help consumers, as well as other types of content
• Research monthly manufacturer car deals, enter deal information into content management system and write deal summaries
• Fact check his/her own reviews and content, as well as supporting others on the team
• Collaborate with writers on a regular basis to review edits

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of professional experience in editing
• 3+ years of experience managing both people and projects
• Expertise and prior experience using AP style
• Journalism experience/degree or technical writing background
• Experience combining and writing about quantitative and qualitative data
• Experience with cars or writing for a consumer-based audience a big plus
• Experience working with online content management systems required
• Moderate knowledge of search engine optimization best practices
• Ability to meet deadlines and be extremely detail-oriented

Please include your cover letter, resume and three clips.

To apply, go here.