Senior Politics, Policy, and Ideas Editor, Vox

THE ROLE

Vox is seeking an experienced editor to help oversee its distinctive coverage of American politics at a pivotal moment in the national conversation.

This editor will lead a team of journalists who explore and explain the world of policy, politics, and ideas for Vox’s wide-ranging and curious audience. Vox’s political coverage is dedicated to original reporting and analysis on issues, personalities, and movements that help people truly understand what’s at stake.

We’re looking for a dynamic, creative team member who can help Vox grow and adapt in a fast-changing political news landscape. They should be comfortable leading a diverse group of talented journalists, helping them develop and expand their audience as they cover a broad range of political issues. The editor should be eager to manage Vox’s political report with urgency and ambition. They should also be highly collaborative and excited to work across Vox’s multimedia newsroom, finding creative ways for journalists to contribute to Vox’s signature audio and video news franchises, as well as its growing portfolio of newsletters. 

We’re looking for a leader who closely tracks daily news, staying on top of major storylines and nimbly finding ways for Vox to offer distinctive coverage in a busy space. Our politics editor should be dialed into intellectual currents on the right and the left, as well as the concerns of non-aligned swaths of the electorate. They should have a clear track record of guiding journalists to deliver sharp, original angles that cut through the conversation, publishing original pieces on crisp deadlines, while also creating space for longer, more ambitious articles that help shape the political conversation – and guide the team to find the emerging ideas that will shape those events tomorrow.

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.

This role will be based in either our Washington, D.C. or New York office, and report to the executive editor. 

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Manage and lead a team of 3-4 reporters to conceive, assign, and edit pieces rooted in reporting and research. These include both fast analysis off the news and longer-horizon features — all driven by Vox’s commitment to explanation, solutions, new ideas, and improving people’s’ lives.
• Guide Vox’s political coverage with a clear hand and vision, staying on top of the news to find fresh angles that will lead to truly distinctive analytical, contextual, and deeply informed journalism
• Collaborate closely with Vox’s other senior politics and policy editor, as well as other Vox editors across multiple platforms to deliver a rich and compelling political report.
• Shape stories and broader coverage plans to ensure they are rigorous, compelling, and aligned with Vox’s editorial strategy and audience goals. You should be able to spot when a piece needs a sharper argument, a stronger evidence base, or a fundamentally different frame. You should also be able to see how each beat fits into Vox’s overall coverage, and identify ways to collaborate, prevent overlap, and build on our strengths.
• Find opportunities to elevate the team’s work on other platforms, including audio, video, and social video.
• Work closely with colleagues in politics, the executive editor, and the managing editor for audience and membership to ensure our editorial approach connects to Vox’s broader strategy in the membership era.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• 5 years’ experience editing
• Strong leadership, management, communication, and editing skills
• Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to bring analysis and sharp angles to news stories
• Analytical rigor. We want an editor with the ability to pressure-test arguments and take opposing ones seriously. 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. 
• Passion for Vox’s mission of serving the audience and making complex concepts accessible through explanatory journalism