Assistant Editor or Editor, Central Desk

Newsletter Jobs; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 78,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

POLITICO in Arlington, VA seeks two sharper editors for its Central Editing Desk, joining the newsroom’s general-assignment editing team. Assistant Editor or Editor levels offer opportunities to edit daily content and deploy to teams during major events, expanding expertise across coverage areas.

The role supports a fast-moving newsroom across multiple beats. The desk runs 7 days a week, with hours generally in the afternoon/evening and potential weekend work.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated editing ability across beats and platforms.
• Strong news judgment and commitment to nonpartisan journalism.
• Excellent organization and communication skills in a fast-paced newsroom.
• Flexible to work varying shifts and deploy to teams as needed.
• Experience with digital publishing and CMS.
• Working knowledge of AP Style.

Responsibilities

• Edit a wide range of content for consumer and Pro audiences.
• Edit articles in CMS for accuracy and clarity; fact-check and copy-edit.
• Optimize content for digital platforms and assist with headlines.
• Collaborate with reporters, editors and multimedia teams for publishing.
• Deploy flexibly to teams during breaking news and major events.

Skills

Editing

News judgment

Organization

AP Style

Communication

Flexibility

Digital publishing

Tools

Content Management System

Job description

Job Description

POLITICO is seeking two (2) sharp and energetic editors to join its Central Editing Desk, the newsroom’s general-assignment editing team. Central editors support a daily flow of stories through editing and publication while also deploying to individual teams during major news events or to fill temporary staffing needs. This is an opportunity to develop an expansive view of POLITICO’s journalism while also building expertise in particular coverage areas. You will touch some of our most impactful work and collaborate with journalists throughout our fast-moving newsroom.

We are hiring at the Assistant Editor or Editor level. Both levels contribute to the desk’s daily editing workflow.

The level will depend on a candidate’s editing experience, judgment and ability to work independently across teams. Assistant Editors primarily support the daily second-editing workflow as they build their editing skills. Editors are expected to take on more complex assignments, provide editing support to other teams as needs arise, and mentor junior editors.

The desk is staffed 7 days per week, 6 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, with hours subject to change. Regular hours for this role may be in the afternoon and evening and may include a weekend day. We're looking for candidates who can work from one of our offices: Arlington, VA, New York, NY or Sacramento, CA.

Who You Are

• You are curious about the full breadth of POLITICO’s news coverage and want to work across beats, products and platforms
• You are already an editor, or a reporter or producer who has developed strong editing skills and is eager to make editing a larger part of your career
• You enjoy moving between the big picture and the details that make an individual story stronger
• You can quickly learn the priorities and working styles of different teams while developing deeper expertise in particular coverage areas
• You find satisfaction in helping a newsroom respond effectively when priorities change or coverage intensifies

What You’ll Do

• Edit a wide range of content for POLITICO’s consumer and Pro subscriber audiences, including breaking news stories, live blogs, quick-turn enterprise pieces, daily newsletters and long‑form deep dives across all our digital platforms, applying consistent high standards while understanding the needs of each platform
• Edit articles in our content management system for accuracy and clarity, as well as fact‑check and copy edit, ensuring articles adhere to POLITICO standards and style
• Optimize content for digital platforms and search, review choice of photos and other multimedia, and assist in writing and reviewing headlines, decks and photo captions
• Collaborate with reporters, editors and multimedia teams to ensure smooth and speedy publishing
• Deploy flexibly to teams that need additional editing capacity because of breaking news, major events, special projects or temporary staffing gaps

What You’ll Need

• Demonstrated editing ability, whether developed in a formal editing role or through substantial experience editing colleagues’ work, producing coverage, shaping stories or collaborating closely on publication
• Strong news judgment and a rigorous commitment to fair‑minded, nonpartisan journalism
• Excellent organization and communication skills and an ability to quickly adapt to changing priorities and juggle multiple tasks in a fast‑paced newsroom
• Flexibility to work varying shifts and support different projects and teams, depending on need
• Experience in digital publishing and content management systems
• Working knowledge of AP Style

Compensation

Assistant Editor: $78,000-$85,000 Annual Base.

Editor: $85,000-$100,000 Annual Base.

The final salary offered will be based on factors including relevant experience, skills, and qualifications.

About Us

POLITICO illuminates the forces shaping global power. Since 2007, we have delivered intelligence that anticipates tomorrow's headlines, not reports on yesterday's news. As politics has increasingly become the defining force of our era, our work has never been more vital.

Cabinet secretaries and Ministers start their mornings with our analysis. CEOs shape strategy around our reporting. Advocacy leaders rely on our insights to move policy. We deliver the straightforward facts and clear‑eyed analysis they need to navigate the most complex political landscape of our lifetimes.

Our 1,100+ publishing professionals across the world's key democratic capitals—Washington, Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, Sacramento, and New York—form the world's premier politics and policy newsroom. We tell the story of how power really works by explaining who wields it and how they plan to exercise it, connecting dots others miss and delivering scoops from sources others don't even know exist.

Innovation has always been a core tenet of our story. At launch, we bet that depth would trump scale, that talent would trump traffic, and that politics would become central to modern life. In 2011, we made another bet and launched POLITICO Pro to help decision‑makers understand the business of government, transforming both how they shape government action and the business of journalism itself.

These bets have made POLITICO the most successful digital news startup of its generation and the indispensable resource for leaders who shape the future. Today, we are a rarity in media: a growing, profitable, and sustainable news organization.

POLITICO is a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE, a family‑owned transatlantic media company headquartered in Berlin and New York. Axel Springer is dedicated to shaping the future of journalism in the free world, believing that a free and informed society is essential to democracy. Learn more about Axel Springer.