Editorial Manager

theGrio; New York (NY); On-site; USD 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work (US-based)

Job summary

theGrio is seeking an Editorial Manager to run theday-to-day of thegrio.com, line-edit breaking politics, and own the publishing schedule in a voice that reflects theGrio’s audience.

This player-coach role combines editing, strategy, and managing staff writers and freelancers with a focus on accuracy, analytics, and responsible AI use in a remote, U.S.-based capacity.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in digital editorial with leadership and editing responsibilities.
• Demonstrated excellence in line-editing, clarity, rhythm and copy-editing.
• Deep fluency in Black culture, politics and media as it relates to theGrio’s audience.
• Working knowledge of WordPress and publishing workflows; SEO and analytics mindset.
• Hands-on comfort with AI production tools and strong news judgment under deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Own the daily publishing operation for thegrio.com and manage daily/monthly news priorities.
• Edit for theGrio’s voice, supervise staff writers and freelancers, and ensure accuracy.
• Lead editorial meetings, pitch ideas, greenlight stories, and manage freelance budgets.
• Plan editorial calendar and coordinate with social, newsletters, and commerce teams.
• Use analytics to improve traffic, readership, and revenue metrics; oversee AI-assisted workflows.

Skills

Editorial leadership

Line editing

Copy editing

SEO analytics

WordPress

AI in editorial

Deadline pressure

Tools

WordPress

Monday.com

Slack

Job description

We’re looking for an Editorial Manager to run the day-to-day of thegrio.com; someone who spends real time in the copy and also owns the systems around publishing it.

This is a player-coach job. On any given day, you’ll line-edit a breaking politics story, decide which pitches to greenlight, rebuild tomorrow’s publishing schedule around a news break, check what’s performing in the analytics, and reset the plan accordingly. You are the person who ensures the site publishes the right stories at the right time in theGrio’s voice and plans next month’s content strategy.

You are comfortable with AI-based production tools, but remain clear-eyed about their limits. We use them to move faster on the mechanical parts of the job, and we do not use them as a substitute for reporting, judgment, or a human byline. Every published word goes through a human editor. That editor is often you.

What You’ll Do

Daily editorial management

• Own the daily publishing operation for thegrio.com.
• Run the daily and monthly news meeting and set priorities across news, politics, entertainment, lifestyle and business.
• Serve as the editorial point of contact for staff writers, contributors and freelancers.
• Make the call on breaking news: what we chase, what we aggregate, what we skip, and how fast we move.
• Hold the line on accuracy, sourcing, fairness and corrections; accelerate legal or sensitivity questions early.

Editing

• Line-edit and structurally edit across formats like short news hits, features, essays, explainers and video-adjacent copy.
• Edit for theGrio’s voice: culturally fluent, direct, and written for our audience rather than about them.
• Write and rewrite headlines, decks, and inform social copy that hold up both in search and in front of a human.
• Copy-edit to house style, maintain and update the style guide, and enforce it consistently.
• Coach writers with specific, actionable feedback to help them become stronger writers next time, not just a fixed draft.

Story development and greenlighting

• Evaluate incoming pitches and greenlight the ones with the clearest audience case; quickly kill or reshape the rest with a clear reason.
• Generate original story ideas from the news cycle, cultural moments, search and social demand, and audience data.
• Commission and manage freelance assignments.
• Build the mix deliberately: breaking coverage, service, and evergreen content, originals worth the investment, and franchise/tentpole coverage.

Editorial calendar and planning

• Own the editorial calendar end to end; daily, weekly and long-lead.
• Plan tentpole and moment-driven coverage (elections, awards season, Black History Month, HBCU homecomings, cultural anniversaries, major sports and music moments) far enough ahead to do them well.
• Maintain a healthy pipeline so the site is never running on same-day scramble alone.
• Coordinate with social, newsletter, audience development and commerce teams so a story lands everywhere it should.

Audience, analytics and performance

• Live in the analytics daily — Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, and our real-time tool, Chartbeat to turn what you see into traffic and interest-producing articles.
• Track the metrics that matter for the business: pageviews, engaged time, returning readers, newsletter conversion, and revenue-relevant page performance.
• Understand where traffic actually comes from (search, Google Discover, social, direct, newsletter, syndication) and how each is trending.
• Use search and trend data (Search Console, Google Trends, social listening) to inform assignments before publication, not just to grade them after.
• Run a weekly performance read for editorial leadership: what worked, what didn’t, what we’re changing next week.
• Test and iterate to make a measurable difference using headlines, images, publish timing, formats, and document what you learn so the whole team gets better.

AI-enabled production

• Use AI tools fluently in the production workflow: research and background synthesis, transcription, headline and SEO variant generation, summaries and bullets, alt text, tagging and metadata, style checks, and first-pass structural feedback.
• Build repeatable AI-assisted workflows for editorial with prompts, templates and checks the team can use and be able to train writers and editors on them.
• Apply clear guardrails, consistent with newsroom practice at outlets such as the BBC, Reuters and The Guardian: nothing AI-assisted publishes without human review and approval; AI output is verified before it’s trusted; AI does not generate reporting, quotes, or sourcing.
• Help shape and enforce theGrio’s AI usage and disclosure standards and keep them current as tools change.
• Track new tools and make the case for the ones that would meaningfully improve speed or quality.
• Work closely with the Chief Content Officer and editorial leadership on coverage strategy and priorities.
• Partner with social, newsletter, ad sales and commerce on cross-functional initiatives.
• Represent editorial standards in conversations about sponsored, branded and partner content.

What You Bring

Required

• 5+ years in digital editorial, with at least 1–2 years assigning and editing other people’s work.
• Demonstrated excellence as an editor. You can quickly restructure a messy draft, line-edit for clarity and rhythm, and copy-edit clean.
• Deep, current fluency in Black culture, politics and media, and a real understanding of theGrio’s audience.
• Fluency with WordPress and digital publishing workflow tools such as Monday.com and Slack.
• Working command of SEO fundamentals and audience analytics. You can read GA4 or Chartbeat and say what to do differently tomorrow.
• Hands-on comfort with AI production tools and sound judgment about when not to use them.
• Sound news judgment under deadline pressure, and the composure to make fast calls and own them.
• Strong embody organizational discipline. You can hold a calendar, a freelance budget and six moving stories at once.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; the ability to give direct feedback kindly and effectively.

Preferred

• Experience at a national digital news or culture brand.
• Experience managing freelance networks and contributor budgets.
• Familiarity with social media production and distribution as well as video workflows.
• Experience building or documenting editorial process like style guides, standards, AI policy, workflow docs.
• Background in one or more of theGrio’s core verticals: politics, entertainment, business, lifestyle, sports.
• Passion for Black media and culture; deep understanding of theGrio’s mission and role of Black media in American history.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary range: $85,000-$100,000 commensurate with experience.

Benefits include [medical, dental and vision coverage; 401(k); paid time off and holidays; parental leave]. This is a remote, U.S.-based role; occasional travel for team gatherings and coverage may be required in New York City and D.C.