Managing Editor

Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 127,000 - 134,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K match

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Flexible working hours and locations

Job summary

The War Horse is seeking a highly collaborative Managing Editor to shape editorial strategy, manage the editorial team, and collaborate with reporters, editors, and partners. The role emphasizes accountability, impact, and journalistic integrity while expanding the newsroom’s reach and influence.

The successful candidate will oversee resources, mentor staff, and guide complex investigative and feature storytelling from concept to publication, ensuring ethical standards and high-quality reporting.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of management experience in a news organization or newsroom.
• Proven track record leading high-level investigative projects.
• Collaboration-first approach to unite journalists inside and outside the organization.

Responsibilities

• Set and oversee ambitious editorial priorities and resources.
• Plan and edit investigative and feature stories across short and long term cycles.
• Identify topics, assignments, and coverage gaps with processes for accuracy and ethics.

Skills

Editorial leadership

Mentorship

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Editing across formats

Tools

Fact-checking

Budget & project management

Job description

The War Horse strengthens our democracy by holding the powerful accountable and improving the public's understanding of the true cost of military service. We publish hard-hitting investigations, vivid features, and first-person reflections that have a lasting positive impact on service members, their families, and the public.

We are seeking a highly collaborative Managing Editor to build upon our decade of impact. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker and creative problem-solver who will manage and grow our editorial team, working with reporters, editors, and partner organizations to publish untold stories that explore the biggest issues facing the military and veteran communities.

Responsibilities

Editorial Strategy, Impact, and Management

Set and oversee ambitious editorial priorities, and departmental resourcing in alignment with TWH's mission and financial sustainability

Plan and edit short- and long-term investigative and feature stories at a regular cadence that influence local and national conversations about military service

Identify and assign priority topics, beats, and coverage gaps, ensuring the necessary processes and resources are readily available for staff while ensuring accuracy, ethical standards, and journalistic integrity

Oversee editorial resources (i.e. budget, travel, freelance assignments, etc.) and cross-team project management to facilitate story publication, ranging from evaluating pitches to facilitating story production through fact-checking to legal review to layout design

Network and Resource Building (Reporters and Partners)

Grow and oversee a network of regular contributors that will increase the breadth and depth of the topics we publish

Foster syndications as well as one-time and recurring partnerships with newsrooms and academic programs, both local and national, that expand our stories’ reach, maximize brand exposure, and help educate civilians about the military

Proactively work in close collaboration with development and operations staff to ensure complementary stakeholder engagement efforts

Product Design and Audience Engagement

Monitor, evaluate, and communicate editorial impact with internal and external stakeholders, using data and analytics to guide decision-making (e.g., through board meetings, impact reports, grant reports)

Solicit and integrate target audience data/feedback to ensure content is relevant to, easily accessible to, and reflective of our community’s needs and diverse voices and experiences

Oversee the management and upkeep of all external-facing editorial products, platforms, and communications (e.g., website, newsletters, social media, branding) through interdepartmental collaboration

Partner with journalism and other organizations to design products and curate public engagements that support the long-term strategic growth of the newsroom, and expand our audience

Mentorship and Story Editing

Lead the professional development of our newsroom's audience engagement and reflections editors, three staff reporters, freelancers, and contracted fact-checkers and copy editors

Routinely coach and mentor reporters, and coordinate quarterly online training sessions that hone their journalistic skills and deepen their knowledge of military coverage

Lead strategic planning to migrate the position from an editing-intensive role, to focusing on strategy and oversight of a growing newsroom, expanding editorial staff and resources in line with short and long-term strategic goals

Qualifications

A minimum of five years of management experience for a news organization and an established record of leading high-level, innovative investigative projects

A collaboration-first approach that unites journalists within and from outside the organization to elevate the quality, creativity, and impact of our reporting

Strong mentorship and communication skills that facilitate clear assignments, detailed processes, and straightforward work routines

Strong editing skills across versatile platforms - from news sites to newsletters to narrative storytelling to social media, and a vision for fostering new ideas, untangling thickets, and setting and upholding expectations

Past experience in military or military journalism preferred, but not required.

Leadership in nonprofit news organizations a plus

Salary & Benefits

This is a full-time, salaried, remote position. Compensation is between $127,000 to $134,000 per year, along with a growing benefits package, including but not limited to: flexible working hours and locations; 401K match; employer-subsidized medical, dental, and vision coverage; and digital privacy services.

About The War Horse

Founded in 2016 out of concern over legacy media companies' declining investment in high-quality reporting about military and veteran affairs, The War Horse has grown to become a national leadership in the military and reporting communities. Our work has created international headlines and spurred changes to multiple military and federal laws, and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, PBS NewsHour, The 19th, Texas Tribune, and local and national newsrooms across the country. We've been awarded the prestigious Edward R. Murrow and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Awards. Our donors and supporters include Fortune 100 companies, Ivy League Universities, leading foundations, philanthropists, and everyday people from around the world. Similarly, The War Horse has fostered conversations in myriad settings, ranging from local communities and high school classrooms to Columbia University and "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart.
Explore more about our impact and read our white paper with the University of Chicago, exploring how a declining military reporting ecosystem jeopardizes U.S. national security.