Senior Editor, D.C.

ProPublica; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 185,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom, seeks a senior editor in Washington to lead a team of investigative reporters covering immigration, national security, justice, and money in politics. The role focuses on guiding reporting, editing for impact, and coordinating with data, research, video, and audience teams.

The ideal candidate has at least five years editing accountability reporting, experience managing complex investigations, and strong collaboration skills.

Qualifications

• Five+ years editing accountability reporting.
• Experience leading complex investigations and supervising journalists.
• Ability to coordinate across newsroom and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Supervise a team of reporters on Washington-related investigative projects.
• Guide reporting and writing process, ensuring ambitious and high-impact storytelling.
• Edit stories to fix structure, logic, and elevate writing as needed.
• Facilitate collaboration with researchers, data visualization, audience and other teams.
• Champion accountability journalism and drive coverage across beats.

Skills

Accountability editing

Team leadership

Investigations

Collaboration

Editorial judgment

Job description

ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

ProPublica is seeking a senior editor in Washington to manage a team of investigative reporters assigned to cover immigration, national security, the justice system, and money in politics, among other subjects. We’re looking for a news leader with a track record of helping reporters navigate some of the most competitive beats in the country to produce distinctive work that lands with impact.

The ideal candidate has successfully helped conceive and execute investigative projects that uncover harmful practices and policies by powerful people, agencies, and corporations. Their edited projects take audiences inside the halls where decisions are made and on the ground where the effects of those decisions are felt. They have experience managing public records requests, planning for sensitive interviews, and filtering the mountains of material that come from monthlong investigations. They bring expertise in multiple storytelling styles, including visually‑led pieces, and a knack for honing and elevating copy. They understand and embrace ProPublica’s accountability mission and are dedicated to helping reporters grow.

This position involves juggling a variety of high‑level projects, weighing in on story selection and direction, guiding the reporting and writing process, and handling big‑picture editing and line editing, in addition to working with staffers from other ProPublica teams such as data, research, video, and audience.

The senior editor, Washington, will directly manage five reporters who cover Washington‑related beats and will report to the assistant managing editor, Washington.

What you would be doing

• Supervising a team of reporters working on revelatory, important stories and projects focused on Washington‑related beats.
• Providing support and guidance to ensure that stories and projects are conceived of and told as ambitiously and creatively as possible.
• Working with reporters to select stories with the potential for impact and coaching them to overcome reporting hurdles.
• Editing stories, including identifying and fixing structural and logical issues and elevating writing when necessary.
• Helping reporters collaborate with researchers, data visualization reporters, engagement reporters, audience and visual staffers, and story producers.
• Serving as a champion for accountability journalism.

We’re looking for someone who has

• At least five years of experience editing accountability reporting; have managed or led complex investigations and supervised a team of journalists.
• Experience reporting or editing coverage of the federal government or Washington, D.C., and an ability to move beyond the story of the day to systemic investigations at the root of the problem.
• Experience with—and an appetite for—collaborating across the newsroom and with external partners; strong communication skills are key.
• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to juggle many responsibilities, meet deadlines, and handle pressure while remaining calm.
• The editing range to think creatively about different types of investigative storytelling, including rolling investigations, traditional investigative projects, narratives, and multimedia formats.
• The bedside manner to help reporters land the most challenging work of their career.
• The ability to travel as needed for team meetings, training, and other events.

The expected salary range for this position is $185,000 to $210,000.

This job is full time and includes benefits. This role will be based in ProPublica’s Washington, D.C., office, so candidates should live within the D.C. metropolitan area or be willing to relocate. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

This is a good‑faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The final salary figure will take into account a person’s experience, accomplishment, and location. ProPublica is committed to paying its staff equitably, and these ranges should not be considered career salary limits or caps.

We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, but we will continue to consider candidates as long as the posting remains live on our site.

We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.