Senior Editor, Editorial Review

NPR; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 130,000 - 147,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness benefits

Paid time off

Financial well-being options

Job summary

NPR is seeking a Senior Editor, Editorial Review to provide essential final editorial oversight for journalism across the Content Division. You will ensure excellence, fairness, accuracy and consistency before air or publication, adapting review as formats vary for different platforms.

The ideal candidate has extensive editorial experience in a large, mission-driven newsroom, with strong curiosity, flexibility, and collaboration skills.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of distinctive, original news reporting or editing on a national level.
• Experience editing across multiple platforms for diverse audiences.
• Excellence in editing breaking news, explanatory journalism and features.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Proven editorial decision-making experience.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects under tight deadlines.
• Commitment to data-informed understanding of the work and audiences.
• Deep understanding of NPR's values and public service mission.

Responsibilities

• Edit journalistic content for accuracy, fairness and consistency as final review before air/publication.
• Copy edit digital stories, breaking news, long-form features and multiplatform pieces for grammar and AP/NPR style.
• Determine additional editing needs based on story complexity and review status.
• Collaborate with main editors and show/platform leads for integrated content.
• Manage day-to-day workflow with guidance from editors-in-chief and managing editors.
• Coordinate with standards, practices and leadership to develop guidance on editorial matters.
• Review data from content analysts and act on findings as appropriate.

Skills

Editorial editing

Multi-platform editing

Deadline-driven

Strong communication

Editorial decision-making

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in work experience

Job description

OVERVIEW

A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility - and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide.

Across our organization, we're building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.

Intro to Position

The Senior Editor, Editorial Review is part of a critically important team at NPR committed to providing additional editing support to our journalism and our journalists; to ensure that NPR maintains and solidifies its status as a trusted source of news and information for the American public.

As part of a team, the Senior Editor will review journalistic work from across the Content Division as a final look before air or publication. The focus is on ensuring excellence, fairness, accuracy and consistency of individual work and work across platforms, recognizing that formats, story selection and story-telling techniques for different platforms will and should vary, in service of specific audiences.

The ideal candidate is an experienced journalist and editor with wide-ranging editorial experience, including expertise across different platforms and subject matter. They must be deeply curious, open-minded and flexible; be skilled at editing in a large, complex media organization where the topics and journalists vary greatly and where the deadlines and volume of content can be intense.

This editor will work a Sunday through Thursday shift, for the general hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., although some flexibility is required for breaking news.

This role is an on-site role based in Washington, DC. The editor will be required to work onsite at a frequency set by their manager. There will be some flexibility to work remotely on occasion with manager approval.

This is a union-represented role covered under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement with SAG-AFTRA.

This is an NPR editorial role covered under the terms of the NPR Ethics Handbook. All editorial staff are bound by this guidance. Editorial staff are defined as staff members who play a role in shaping the journalistic or creative direction of NPR's content, including events.

Responsibilities

• Edit journalistic content for accuracy, fairness and consistency, as a final editorial review before air or publication. The level/kind of review will vary depending on the type of work it is, for what platform and the circumstances surrounding it; for example, is this a breaking news situation or a long-term enterprise story?
• Copy edit digital news stories, breaking news, long-form features and multiplatform pieces, digital videos for grammar, general factual accuracy, as well as AP and NPR style.
• Determine what kind of additional editing may be needed for specific stories, depending on their complexity or subject matter, and depending on what kind of review has already been done by legal, standards and practices editors or others.
• Collaborate closely with the main editors for all content you’re reviewing, as well as with the show/platform leads for which this content will appear.
• With guidance from the Managing Editor or Deputy Managing Editors for Editorial Review, understand the expected content coming through for review on a day‑to‑day basis so as to effectively manage your workflow.
• Work closely with the Managing Editors for News and Planning and the newsroom Deputy Managing Editors who are managing both coverage planning and breaking news coverage so that your work is integrated with theirs, and you can effectively work as partners.
• Work closely with the Managing Editor for Standards and Practices and other leaders to develop guidance on editorial matters and best practices for the division.
• Review and understand data provided by content analysts about the division’s collective body of work and the review team’s impact on it; act on the findings as appropriate.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.

Minimum Qualifications

• At least 8 years of distinctive, original news reporting or editing experience on a national level.
• Demonstrated experience editing on multiple platforms and a familiarity with the different audience needs of individual platforms.
• Demonstrated excellence in editing breaking news, explanatory journalism and feature stories.
• Excellent communication skills and a track record of working on collaborative projects.
• Proven experience in editorial decision-making.
• Ability to handle multiple and complex projects simultaneously under stringent timeframes, with changing priorities/conditions.
• Ability to work quickly and efficiently under deadline pressure.
• Demonstrated commitment to data analysis and its use in understanding the division’s work and in service of audiences.
• Deep understanding of NPR’s core values and public service mission.
• Passion for connecting with diverse audiences on a range of platforms.
• Proven ability to consistently work well with others.
• Positive approach to embracing change.
• Well‑developed interpersonal skills, ability to get along with diverse personalities.
• Ability to respect input but ultimately be confident enough to take decisive action and take responsibility for said action.

Education Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in work experience

Work Location & Requirements

• On‑site: This is an on‑site role based in Washington, DC. The editor will be required to work onsite at a frequency set by their manager. There will be some flexibility to work remotely on occasion with manager approval.

Job Type

• This is a full‑time, exempt position.

Compensation

Salary Range: The U.S. based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $130,000-147,000 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations.

NPR Benefits: NPR offers access to comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full‑time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well‑being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long‑term disability, short‑term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees.

NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal - to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non‑conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

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