Senior Politics, Policy, and Ideas Editor, Vox

Vox Media; Washington, New York (District of Columbia, NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vox Media in Washington, DC or New York is seeking a Senior Politics, Policy, and Ideas Editor to lead a team delivering sharp, original political reporting and analysis. Based in NYC or DC, the editor will guide Vox’s political coverage across platforms, shaping framing and ambition, reporting to the executive editor.

This role demands strong editing, leadership, and a passion for explanatory journalism that helps readers understand what’s at stake in policy and ideas.

Qualifications

• 5 years’ experience editing
• Strong leadership and management skills
• Excellent news judgment and sharp angles
• Analytical rigor and ability to test arguments
• Passion for Vox’s explanatory journalism mission

Responsibilities

• Lead a 3–4 journalist team to plan, assign, and edit reporting-driven pieces.
• Set clear angles and editorial direction for distinctive, informed political coverage.
• Collaborate with editors across platforms to produce rich political reporting.
• Ensure rigor, strong arguments, and alignment with Vox’s strategy and audience.
• Elevate work across audio, video, and social formats.
• Coordinate with leadership to connect editorial approach to Vox's membership goals.

Skills

Leadership

Editing

News judgment

Analytical rigor

Explanatory journalism

Job description

Senior Politics, Policy, and Ideas Editor, Vox

NYC or DC

Vox is seeking an experienced editor to help oversee its distinctive coverage of American politics at a pivotal moment in the national conversation.

This editor will lead a team of journalists who explore and explain the world of policy, politics, and ideas for Vox’s wide-ranging and curious audience. Vox’s political coverage is dedicated to original reporting and analysis on issues, personalities, and movements that help people truly understand what’s at stake.

We’re looking for a dynamic, creative team member who can help Vox grow and adapt in a fast-changing political news landscape. They should be comfortable leading a diverse group of talented journalists, helping them develop and expand their audience as they cover a broad range of political issues. The editor should be eager to manage Vox’s political report with urgency and ambition. They should also be highly collaborative and excited to work across Vox’s multimedia newsroom, finding creative ways for journalists to contribute to Vox’s signature audio and video news franchises, as well as its growing portfolio of newsletters.

We’re looking for a leader who closely tracks daily news, staying on top of major storylines and nimbly finding ways for Vox to offer distinctive coverage in a busy space. Our politics editor should be dialed into intellectual currents on the right and the left, as well as the concerns of non-aligned swaths of the electorate. They should have a clear track record of guiding journalists to deliver sharp, original angles that cut through the conversation, publishing original pieces on crisp deadlines, while also creating space for longer, more ambitious articles that help shape the political conversation – and guide the team to find the emerging ideas that will shape those events tomorrow. This position will be based in Washington, D.C. or New York, and report to the executive editor.

What you'll do:

• Manage and lead a team of 3-4 reporters to conceive, assign, and edit pieces rooted in reporting and research. These include both fast analysis off the news and longer-horizon features —all driven by Vox’s commitment to explanation, solutions, new ideas, and improving people’s’ lives.
• Guide Vox’s political coverage with a clear hand and vision, staying on top of the news to find fresh angles that will lead to truly distinctive analytical, contextual, and deeply informed journalism
• Collaborate closely with Vox’s other senior politics and policy editor, as well as other Vox editors across multiple platforms to deliver a rich and compelling political report.
• Shape stories and broader coverage plans to ensure they are rigorous, compelling, and aligned with Vox’s editorial strategy and audience goals. You should be able to spot when a piece needs a sharper argument, a stronger evidence base, or a fundamentally different frame. You should also be able to see how each beat fits into Vox’s overall coverage, and identify ways to collaborate, prevent overlap, and build on our strengths.
• Find opportunities to elevate the team’s work on other platforms, including audio, video, and social video.
• Work closely with colleagues in politics, the executive editor, and the managing editor for audience and membership to ensure our editorial approach connects to Vox’s broader strategy in the membership era.

What you'll bring:

• 5 years’ experience editing
• Strong leadership, management, communication, and editing skills
• Excellent news judgment and a demonstrated ability to bring analysis and sharp angles to news stories
• Analytical rigor. We want an editor with the ability to pressure-test arguments and take opposing ones seriously. We want an editor who can confidently edit pieces that explain ideas and/or stake out intellectual claims, and who is eager to assign and edit pieces that embrace nuance and complicate narratives without sacrificing clarity.
• Passion for Vox’s mission of serving the audience and making complex concepts accessible through explanatory journalism

This an NYC or DC-based position.

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The salary range listed below represents the minimum and maximum base pay for this position at the time of this posting. Final salary offered to the candidate selected for the position will be based on factors including but not limited to the candidate's skills and experience.

Pay Range

$120,000 - $150,000 USD

OUR DEI+ COMMITMENT

Vox Media is committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can show up as their authentic selves and create their best work. We recognize that great stories, platforms, products and services come from people with all manner of backgrounds and experiences. We recognize that our commitments require ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices.

Vox Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer and qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, national origin, protected veteran status, age, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state, or local law. Vox Media will also consider all qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with applicable Fair Chance laws. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations as part of the application process to candidates with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation as part of the application process, please contact our recruiting team ([e-mail]).