Here is a rare opportunity: an excellent job in a senior position at an institution that is the best of its kind.
National Review Online, the nation’s premier online source of political news, conservative opinion, and cultural commentary, seeks a digital managing editor to work out of its Manhattan office. This is a demanding position that will carry with it much of the responsibility for the day-to-day editing and operations and longer-term planning of a website with dozens of writers, contributors, and editors and millions of regular readers.
This is not an entry-level position, nor would it be a good fit for aspiring cable-news pundits or columnists. Instead, the digital editor will be focused on implementation of National Review’s editorial mission on the digital side. Working under the editor, the digital managing editor will participate in long-term planning (assisting with story assignments and commissioning articles, scheduling, developing the editorial calendar, etc.) and daily management, ensuring that the pace of publication on NRO and within the Corner and its other subsections remains steady and lively, that NR style and standards are adhered to from copy-editing to fact-checking, and that the voice, tone, and content of NRO is consistent with National Review’s longstanding values. We want a website that moves as quickly as Twitter and reads as well as our print magazine.
To that end, we are looking for someone with a real track record in digital operations, with a focus on adding and retaining readers, building traffic, and deploying our resources to maximum effect. Which is to say, the editor in this position will touch on many critical areas: editing and oversight, improving the user experience, building audience and engagement, and doing all that in a way that is consistent with National Review’s style, wit, and intellectual seriousness.
As noted, this is not an entry-level position, and the position comes with compensation appropriate to the caliber of journalist we wish to hire for it. The position offers a great deal of flexibility, and it requires a great deal of flexibility as well—expect long days with some nights and weekends as the news and our publishing schedule requires. The upside is a senior role at the best publication of its kind, one with a 64-year track record of journalistic excellence and intellectual leadership.
National Review enjoys great reach and resources backed by a first-rate organization, a staff of outstanding writers and editors, along with a large and impressive network of editorial contributors, subject-area experts, and sources. There is no better place to do the kind of journalism we do. National Review has to live with the same financial realities as any other digital publisher, and we manage the resources we have prudently, but this is not a profit-oriented operation. It is a mission. If you share that mission, then this is where you want to work. There are few publications that can boast of having had an equal influence on American political life.
National Review is a publication devoted to conservative thinking, with a particular style and sensibility all its own, and a successful digital managing editor will understand these and sympathize with them. But the successful candidate need not have a background in conservative media or conservative activism; we encourage those with backgrounds in newspapers and general-interest magazines, mainstream journalism and publishing, and related fields to apply. We are looking for someone with creative ideas and a well-documented history of putting them into practice. Candidates should possess a high level of competence in editing (this will be tested), a love of language, excellent news judgment, the ability to manage editors and writers and their schedules, a knowledge of the subjects and ideas important to our readers, and a great deal of energy.
Responsibilities:
• Manage production and publishing of content on the National Review website.
• Participate in the daily editorial meeting to help set priorities for the day.
• Recommend selection and order of pieces for the next day in consultation with the editor.
• Oversee all copy-editing and manage the editorial workflow. This includes assigning, editing, and proofreading work, and ensuring work schedule reflects editorial priorities.
• Ensure editing and proofing of copy is of the highest quality, providing ongoing feedback to editors and working to develop best practices. Maintain and enforce NR’s style guide.
• Oversee contributions to the Corner from entry into the content-management system to editing to final publication.
• Develop content from in-depth story ideas to suggestions for quick-turnaround blog posts. Distribute assignments to staff and contributors in consultation with the editor.
• Track and manage writer production levels.
• Monitor news throughout the day for breaking news.
• Oversee and track web analytics to monitor reader engagement, make necessary content adjustments, assure traffic goals are being met.
• Manage web editors, news editor and NYC interns.
• Help to hone our digital offering, including advancing our subscription service, NRPLUS.
Qualifications:
• At least five years of experience working in a digital journalism environment.
• Proven skills in managing numerous staff and projects, both on and off-site.
• Superior editorial judgment and editing abilities.
• Experience using social media to find and promote stories.
• Technologically apt, including familiarity with content management systems (preferably WordPress), SEO & tagging best practices, and web analytics tools.
• Understand National Review’s unique mission, its history, and its position in the world of conservative commentary, and share its aims and principles.
• Be ready to work from our Manhattan office.
Please send a concise résumé and letter to managingeditor.apps@nationalreview.com.