Senior Editor

The person hired for this senior-level position will play a key role in shaping The Counter’s groundbreaking coverage—reporting that has received numerous awards and honors, including a James Beard Media Award, and has twice been selected to appear in The Best American Food Writing. We were named one of the four best “micro-newsrooms” in the country by the Online News Association in 2018.

The Counter offers opportunities for professional development in an informal, collaborative, and intellectually inspiring nonprofit newsroom culture, as well as the rare chance to write and report for clarity, not clicks. This is a full-time, salaried staff position with benefits. We are fully remote and welcome applicants from across the country.

Want to apply? We want you to! 

Please: 

• Be invested in The Counter’s distinctive brand of deeply reported storytelling, with a strong grasp of our role in the broader world of food media, and the enthusiasm to match our ambitious growth plans. 
• Feel confident assigning and editing a full range of stories to freelancers and staff writers—long-lead features, reported articles, breaking news, and pieces that provide context on the newsworthy events in our beat.
• Be a natural storyteller and fiercely attentive editor—someone who’s as comfortable with precise, line-level details as they are with broader narrative decisions.
• See opportunity where structure is absent. The ideal candidate will be able to develop and implement new processes when needed, while working diligently and efficiently with a remote team across three time zones.
• Come with a robust network of reporters, illustrators, photographers, and designers you’re eager to tap for freelance work. But know how to spot new talent when you see it, and thrive on giving it wings.
• Thrive within an environment that prioritizes speed, accuracy, nuance, organization, detail, time management, communication, and deadlines.
• Demonstrate compassion and empathy both in your newsroom interactions and in the framing of stories you assign and edit.
• Be willing to interrogate your own assumptions as an editor and human being—and be able to identify implicit or explicit bias in pitches, reporting, and sourcing. 
• Be committed to growing an ever-more-inclusive newsroom, as well as expanding our coverage of topics and communities that are underrepresented in media. 
• Increasing our mentorship capacity, and being mindful of and invested in the career trajectories of junior staff.
• Collaborate with enthusiasm while moving your projects forward independently and without oversight.
• Know when to lead and when to retreat.

Though this role is primarily editorial and managerial, we’re looking for an agile, imaginative news junkie who can also write when needed. 

We welcome non-traditional backgrounds, provided they are grounded in journalism. Strong, varied editing experience with copy of all kinds is more important than deep knowledge of food and agriculture or decades spent in newsrooms (though we don’t discount that!). 

In return for your contributions, we’ll provide ample opportunity to see The Counter into the next phase of its evolution, to develop talent, to work with an award-winning team of staff writers and freelancers, and to help us make a case for what the future of food media should be. 

Also bring with you, at minimum:

• Three years in an editor role
• Impeccable news judgment
• Bomb-proof copy-editing chops
• Comfort overseeing freelancers and staff writers, including assigning, editing, and publishing stories 
• Experience responding to major events and breaking news 
• Significant background writing and editing for a digital outlet with a diverse audience
• Interest in the growing nonprofit news sector
• Desire to uphold and implement The Counter’s approach to ethics and reporting
• Ambition for growing The Counter’s output, offerings, audience, and brand
• Ability to work with producers and the audience engagement editor to bring stories to life for various audiences
• Experience overseeing some aspect of visual storytelling as required for stories you assign, from photography to graphics
• Sensitivity, grace, diplomacy, superb listening and people skills, and humility
• A sense of humor, curiosity, and a willingness to experiment and take risks 

In return, we’ll make sure you:

• Help shape the future direction of our newsroom
• Are included in top-level editorial decision making, working closely with the EIC, managing, and deputy editors
• Play a role in guiding The Counter’s ambitious special projects and most impactful features 
• Assign, edit, report, and write daily news coverage of an exciting, fast-paced journalistic beat
• Develop an unimpeachable understanding of what makes a Counter story
• Become an expert in the complex nuances of food journalism, with opportunities to act as a thought leader in media and public appearances 
• Grow intimately familiar with competitors, the food media landscape, and the daily stream of food news we’re required to cover
• Become a key conduit between newsroom staff and editors
• Have loads of opportunities to nurture and develop your own skills, as well as those of emerging journalists
• Get plenty of support from fellow editors with ample experience in the beat
• Use your specific skills and expertise to help guide The Counter through a period of rapid audience and personnel growth 

Please send a brief cover letter, salary requirement, and CV to jobs@thecounter.org. Include “Applying for Senior Editor Role” in the subject line. Apply by September 1, 2020 to ensure full consideration.  

The Counter is committed to identifying and addressing forms of systemic inequality that pervade the American food system—as well as food media itself. Read a statement from our editor about our ongoing work to improve equity and representation within our organization.