News Editor

Position Overview

The Senior Editor is a senior operational authority in Newsweek’s U.S. newsroom, responsible for setting the editorial bar and enforcing it relentlessly. This role demands editors who can run a national news desk at full throttle—making high-stakes editorial decisions in real time, rewriting aggressively, and delivering journalism that competes head-to-head with the strongest U.S. newsrooms. Reporting to the US News Director, the Senior Editor owns daily execution of the U.S. news report, turning strategy into journalism that is fast, authoritative, analytically sharp, and unmistakably worth a reader’s time. This is a role for editors who expect to touch the most important stories themselves, not manage them from a distance.

This is a full-time position working 3:00 pm-12:00 am ET five days a week, including one weekend shift. This position may be worked remotely anywhere in the United States.

Key Responsibilities

Desk Command & Editorial Judgment

• Run the U.S. news desk during peak coverage hours, making final calls on framing, prioritization, and play.
• Distinguish decisively between stories that advance public understanding and those that merely follow the pack.
• Kill weak or redundant stories quickly—and demand better replacements.

Elite Editing & Rewrite Authority

• Deliver first-class framing on the most competitive national stories, identifying where Newsweek can add clarity, originality, or analytical value.
• Rewrite without hesitation: leads, nut grafs, headlines, structure, sourcing, and tone.
• Take raw field notes, transcripts, interviews, and exclusives and turn them into clean, analytical, tightly argued journalism.
• Perform rapid second-day and rolling rewrites that materially improve stories as facts evolve.

Breaking News & Hands-On Reporting

• Operate as a desk reporter when the moment demands it—making calls, confirming facts, chasing documents, and closing gaps.