Senior News Editor

The role

The Senior Editor is a senior operational authority in the U.S. newsroom. This person will run the U.S. news desk, make high-stakes editorial decisions, and rewrite stories to ensure authoritative journalism.

What you will do

• Run the U.S. news desk during peak coverage hours
• Make final calls on framing, prioritization, and play
• Kill weak or redundant stories quickly
• Deliver first-class framing on competitive national stories
• Rewrite leads, nut grafs, headlines, structure, sourcing, and tone
• Turn raw field notes, transcripts, interviews, and exclusives into journalism
• Perform rapid second-day and rolling rewrites
• Operate as a desk reporter when the moment demands it
• Mentor reporters and junior editors
• Work with audience teams to ensure performance goals support editorial ambition

Required qualifications

• 7–10+ years of experience at a high-level U.S. digital newsroom
• Demonstrated record editing breaking news, exclusives, and enterprise reporting at speed
• Exceptional news judgment
• First-rate rewriting skills
• Comfortable making consequential editorial decisions independently
• Proven ability to handle sensitive and legally complex stories
• Deep understanding of U.S. political, legal, and cultural dynamics
• Calm, decisive leadership style under pressure

About the company

Newsweek is a global media organization that reaches 100 million people each month. It delivers news, opinion, images, graphics, and video across print and digital platforms.