Deputy Style & Standards Editor, Vox.com

Full Time
4 months ago

The Vox style and standards team is the last line of defense before our work goes out to our audience. We’re dedicated to ensuring all of our work meets the highest standards of clarity, accuracy, and fairness.

The deputy style and standards editor will work closely with the style and standards editor to ensure Vox content, including articles, videos, and podcasts, meets our high editorial standards of clarity, accuracy, inclusivity, and sensitivity. This editor will also weigh in on critical decisions about our content to ensure the work we publish reflects our goals of quality and ambition. 

This person will be a people manager and directly manage members of the style and standards team, coordinating team workflows, workload, and processes. They will interact with a wide range of editors, reporters, and audio and video producers around the newsroom, so strong communication and interpersonal skills are essential. They will manage copyediting and fact-checking requests and deadlines. They’ll also help the style and standards editor maintain our style and standards guides and keep the newsroom updated on the latest guidance.   

WHO WE ARE

Vox candidly shepherds audiences through politics and policy, business and pop culture, food, science, and everything else that matters.

Vox is part of Vox Media, the leading modern media company. We guide our audience from discovery to obsession. We inspire essential conversations about what’s now, what’s next, and what’s possible.

As a community of journalists and storytellers, business professionals, creators and technologists, we believe it is a moral and business imperative to amplify voices: to cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization and media. This applies to our candidates, our teams, our storytelling, our creative work, and our platforms, products, and partnerships.

 

WHAT YOU’LL DO
  • Use discretion and independent judgment to determine whether articles, videos, and podcasts meet our standard for publication: 
    • Read, evaluate, and edit all unpublished works at both the macro and micro levelusing the following criteria: 
      • Quality of reporting, clarity,accuracy, and strength of argument
      • Adherence to best practices with regard to sensitive topics, legal liability, and inflammatory language
      • Proper Vox style, spelling, and grammar
    • When articles do not meet this standard, remove them from the publication queue; communicate the problems to writers and editors along with ideal solutions; work with both to bring content up to standards before rescheduling
  • Be instrumental in setting and enforcing publishing standards: 
    • Identify issues or inconsistencies and discuss with the style and standards editor to determine a solution. Communicate those issues — and our stylistic solution — to the staff. 
    • Identify articles or elements of content (such as graphics)that need legal review, sensitivity reads, or fact-checking andwork with reporters, graphics team, and others as needed to ensure they meet Vox standards for accuracy and clarity

Serve as first or second read on priority pieces, as needed 

  • Directly manage members of the style and standards team, helping them learn new skills, and guiding their professional development 
    • Manage workflows and workload, and help set copy deadlines for the newsroom
    • Hire, manage, and train freelancers
    • Address and escalate issues and needs to the style and standards editor
    • Advocate for style and standards team’s needs within the larger newsroom
  • Copy edit and fact-check text, audio, and video pieces as needed 
    • Help with daily copy load and managing copy flow, top-edit tricky pieces, check for errors or usage issues, ensure consistency 
    • Fact-check pieces as necessary 
  • Help maintain the Vox style and standards guides
    • Update the style guide with new language guidance and communicate changes to the newsroom
    • Write and update portions of the standards guide, which lays out Vox’s best practices for transparency, accuracy, and clarity in reporting 
WHO YOU ARE
  • At least five years of experience in copy editing and fact-checking, preferably for a digital-first news organization
  • A commitment to the highest journalistic standards of accuracy, clarity, and sensitivity/inclusivity
  • The ability to work quickly and collaboratively under tight deadlines amid a busy news environment
  • An eagle eye for mistakes in grammar, spelling, and punctuation, plus experience with fact-checking best practices
  • Experience managing direct reports strongly preferred 

 

If you think you have what it takes, but don't meet every single point in our job posting, please apply with a cover letter to let us know how you believe you can bring your unique skills to the Vox Media team or get in touch! We’ve hired chefs who became editors, DJs who became UX designers, and sommeliers who became writers.

 

WHERE YOU’LL WORK

This job is remote. 

 

WHY VOX MEDIA? WHAT WE OFFER

This is a permanent, full-time position. This job is benefits-eligible. We pride ourselves in providing comprehensive benefits to support all of our employees wherever they are in life. You can find more information about our benefits here.

 

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. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability, transparency and communication. Learn more about our values here, and our approach to corporate citizenship here. 

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 People & Culture team (recruitment@voxmedia.com).

 

WHAT COMES NEXT

Our recruiting team will go through applications in a timely manner. Please note that our recruiting team will only contact you from @voxmedia.com email addresses, never via text message. Read more about how our recruiting team operates, and how to protect yourself from recruitment fraud, here.

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$81,000—$95,000 USD