Commissioning Editor, Health

Salary: Up to £35k DoE

Application Deadline: 4 October 2023

The Conversation is looking for a commissioning editor to join its health desk. This is a great opportunity to shape the coverage of a fast-paced online news magazine and work with a team of fantastic journalists and some of the world’s leading academic experts.

Every day, The Conversation publishes articles written by experts from universities across the UK and Europe that explain and analyse the latest news, trends and research. Our stories are written for a non-expert audience with the aim of providing our millions of readers around the world with evidence-based information that can help them make better informed decisions.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for someone full of ideas about how expert knowledge can answer people’s most pressing health questions in ways that feel fresh, relevant and timely, and an excellent editor who can promptly translate complicated ideas into accessible language for a non-expert audience under the high pressure of a daily deadline.

Working under the senior health editor, they will be a self-starter, able to work effectively and at speed without much supervision. But they also need excellent people skills so they can work closely with colleagues on a remote basis and with academic authors with varying levels of experience writing for the public.

On a day-to-day basis, the role will involve developing ideas for stories, identifying academics to commission, working with authors to shape, edit and fact-check their stories, sourcing images and graphics, and liaising with other editors.

We are a small company that encourages innovation and participation, and there will be opportunities to pitch ideas for long reads, new products, podcast items and to host online panel discussions.

How we work

Our HQ is in London but you do not have to be as we work largely remotely. Staff within reasonable distance are asked to come into the office at least fortnightly (more is encouraged), and for those who live further away it’s several times a year.

You will have the opportunity to shape your own hours, working around key meetings and deadlines throughout the day and week.

We value diversity and are keen to receive applications from people from ethnically diverse and under-represented backgrounds.

Applicants should supply a CV and a cover letter providing evidence for as many of the abilities described above as possible (although you don’t need to tick every box to apply), including suggestions for five articles that you could commission for our health section.

Please send your CV, cover letter and five article suggestions to uk-jobs@theconversation.com.