Managing Editor

The War Horse team is excited to meet our future managing editor — the top editor in a newsroom that produces award-winning journalism. In short, the managing editor will have all the ingredients at their disposal to pursue ambitious reporting projects and foster dynamic editorial partnerships – and the mission to do so. The ideal candidate will be eager to grow a world-class team of investigative reporters and editors determined to hold the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs accountable.

The managing editor will report to the executive director and work alongside the executive leadership team to grow the newsroom’s editorial infrastructure and cadence. The ideal candidate will exemplify the highest journalistic standards and a commitment to nurturing the ideas and ambitions of others. To ensure the rigor of our reporting, the managing editor will have the support of fact-checking, copy editing, and legal counsel. Non-negotiable leadership traits include initiative, integrity, and tenacity.

At The War Horse, we proudly maintain editorial independence from our donors and don’t just accept difference—we support and celebrate it. Our newsroom and our community thrives on it. We want, in turn, to ensure that a wide variety of voices are present and represented in all that we do. We welcome applicants of every race, skin tone, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, income level, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or other personal characteristic; and especially encourage applicants from backgrounds underrepresented in news media.

OUR HISTORY
Founded in 2016 out of concern over legacy media companies’ declining investment in high-quality reporting about military and veteran affairs, The War Horse has grown to become an award-winning national leader in the military and reporting communities. Our work has created international headlines, changed multiple military and federal laws, and has been featured in Vanity Fair, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and many others. Our growing community of donors and supporters include Fortune 100 companies, Ivy League Universities, leading foundations, and philanthropists from around the world.

Explore more about our impact.

OUR PROGRAMS

NEWSROOM
The War Horse publishes in-depth reporting that you can’t find anywhere else. Our investigative and feature reporting has been awarded for excellence and has led to changes in military and federal law. The managing editor will be crucial in expanding existing editorial partnerships and identifying new opportunities that increase the distribution and impact of The War Horse’s reporting. The ideal candidate will be deeply committed to building a sustainable nonprofit newsroom that shines a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and sticks with those issues as long as it takes to hold power to account.

WRITER’S PROGRAM
Since 2016, The War Horse has published more than 350 first-person reflections by veterans and military family members, which form the cornerstone of our newsroom and provide vital context for our reporting. Many of these stories come directly from our writing seminars, all-expenses-paid workshops centered around community building, and training the next generation of war writers. Our writing seminars ensure those most affected by war have a prominent voice in the national conversation. The reflections editor reports directly to the managing editor, who will be instrumental in overseeing the mentorship and professional development of our War Horse Fellows and growing network of reflection writers. The ideal candidate will be a force multiplier for the reflections editor as they help the reflections writers craft their stories, find their voice, and pursue networking and professional development opportunities that ensure veterans and military families are better understood and represented in the media.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

The managing editor will help set The War Horse’s editorial vision, inspire our growing newsroom team to do its best work, and expand the organization’s reputation as one of the nation’s most credible nonprofit newsrooms. Our managing editor will uphold the highest journalistic standards and will be responsible for directly recruiting and managing freelance relationships and stewarding the growth of a staff reporter program. As the only newsroom editor, the managing editor will be an integral partner in developing a sustainable workflow for weekly publication and editorial processes that allow for the growth of the editing and reporting teams.
Our ideal candidate has a distinguished track record of conceiving and executing ambitious, high-impact projects. We’re looking for well-honed instincts for assessing story leads and tips and coaching journalists through dead ends and alleyways in the reporting process. You should be prepared to guide reporters through the thorniest parts of difficult investigations, helping them craft FOIAs, develop sources, and navigate ethical issues.
The managing editor will have a strong personal editorial vision and an articulated process for developing, refining, and maximizing the ideas and ambitions of others. Key to this role is the ongoing process of building a culture of respect and teamwork within the organization. The person in this position will inspire others, serve as a mentor and coach, and continue to foster a high-performing, creative newsroom environment. The Managing Editor will have a large amount of autonomy and will report directly to the executive director.
Because we are a nonprofit, reliant on philanthropic support for the vast majority of our revenue, it is critical that the managing editor partner with the executive director, director of development, and board of directors to ensure fundraising supports our editorial vision. This includes setting an editorial agenda that will be timely and compelling, helping draft and edit proposals and reports to funders, and working with the director of development to design engaging content for donor events and communications.

THE MANAGING EDITOR’S SUCCESS WILL BE MEASURED BY
Initiative and proactivity are highly desired. The ideal candidate will have strong organizational skills and actively participate in the strategy and growth of the newsroom, the editorial team, and its mission.

The reflections editor, engagement manager, and two reporters will report directly to the managing editor. Your success will be measured by your ability to inspire that team to accomplish the most impactful work possible while refining editorial practices to allow for more standoff from publication, improving coordination with internal fundraising efforts, and maximizing partnerships and collaboration.
The managing editor will use a monthly freelancer budget to grow and oversee a network of regular contributors that will increase the breadth and depth of topics we publish.
We seek someone who is committed to collaboration. An ideal candidate will proactively pursue and shepherd new partnerships with legacy and new media outlets, and manage partnerships to co-produce and distribute stories, produce innovative public engagement events, design and facilitate local reporting initiatives, and more. The leader of our nonprofit newsroom will be a skillful and diplomatic manager of these collaborations, ensuring journalistic excellence, fair and consistent branding and crediting for all partners, and broad audience reach and impact.
The successful candidate should share our belief that a diverse and inclusive newsroom results in better reporting and is critical to our long-term relevance, growth, and sustainability. The candidate will possess a steadfast commitment to improving the diversity of The War Horse’s writer and reporter network, the sources and subjects The War Horse features, and editorial and academic partnerships.
The managing editor will continuously work alongside the newsroom team to refine and implement engagement and distribution strategies that help to address broader social issues like expanding news deserts and information inequality among veterans and military families.
The War Horse is a small and dynamic organization. Ideal candidates will have regular conversations about improvements that increase efficiency and productivity, good file management that allows for quick execution of syndications and event opportunities, media engagements, and more. Nonprofit newsrooms must effectively convey the impact and demand for their editorial vision. The ideal candidate will collaborate with the executive team to support other business operations that continue the growth of the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS
The managing editor will help grow The War Horse into the “teaching hospital” of military newsrooms and ensure veterans and military families are better represented and understood in the media. This is an extraordinary opportunity for an individual with extensive reporting and editing experience to lead the editorial operations of a nonprofit newsroom, giving voice to one of the most underrepresented communities in news across the United States.

Military reporting experience is preferred but not required for this position. Strong applicants will possess strong management skills and experience shaping in-depth narrative features and leading high-impact investigations.
View editing as an opportunity to mentor reporters and nurture their talents. Be deeply invested in each team member’s professional growth.
Persuasive ability to inspire a variety of stakeholders about our work, including presenting to funders, the board of directors, our journalism peers, and our audiences.
Experience leading high-impact investigations. National and/or international experience is preferred. Experience monitoring and managing the legal and security protections necessary to support and protect The War Horse team.
Successful track record of managing people – building strong and collaborative teams, leading with openness and transparency, and attracting and retaining top talent.
Embrace inclusivity, creativity, and experimentation with a thoughtful approach to resource allocation that balances investment in new ideas and in our core work.

SALARY AND BENEFITS
This is a full-time salaried position based remotely. Compensation is $127,800/yr, along with a growing benefits package including 401k with matching, employer-subsidized medical, dental, and vision coverage, digital privacy services, and more. To have a direct impact on the veterans and military families we serve, submit your cover letter, resume, and three examples of reporting projects you oversaw to jobs@thewarhorse.org