Baby Editor

Overview

We are seeking an editor to work 40 hours per week on contract to help launch a new vertical of product guides for new parents and babies. The person hired for this position will recruit and assign writers, manage deadlines, plan and oversee product research and testing, review writers’ supporting documents and notes, edit and revise copy, and work closely with experienced Sweethome editors to ensure the stories are up to the editorial standards we’ve established in our hundreds of guides. The ideal candidate can contribute original ideas to test planning, suggest creative reporting strategies, challenge writers’ assumptions, and use data to support potential story ideas, track their performance, and learn more about how our readers interact with our material. This editor will be responsible for steering coverage of essential products for new parents, from car seats to mattresses to monitors to diapers.

This position reports directly to a senior editor and will manage a combination of staff writers and freelancers. This job is remote, but preference will be given to candidates in Los Angeles or New York City. This is a freelance position with the possibility of becoming full-time by the end of the year, depending on the success of the category.

Requirements

• Three-plus years of experience working at a media company in an editorial capacity with at least one year of experience managing writers
• Empathy for parents of young children, experience shopping within this category, and a strong sense of what’s essential and what’s unnecessary, with a passion for the topic balanced by a skepticism toward marketing claims and unproven ideas
• A frank and forthcoming communicator
• Familiarity with Google Docs
• Feature editing experience

Preferred qualifications

• Experience collaborating with an art director and/or photo director to present content visually
• Experience expressing complex ideas using visualizations such as charts, graphs, or infographics
• Familiarity with the realities of child care, either as a parent or as a professional caregiver

Responsibilities

• Develop a comprehensive plan for covering parenting and baby gear such as car seats, strollers, and cribs and mattresses, as well as products related to nursing, diapering, child-proofing, travel with infants and young children, and feeding.
• Lead new guides and coverage through the research phase to the final draft.
• Inform coverage by helping with edits in other fields and sitting in on peer review panels.
• Hire and manage a combination of regular freelancers and staff writers.
• Work with our science team when necessary to address health-related issues. Keep our positions on various concepts and technologies consistent.

Please submit an email application with subject line “Baby Editor FirstName LastName” containing the following:

• Attached PDF résumé (or link to personal website with a CV)
• Cover letter, no more than 800 words, no attachments
• Answers to the prompts below, no more than 400 words each, no attachments
  • Describe an instance when technology or a product greatly benefited you as a child care provider. How did it help, and why was it better than what you had used or done before?
  • How did you go about making your most recent major purchase? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not?

Before applying, please read about who we are and how we work—if you are qualified, available, and interested, we look forward to hearing from you!