Position Title: Managing Editor and Director of Editorial Operations 

Location: Remote, DC-based HQ 

Employment Type: Full-time, exempt, union. This position falls within the CWA/TNG Bargaining Unit in place between The American Prospect and Washington-Baltimore News Guild. 

Reports To: Executive Editor

About The American Prospect

The American Prospect is an influential magazine dedicated to rigorous journalism and progressive ideas. We are committed to providing in-depth analysis and thoughtful perspectives on political, economic, and social issues. Our mission is to inform and inspire our readers to engage in public discourse and action.

Position Overview

The American Prospect seeks a Managing Editor & Editorial Operations Director to oversee editorial workflow, digital strategy, and audience growth. This role combines traditional managing editor responsibilities with digital product management to help modernize and grow our nonprofit media organization.

Key Responsibilities

Editorial Management:

• Manage daily editorial calendar and content workflow
• Coordinate with writers, editors, and art department
• Oversee copy editing and fact-checking processes
• Maintain editorial standards and style guide
• Track story progress and manage deadlines
• Manage print magazine production schedule

Digital Operations & Growth:

• Lead email newsletter strategy and optimization
• With publisher, oversee CMS migration, management, and product development
• Drive audience growth and engagement strategy including  SEO, platforms, and social media
• Analyze audience metrics and drive content strategy
• Manage web production and site updates

Qualifications

• 5+ years editorial experience, including 2+ years management
• Strong grasp of policy journalism and progressive media
• Experience with modern CMS platforms (WordPress preferred)
• Understanding of email marketing and newsletter optimization
• Knowledge of SEO and digital analytics
• Proven track record growing digital audience
• Excellence in editorial organization and workflow management
• Strong project management capabilities

Preferred:

• Experience with:
  • Google Analytics
  • Email service providers
  • A/B testing and optimization
  • Digital product management
  • Content strategy development
• Understanding of nonprofit media business models

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their qualifications and experience via Submittable.

The American Prospect is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, ancestry, marital status, union activity, AIDS/HIV status, on-the-job injuries, or any status otherwise protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages and we especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.

Our benefits include health, dental, and vision benefits for our employees and their dependents, paid vacation starting at three weeks per year, and an HSA/FSA program, and a 37.5-hour workweek.

This job description outlines the general nature and key responsibilities of the role, but it is not exhaustive. Duties may change as per the needs of the organization.

Salary Range: $65,000-$85,000

Position Title: Writing Fellow

Location: Remote, DC-based HQ 

Employment Type:  Full-time, exempt, union. This position falls within the CWA/TNG Bargaining Unit in place between The American Prospect and Washington-Baltimore News Guild. 

Reports To: Executive Editor

We have two openings available. One position is for our John Lewis Fellowship, which is designed for journalists from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds; the second is our standard Writing Fellowship. Both positions will begin in Spring 2025. 

About The American Prospect

The American Prospect is an influential magazine dedicated to rigorous journalism and progressive ideas. We are committed to providing in-depth analysis and thoughtful perspectives on political, economic, and social issues. Our mission is to inform and inspire our readers to engage in public discourse and action.

Position Overview

The American Prospect’s Writing Fellows Program offers aspiring journalists the opportunity to spend two years developing their skills with the magazine. The next two positions, including the John Lewis Fellowship, are set to begin in May 2025.   

Each fellow benefits from an intensive mentoring program with the experts on our editorial team. The Prospect is looking for candidates with strong writing and analytical abilities who will generate story ideas as well as take assignments. A passion for politics and policy is a prerequisite. Prior journalism experience is encouraged but not required, as past fellows have come from a variety of backgrounds.   

The Prospect is committed to elevating diverse voices and supports employees with ongoing career-development opportunities. Members of traditionally underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

The annual salary for this two-year fellowship starts at $46,500 and includes a full range of benefits (health, dental, vision) plus union membership in Washington-Baltimore News Guild (Communication Workers of America). The collective bargaining agreement ensures annual cost of living raises. Fellows may work remotely from anywhere in the country or at our D.C. headquarters. 

The Prospect’s goal is to ensure writing fellows develop the relationships, credibility, quality of writing, and more than enough clips to pursue a career in journalism. Past fellows have gone on to roles at the New York Times, Politico, Vox Media, The Atlantic, Slate, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Daily Beast, and many other publications.

Key Responsibilities

The Writing Fellow will produce several pieces each week for the Prospect website, breaking news with agenda-setting stories, and helping to drive the conversation on Ideas, Politics, and Power. The John Lewis Writing Fellow plays a key role in our weekly editorial calendar, and will work on stories that they both pitch or are assigned.

Here’s what recent fellows have to say:

Since joining the Prospect, I have grown as a writer and reporter. I have been able to push my writing, researching, interviewing skills, and creativity to new levels. The Prospect has given me the space to report on important topics such as racial justice, climate change, and environmental equity. I have expanded my political reporting, and come to understand political dynamics in a new way. Between traditional reporting skills and the space to find my niche, working at the Prospect has taught me so much I will be able to rely on in the future. — Ramenda Cyrus, John Lewis Writing Fellow

I joined The American Prospect as an editorial intern in January 2021, and my fellowship ended in December 2023. Looking back, I'm stunned with how I grew as a journalist during that period. From the get-go, executive editor David Dayen's extensive mentorship taught me how to spot a story, keep pulling at its strings, all through the lens of ideas, politics and power. The pace at which Dayen reports set a standard I aspired to. When I talk with other early-career journalists, I realize how valuable this fellowship has been for my career because it trusted me with doing the sort of original reporting that many other early-career journalists don't get the opportunity to experience until a few years into their careers. — Jarod Facundo

As a writing fellow, I covered a range of beats, diving into complicated policy and learning the ins and outs of Washington. It’s a crash course in politics and the chance to immerse yourself fully in work you feel good about. As a young reporter, I was trusted and supported to write ambitious stories that mattered and in turn, I’ve seen my work have an impact. — Marcia Brown

Few other early career positions are as focused on supporting young journalists in their reporting, pitching, and broader professional development as the Prospect's writing fellowship, where in my first year I regularly filed web stories and magazine features, did multiple reporting trips across the country, and attended NABJ's and IRE's annual conferences. — Brittany Gibson

The Prospect is a pioneer in nonprofit journalism and a compelling voice for attainable progressive reform. We published our first issue in Spring 1990 as a champion for informed discussion on public policy. Since 2019, the Prospect has doubled our online traffic, increased our annual print issue count to six, expanded into live events, and polished our reputation as a leading source of journalism on the progressive left. Our mission is to broaden our impact without sacrificing integrity, and to continuously fortify our tenacious focus on ideas, politics and power.

Qualifications

• Experience reporting and writing news, analysis and commentary 
• The ability to work quickly and comment on the news in real time
• A facility for breaking down political or policy topics so regular people can understand them, and a passion for progressive policy and politics, with the ability to relate that passion to readers
• Experience producing digital media 
• Experience appearing in the media and speaking publicly about topical news
• Social engagement: The ability to reach readers across a variety of channels and to create help new audiences, including through newsletters or podcasts

How to Apply

Interested candidates should all materials via Submittable. Candidates who wish to be considered for the John Lewis Writing Fellowship should speak to their background within their application materials. This application will close on February 15th, 2025 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Application Requirements

• Résumé
• Cover letter

Introduce yourself, and briefly answer these three questions:

What magazines, newspapers and websites do you read regularly?

Name your intellectual and political heroes?

Where do you see yourself in five years and why?

• A critique of a Prospect story

Choose a published piece and evaluate it for style, clarity, and readability. Tell us if a piece worked well, or if it fell short. Consider balance, voice, as well as presentation.

• Three writing samples

Consider clips or posts, academic papers and unpublished pieces — anything that demonstrates your writing style and reporting chops.

• Three story ideas

A reported feature or essay;

A piece on an important debate from the world of politics, policy, or ideas; and

Another topic or genre of your choice.

• Two professional or academic recommendations

The American Prospect is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, ancestry, marital status, union activity, AIDS/HIV status, on-the-job injuries, or any status otherwise protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages and we especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.

Our benefits include health, dental, and vision benefits for our employees and their dependents, paid vacation starting at three weeks per year, and an HSA/FSA program, and a 37.5-hour workweek.

This job description outlines the general nature and key responsibilities of the role, but it is not exhaustive. Duties may change as per the needs of the organization.

Salary Range: $46,500

Summer 2025 Editorial Internships

The American Prospect is devoted to promoting informed discourse on public-policy matters from a progressive perspective through narrative interpretation of complex issues. We don’t just make magazines, we make a difference.

The Prospect hosts three classes of interns each year with flexible dates ranging from January to April; May to August; and September to December. Individual work schedules can be adjusted on a case-by-case basis to reflect candidates' coursework schedules. For Spring 2025 applications, the deadline is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Monday, March 17th, 2025.

Editorial Interns assist with research, fact-checking, social media, data entry and library services for both the print magazine and the daily website. Interns are encouraged to contribute editorially, writing book briefs and articles as assigned, and participating in generating story ideas, as well as pursuing their own projects under the guidance of Prospect staff. We encourage our interns to fully integrate themselves into the Prospect’s editorial operations while taking full advantage of the public events only available in Washington, D.C.

This is the perfect internship for journalism, political science, and economics majors. Juniors, seniors and grad students are encouraged to apply. Full and part time internships available. $17.50 per hour. Positions are remote or in-person at our Washington, D.C., headquarters. 

PLEASE NOTE: This Internship application is DIFFERENT from the Writing Fellowship application. 

Here's what recent interns have to say:

The internship with The American Prospect helped me grow so much as a reporter and writer. Under the careful guidance of Prospect editors, I was able to pitch, report, and write stories almost immediately as an intern. Interns are treated as real members of the Prospect team, getting to sit in on editorial meetings and contribute to fact-checking the print edition of the magazine. All members of the Prospect staff were extremely available and eager to help me, whether offering advice on a story or looking out for career opportunities after the internship.

—Elizabeth Meisenzahl, Summer 2023

My summer with The American Prospect gave me the freedom to explore topics I am passionate about and wanted to cover. TAP also allowed me to write more creatively and expressively than other outlets I’ve worked at. The editors and staff writers at TAP are able to provide new perspectives and wonderful guidance when it comes to writing and researching new topics. I loved learning from the journalistic experiences of the staff and asking for advice on stories, job applications, and more. I highly recommend any internship opportunities at The American Prospect.

—Emma Murphy, Summer 2023

TAP’s internship is a marvelous opportunity for aspiring political journalists to gain a wealth of hands-on editorial experience in a friendly, small-staff environment. Whether you’ve never written a news story before or have dozens under your belt, there is a great deal to learn from the magazine’s incredibly knowledgeable and accomplished staff. Everyone is extremely approachable, including those at the top of the masthead. While interning there as a recent journalism graduate, I not only sharpened my skills as a writer and reporter, but acquired new skills in fact-checking and social media management. We were strongly encouraged to participate and share ideas in editorial meetings and had plenty of room in our daily schedules to work on our articles. I cannot recommend this internship more emphatically.

—Imani Sumbi, Spring 2023

I know it’s called an internship, but “apprenticeship” would also be apt. Each aspect of the work I did helped me grow as a journalist and writer, including reading several TAP pieces a week to do my part to maintain our social media presence. Fact-checking was particularly eye-opening because I was able to see how other reporters keep track of their notes, interviews, and how they piece together a story. Several people on staff made sure to meet with me and hear about my interests and offer their advice. In the end, I learned so much about pitching, revising, working on assignment, and about the industry overall. I know other internships are probably great, but this one was extraordinary.

—Liz Rosenberg, Summer 2023

How To Apply:

Applications are submitted via Submittable. Your TAP Internship application should include the following:

• Your résumé.
• Three writing samples. Consider clips or posts, academic papers, short reports/essay submitted as coursework, and unpublished pieces. 
• Your cover letter. In your letter, please give your assessment of the current political moment. In addition, your cover letter should express your interest in The American Prospect's journalism OR how an internship with the Prospect would align/advance your personal/career goals.

For Summer 2025 applications, the deadline is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Monday, March 17th, 2025. 

The American Prospect prioritizes attracting diverse talent and cultivating an inclusive environment that encourages collaboration and creativity. All qualified applicants will be considered, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetics, age, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other such characteristic.