Associate Editor (Planetizen)

The opportunity

Planetizen is looking for a talented and ambitious Associate Editor to steer the platform’s editorial operations. The Associate Editor, reporting to the Editorial Manager, has a high degree of ownership over editorial quality and output, and helping grow Planetizen’s reach and engagement.

Responsibilities

• Editing, publishing and writing – 50% of time

• Assigning and editing 2-5 feature, op-ed, analysis and other editorial pieces per week, working closely with external contributors to hone pitches for assignment and delivering substantive, line and copy edits in a timely manner.
• Packaging pieces for publishing: writing sharp, catchy headlines and deks; choosing attractive, editorially relevant and interesting imagery; utilizing AP style; uploading and formatting pieces in Planetizen’s content management system and scheduling them for release.
• Taking an active role in shaping editorial processes, content types and overall editorial ideation, including proactively identifying and problem-solving barriers to success and ideating opportunities for improvement and growth.
• Writing short editorial posts (like monthly wrap-ups and Planetizen’s Federal Action Tracker), and contributing unique feature, op-ed, analysis or other editorial content pieces.

• Planetizen newsfeed – 30% of time

• Sourcing, summarizing and publishing ~30 pieces of essential urban planning news per week for Planetizen’s aggregated newsfeed.

• Other – 20% of time

• Writing and formatting templated posts for Planetizen’s social media feeds and newsletters.
• Using analytics and other audience engagement metrics to monitor and optimize editorial content performance according to Planetizen’s strategic goals.
• Completing editing and quality assurance tasks for the Planetizen Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs, Planetizen Courses, AICP Exam Prep, and other Planetizen products.

Qualifications

• 2+ years experience in a newsroom or other journalistic/editorial environment, ideally with hands-on experience managing external contributors.

• Comfort in a fast-paced environment handling high volumes of content. Successful candidates will demonstrate the ability to write and edit quickly while maintaining accuracy, clean copy and overall editorial quality.

• Strong judgement, critical thinking and editorial instinct.

• Ability to take initiative, self start and work independently yet collaboratively on a small team that values teamwork, and each other.

• Excellent time-management and organizational skills, with a demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects at different stages simultaneously.

• Ability to use data and other audience engagement measures to make decisions that optimize editorial performance.

• Experience with Google Workspace, Google Analytics, Data Studio, Drupal, Canva, Sprout Social or similar tools and systems.

• Experience with or strong interest in urban planning. While formal training in urban planning is not a requirement, candidates should demonstrate an ability and enthusiasm to dive into the urbanism beat and quickly become an expert.

Location & Availability

Available 9am - 6pm in any U.S. time zone
Our office is located in sunny Los Angeles, CA. This position is available for fully remote or hybrid work.

Compensation

• $50,000 - $60,000 depending upon experience

• Paid time off (15 days increasing to 20 after four years)

• Holiday time off (~10 days per year).

• Medical, dental and vision insurance (95% employer-paid for the individual).

• Company-sponsored 401(k) plan with employer match (after 60 days).