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Job Description

About the Role

Wirecutter is looking for a senior editor to oversee our beauty and personal care team.  

As Wirecutter’s senior beauty editor, you’ll expand our beauty and personal care coverage and setting our vision within the category. You’ll manage a team of writers and editors to create best-in-class journalism that helps readers find the information they need.

You have a firm grasp of all categories of beauty and personal care—from skincare and makeup to grooming and haircare—and knowledge of the beauty landscape, from emerging brands and social media trends to cult-status standbys. You’re a beauty expert who knows how to apply a skeptic’s eye when reading marketing claims about a beauty product, and while you have a wide array of industry contacts and sources, you also understand the importance of journalistic standards and integrity. You understand that beauty can be an act of self-care as much as it can be a utilitarian effort, and you’re passionate about cutting through the clutter to help people find the right products for their unique situations and thoughtful about making inclusive recommendations.

We ask that you have writing, editing, and management skills and subject-matter expertise. A successful person in this role will be comfortable creating an exciting coverage plan while managing a team and collaborating with colleagues across Wirecutter’s newsroom. You have a solid network of beauty freelancers, publicists, and sources, and a keen instinct for what makes a good beauty story. You have health reporting experience and are comfortable reading and interpreting relevant medical journal articles. As a Wirecutter journalist, you’ll also recognize the importance of considering those with different needs and diverse perspectives when writing or editing a guide or other piece of journalism. 

You will report to the editorial director of lifestyle and will be based in our Long Island City office in New York.

Responsibilities:

• You will plan coverage for beauty, grooming, and personal care guides and projects over the course of the year

• With the editorial director, execute strategy for our coverage and manage a team of editors and writers in execution of guide creation, updates, and supplementary content.

• Assign projects to freelance and staff writers, and manage them on a per-project basis

• You will manage editors and writers as direct reports, set clear expectations, facilitate performance feedback, and support learning and development

• You will manage editorial process and serve as top or lead editor for guides, short-form journalism, and other projects that fall under your area of coverage

• Approve ideas from your team and use data to support pitches and to monitor performance

• Contribute original ideas to test planning, suggest creative reporting strategies, challenge writers’ assumptions

• You will engage with our reader community through multiple channels, including social, comments, and through our community team 

• You may be required to attend trade shows and product news events