Senior Editor, News, Mandarin Desk

Overview

Job Title: Senior Editor, News, Mandarin Desk

Department: Editorial, Mandarin Desk

Reports To: Editor in Charge, Mandarin Desk

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Schedule: Full-Time

Who We Are

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with editorial and operational bureaus in Taipei, Bangkok, and Seoul. A congressionally funded grantee of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), RFA operates with full editorial independence.

Our mission is to provide accurate, uncensored news and information to people living in countries where a free press does not exist. We broadcast in nine languages and dialects - Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan, Uyghur, Burmese, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, and Korean - reaching audiences across China, North Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and beyond via shortwave, satellite, and the internet. Our journalists work in some of the world’s most difficult media environments, often at considerable personal risk, filling a critical gap in access to truthful, timely news for millions of people who would otherwise have very little of it. That reality shapes everything about how we work and who we hire to lead this organization.

Job Summary

The Senior Editor, News is the Mandarin desk's engine for story generation and reporter development during the Asia shift. The role owns the front end of the editorial cycle: identifying the news, assigning the work, developing the reporting, and delivering well-sourced, camera-ready stories to the Senior Editor, Output for final editing and publication.

The role manages the desk's Multiplatform Journalists and Senior Multiplatform Journalists directly, providing editorial direction, coaching, and day-to-day news management. Working alongside the Senior Editor, Output, the two roles together form the editorial core of the desk's operation under the Editor in Charge.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

News Assignment and Story Development

• Identify, prioritize, and assign stories for the Asia shift: monitor breaking news, source feeds, peer outlets, and social channels to stay ahead of the cycle.
• Review and supervise reporters' story pitches; provide clear editorial direction on angle, sourcing, format, and platform requirements for each assignment and reporters on assignments.
• Develop stories actively with reporters throughout the shift - reading drafts, pushing sourcing, refining angles, and ensuring stories meet RFA's accuracy and standards bar before handoff to output.
• Surface stories with cross-desk significance to the Coverage Editor for coordinated response or content sharing.
• Flag breaking news or high-risk stories to the Editor in Charge immediately; route pre-publication concerns - standards, safety, legal - to the appropriate authority without delay.
• Maintain the desk's story log, ensuring accurate and up-to-date tracking of assigned and in-progress stories throughout the shift.

Reporter Management

• Directly manage the desk's Multiplatform Journalists and Senior Multiplatform Journalists during the Asia shift: day-to-day editorial direction, task assignment, and real-time feedback.
• Coach reporters on news development, sourcing, interviewing, writing, and multi-platform storytelling; contribute to their ongoing professional development.
• Provide input to the Editor in Charge on reporter performance, strengths, development areas, and workload planning.
• Flag potential journalist safety concerns to the Editor in Charge, ensuring staff and source protection is built into editorial decisions from the assignment stage.

Coordination and Handoff

• Coordinate closely with the Senior Editor, Output to ensure stories are developed, filed, and sequenced to support a smooth and well-timed publishing workflow.
• Prepare clear end-of-shift handoff notes for the Senior Editor, Output , covering open assignments, in-progress stories, sources needing follow-up, and any outstanding editorial guidance.
• Coordinate with the Coverage Editor on cross-desk opportunities and multi-language story development during the Asia shift.

Standards and Training

• Uphold RFA's editorial standards in all stories entering the pipeline: sourcing, accuracy, verification, and format.
• Contribute to on-desk training: help reporters develop stronger sourcing habits, news judgment, and multi-platform production skills.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or above in journalism, political science, economics, or a related field; or a minimum of 7 years of professional journalism experience, with significant time in a news editing, assignment editing, or senior reporting role in a digital, broadcast, or multimedia newsroom, using the language of the served desk.
• Deep knowledge of and political sensitivity toward China; demonstrated experience leading coverage of significant political events and developments; comprehensive subject-matter expertise in the desk's coverage area, including its political, social, and media landscape.
• Demonstrated ability to run a news cycle: assign stories, develop reporters, manage a shift, and deliver consistent, high-quality output on deadline.
• Strong news judgment: ability to identify the story, assess its significance, evaluate sourcing, and push reporters toward stronger, better-supported journalism.
• Experience managing or mentoring journalists, including day-to-day editorial direction and performance feedback.
• Deep knowledge of the desk's coverage area, including current affairs, political context, and the media and information environment of the relevant region.
• Fluency in multi-platform publishing: web, social media, video, shortwave, and audio formats.
• Exceptional professional proficiency in written and spoken Mandarin, with demonstrated ability to write, edit, review, and approve accurate and clear Mandarin-language news stories, assess interview materials and quoted speech, and ensure consistency with professional newsroom and RFA editorial standards.
• Strong written communication skills for editorial guidance, reporter briefings, and shift handoffs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a follow-the-sun or distributed newsroom with cross time zone coordination.
• Familiarity with safety and security protocols for journalists working on sensitive stories or in restrictive environments.
• Experience reporting on or about China, with an established source network in the region.
• Professional working proficiency in English.
• Familiarity with audience analytics tools and data-driven story selection.
• Possession of valid work authorization for Taiwan is highly advantageous for this role.

Physical Requirements / Working Conditions

This position is hybrid, with three days in-office and two days remote weekly. Work is sedentary, performed at a desk using standard office equipment, with occasional lifting up to 15 pounds. Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with disabilities.

To be considered for this position, please include a cover letter with your application.