Senior Editor, Feature, Mandarin Desk, DC

Overview

Job Title: Senior Editor, Feature

Department: Editorial, Mandarin Desk

Reports To: Editor in Charge

FLSA Status: Exempt

Location: Washington, DC | Hybrid

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

Radio Free Asia's Mandarin Desk is seeking an experienced Feature Editor to lead its special reports and long-form journalism, separate from the daily news desk. The feature editor will conceive, commission, and edit in-depth series, investigations, and multimedia features that explain the forces shaping China and the Chinese-speaking world, while guiding reporters and protecting at-risk sources. The ideal candidate combines deep knowledge of Chinese politics and society with strong editing instincts and sound judgment on sensitive stories.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an editorial plan/calendar for special reports, series, and deep-dive features on politics, human rights, society, economy and other topics of interests on coverage regions.
• Identify story ideas, commission pieces, and work closely with staff reporters, freelancers, and contributors.
• Lead the entire process of producing and packaging special reports, from conception, planning, execution, to promotion.
• Edit Mandarin-language long-form text for accuracy, narrative structure, clarity, and fairness, ensuring compliance with RFA's editorial standards.
• Plan and manage project timelines, budgets, and editorial calendars for multi-part and long-lead projects.
• Collaborate with video, audio, social media teams to package stories for multiple platforms and formats.
• Work with other RFA language desks and International Desk on cross-desk projects and translation or adaptation where needed.
• Coordinate with legal, security, and editorial leadership on sensitive stories, protecting sources and contributors who may face risk.
• Mentor and train junior reporters and editors in feature writing.
• Monitor audience analytics and feedback to refine the desk's feature strategy, flag high-performing stories for amplification consideration (social push, newsletter, or cross-desk sharing).

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, including at least 3 years editing features, investigations, or long-form content in the desk’s language.
• Demonstrated ability to develop original story concepts and pitch them to senior leadership, with a track record of published enterprise work that broke new ground or drove audience engagement.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least one core coverage area, such as Chinese politics and governance, human rights and rule of law, ethnic and religious affairs, economic and technology policy, or China's overseas influence.
• Ability to read and assess primary sources in Chinese, including government documents, court records, corporate filings, and leaked materials.
• Established professional and source networks within the region or diaspora community are required.
• Strong portfolio/track record of investigative or feature-type, in-depth report of work in writing or multimedia format.
• Sound editorial judgment: ability to identify accuracy problems, sourcing gaps, standards violations, and format errors quickly and consistently.
• 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 command of both journalistic Chinese and the political and cultural vocabulary used in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, including awareness of how official terminology shapes framing.
• Experience working with sources and contributors in restrictive information environments.
• Familiarity with safety and security protocols for journalists working on sensitive stories or in restrictive environments.
• Independent, self-directed, and strong experience in shaping stories from concept to publication.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with video, podcast, or interactive storytelling formats.

• Familiarity with CMS platforms and multi-platform publishing workflows.
• Familiarity with real-time analytics platforms (e.g., Chartbeat, Google Analytics); ability to translate audience data into immediate editorial decisions under deadline pressure.
• Fluency in multi-platform publishing: web, social media, video, shortwave, and audio formats.

Please Submit Your Portfolio of Your Featured-Type of Works along with Your Application, application without demonstrated works will not be considered.

This is a full-time, exempt position based in Washington, DC. Some flexibility in work hours required to accommodate international time zones. This position is hybrid, with three days in-office and two days remote weekly.

Salary Range: 87,000-118,500/Year. Final salary is commensurate with experiences and skills that are compatible with the requirements of the role.

This position is ineligible for sponsorship by the company for any work authorization, applicant must possess existing work authorization to be considered for the position.