The senior editor is the principal professional responsible for assuring the quality and consistency of Harvard Magazine texts. On this small, closely knit staff, the senior editor engages with all the magazine's contents (staff-written and freelanced) from the inception of assignments through production and publication. This broad span of responsibility encompasses fundamental review of drafts for structure and organization, logic, completeness, clarity, order, voice and tone, and house style, through revisions, copyediting and fact-checking, and print or online production and publication. As a proxy for the magazine's educated, intellectually engaged readers, the senior editor will work with a wide variety of writers, covering an exceptionally broad range of subjects (across the academic disciplines and the spectrum of professions), to deliver outstanding journalism, profiles, essays, and other contents. Those contents range from short news posts to 5,000-word features; successful production requires meeting deadlines that range from the requirements of immediate, breaking news to long-form articles that evolve over many months.

Job characteristics. The senior editorship requires demonstrated experience with in-depth, high-volume editing and publication production; a passion for comprehensiveness and clarity in expression—and a zeal for accuracy and fairness; attention to detail; and ability to fulfill multiple overlapping assignments on deadline. Ability to work very closely with all editorial staff members, the art director, and multiple outside writers; and with business staff colleagues on their written materials—all of whom rely on the senior editor. Ability to reach out to sources throughout and beyond the University to access materials and check facts.

Supervisory responsibilities. The senior editor supervises the assistant editor/special sections manager (who reports, edits, and assigns the contents of the alumni and Harvard Squared sections in each bimonthly printed issue); supervises the contractors who compile and prepare the class notes and obituaries published in each issue (preparation of which involves interaction with Harvard Alumni Association staff and College class secretaries in particular); shares mentoring of and works closely with undergraduate editorial fellows; and hires and supervises the work of term-time editorial interns as needed.