Senior Editor

Senior Editor & Journalist

LOCATION: Nairobi

DEADLINE: DEC 10, 2025

Defrontera is a non-profit journalism platform dedicated to

people-centred global health reporting.  We aim to be the gold standard in global health journalism in Kenya and reach 10,000 healthcare professionals and influence at least five health policy changes by 2028. We are seeking a senior editor to lead our editorial operations and ensure we consistently publish rigorous, high-impact journalism. Our output is
one multimedia long form every month
and
three (3) short or medium news features once every week
on the website. We also publish the content on our social media platforms. This is a senior newsroom leadership role, reporting to the editor-in-chief and

deputising for them when necessary.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Editorial Leadership and Management

• Direct the day-to-day editorial operations: assign, track, and edit stories across formats (text, visual, data,

multimedia).

• Manage and mentor a team of about 5 reporters and editors working on news, features, investigations, and solutions journalism.

• Develop and enforce production schedules, ensuring consistency in publishing cadence and quality.

• Supervise coverage that aligns with Defrontera's core beats: underreported health issues, women's health,

climate-health intersections, and community health systems.

Story Development and Editorial Quality

• Act as the newsroom's final line of defence on grammar, fairness, accuracy, and structure.

• Provide narrative, structural, line-level, and copy edits across the story lifecycle, from pitch to publish.

-Encourage experimentation in storytelling formats: visual explainers, data visuals, interactive databases, first-person features, and impact briefings.

• Support and train reporters in health journalism ethics, metadata tagging, CMS workflows (Drupal), and multi-platform adaptation.

Strategic Editorial Planning

• Own and maintain the editorial calendar, coordinating coverage around campaigns, breaking news, research releases, policy developments, and audience needs.

• Guide special projects, series development, and longform features, including cross-platform storytelling with social-first adaptations.

• Lead long-term planning processes — from quarterly publishing targets to annual thematic campaigns (e.g., neglected diseases, reproductive health access).

• Partner with the Editor-in-Chief on strategic initiatives, including content strategy, editorial performance tracking, and

commissioning experiments.

Cross-Team Collaboration

• Serve as the editorial liaison with engagement, product, design, partnerships, and fellowship teams to ensure the content is optimised for reach and relevance.

• Co-design workflows for smooth production and publishing across CMS, social media, newsletters, and syndication partners.

• Collaborate with audience development and SEO teams to ensure stories are discoverable and user-focused.

Team Development and Newsroom Culture

• Build a collaborative, ambitious newsroom

culture grounded in editorial excellence, feedback, and experimentation.

• Plan and lead editorial trainings, source

audits, writing clinics, and professional development sessions.

• Represent editorial priorities in

cross-departmental meetings and leadership forums.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• A minimum of 8 years in journalism, including 3+ years in senior editing or newsroom leadership roles.
• Proven track record editing fast-turnaround stories, deep features, and investigations — especially in public interest or policy-driven journalism.
• Excellent editing skills across all levels: narrative structuring, fact-checking, tone, grammar, clarity, fairness, and balance.
• Demonstrated experience managing teams, editorial calendars, and workflows across publishing platforms.
• Familiarity with CMS systems (Drupal preferred), newsletter editing, and visual/multimedia coordination.
• Comfortable managing complex or sensitive stories that require the protection of sources and rigorous ethical standards.
• Highly collaborative: works well with editorial, engagement, partnerships, and operations teams.
• A deep interest in and understanding of health, policy, and social justice issues in Kenya or the wider African context.

BONUS SKILLS

• A background in public health or any of the biomedical sciences.
• Experience as a reporter in health, science, investigative, or human rights journalism.
• Knowledge of SEO, analytics tools, or metadata systems.
• Experience managing freelancers and syndication partners.
• Competence in data journalism or working with visual designers on story packages.