Senior Editor, Khmer Desk (DC)

Overview

Job Title: Senior Editor, Khmer Desk

Department: Editorial, Khmer Desk

Reports To: Editor in Charge

FLSA Status: Exempt

Location: Washington, DC | Hybrid

Schedule: Full-Time

 

Job Summary

 

The Senior Editor is the Khmer desk's final editorial gatekeeper. Every story that reaches RFA's audiences has passed through this role: reviewed for accuracy, edited for clarity and standards compliance, correctly formatted, and published to the right platforms at the right time. This is a high-pressure, high-accountability role combining precision editing with real-time output management.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

 

• Review and edit all stories before publication, ensuring accuracy, sourcing integrity, editorial standards compliance, and proper format across all platforms (web, social, shortwave, video).
• Manage Khmer desk's publishing queue: sequence stories, coordinate publication timing, and maintain steady output across platforms.
• Apply and uphold RFA's editorial style guide, language standards, and visual guidelines for all published content.
• Flag stories requiring escalation — standards concerns to the Standards Editor, safety concerns to the Safety Director, legal concerns to General Counsel — before publication.
• Maintain CMS discipline: ensure all published content carries accurate metadata, captions, tags, and cross-links.
• Work colleagues on A/V output, ensuring broadcast and video content meets technical and editorial standards before air or publication.
• Contribute to training and standards development: flag recurring issues to the Editor in Charge and help desk journalists improve their adherence to RFA's editorial and format standards.
• Cover senior editorial responsibilities on the desk as directed by the Editor in Charge during absences or surge periods.
• Monitor real-time audience analytics during shift using tools such as Chartbeat or YouTube Analytics, Meta Business Suite; use performance data to adjust story sequencing and placement across platforms.
• Rewrite or test alternative headlines on underperforming stories during the publishing window to improve click-through and readership.
• Optimize short-form video titles and thumbnails based on live engagement data (views, retention, click-through rate) before and after publication.
• Flag high-performing stories to the Editor in Charge, for amplification consideration (social push, newsletter, or cross-desk sharing); include audience highlights in end-of-shift handoff notes. 

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.  
• Demonstrated experience serving as an editorial lead within a news team — guiding reporters and producers through the production cycle, making real-time editorial calls, and maintaining accountability for output quality under deadline pressure.
• Deep substantive knowledge of the desk's coverage region, including its political landscape, geopolitical dynamics, and key actors; the editorial judgment to assess story framing, source credibility, and contextual accuracy requires this knowledge. Established professional networks within the region or diaspora community are strongly valued.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a high-volume publishing workflow under deadline pressure.
• Sound editorial judgment: ability to identify accuracy problems, sourcing gaps, standards violations, and format errors quickly and consistently.
• Familiarity with CMS platforms and multi-platform publishing workflows.
• Fluency in multi-platform publishing: web, social media, video, shortwave, and audio formats.
• Exceptional professional proficiency in written and spoken Khmer, with demonstrated ability to write, edit, review, and approve accurate and clear Khmer - 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.
• Working knowledge of Cambodia's information controls, including censorship, surveillance, and how they affect reporting and audience access 
• Strong ability to work across languages and platforms, including coordinating with English-language editors and other language teams
• Professional working proficiency in English.

Preferred Qualifications

 

• Familiarity with safety and security protocols for journalists working on sensitive stories or in restrictive environments.
• Familiarity with real-time analytics platforms (e.g., Chartbeat, Google Analytics); ability to translate audience data into immediate editorial decisions under deadline pressure.

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.

 

This is a full-time, exempt position based in Washington, DC. Some flexibility in work hours required to accommodate international time zones.

 

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

 

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

 

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.