We’re looking forward to a busy 2026 here at Silver Bulletin, with the midterm elections, the World Cup, and an increasing number of other sports and politics-related models that run continuously on the site. We’d also like to slightly increase the number of newsletters that we publish per week.
Therefore, we’re hoping to find a great new colleague and hire an Associate Editor. The role will initially be part-time, but could expand to full-time in the future.
We will conduct interviews for the position in January. But because the job has some relatively specific requirements, we’re posting this job listing now in the hopes of giving it more time to circulate to the right candidates. The deadline to apply is Friday, December 12.
There are three hard-and-fast requirements for this position.
We need someone with at least some experience as an editor, meaning editing and refining content written by others. This is not a writing position.
We need someone with a demonstrated interest in at least some of the topics Silver Bulletin regularly covers, particularly electoral politics and sports (and to a lesser extent, AI, public policy, and economics). Our approach to these topics is often relatively technical, and the Associate Editor should be familiar with statistical concepts, terminology and methods.
We need someone with a precise eye for data and statistics — and someone who’s otherwise generally a stickler for details. The Associate Editor will often be asked to review data visualizations and perform quality control on the data that populates our models and articles, as well as serving as a backup to other staffers in collecting and maintaining these databases.
Specific tasks
Editing posts for style and factual accuracy before they’re published or backreading them afterward. For articles written by me (Nate) or published on quick turnarounds, this will more often be a backread. For most other stories, you’d be the pivot person, working with the writer through one or two drafts.
Commissioning and editing freelance articles and developing a stable of outside contributors.
Helping to develop and implement a Silver Bulletin style guide.
Serving as a sounding board for the overall direction of the newsletter or when we’re publishing stories on challenging topics.
Assisting with editorial planning, with a focus on serving the needs of different types of Silver Bulletin readers (e.g., free versus paid subscribers, politics versus sports). Ironically, we are not particularly “data-driven” when evaluating story performance (and we don’t want to be). But this will sometimes involve reviewing audience statistics.
Reviewing statistical data that appears on the site, especially in our models.
Assisting with headlines and photo/image selection.
Assisting with charts and tables.
Serving as a backstop for research and database tasks. You don’t have to be proficient in statistical modeling, but there will be various ways in which you’ll be asked to help keep the models up to date.
Job requirements
At least two years of experience in an editing role, whether in a traditional journalism setting, for another newsletter or journalism startup, or in a leadership position for a college or community newspaper.
Generally flexible during typical US weekday business hours, plus additional availability for special events or breaking news. We recognize this is initially a part-time job, and we’re happy to work around your schedule, but this isn’t a nighttime-and-weekends type of role. The hours will be higher in the weeks preceding the 2026 midterms.
Proficiency with data and statistics.
Good BS detector.
Broad compatibility with the editorial approach of Silver Bulletin. I don’t care about your politics, but you should vibe with the tone of the site and be interested in the topics that we write about regularly.
Eligible to work in the US. Continental US time zone strongly preferred.
Hours and compensation
$45-55/hour, will vary based on experience level.
Expected commitment of +/- 15-20 hours/week — this will vary based on schedules and product timelines. I’m happy to go higher than this if we’re getting a lot done.
Paid monthly, with a minimum guarantee of 50 hours (i.e. I will pay you for 50 hours even if we don’t use all of them) with threshold prorated if employment begins in the middle of the month.
Target start date is Feb. 1, 2026, but this is flexible at plus or minus a few weeks.
The working job title is Associate Editor, but we can tweak this if there’s something else you prefer.
How to apply
Email me at NATE DOT SILVER DOT MEDIA at GMAIL DOT COM.
Include the name of the position in the subject heading of the email.
Use your judgment on which materials to include, with the recognition that brevity (putting your best foot forward) and demonstrated evidence of capabilities go a long way.
I am expecting to use a two-stage process:
Stage 1. Identify semifinalists and conduct follow-up interviews by Zoom. Please do not be discouraged if you are not a semi-finalist; we’re usually fortunate to have plenty of great candidates.
Stage 2. Identify finalists and have them edit a sample article on a 2-3 business day turnaround — I will pay you at $45/hour for the sample article even if you aren’t chosen.
The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Friday, December 12. I do not expect to contact applicants in advance of the deadline, so please don’t read anything into this! We recognize that December is a busy month, so we’ll schedule interviews for early January.