LA Times is hiring: editorial writer

The Times' opinion side posted an opening Monday for a member of the editorial board, a fancy way of saying the person will write editorials and help decide positions. It's a digital job now — not that the Times opinion department does all that much online.

To: The Staff
From: Nick Goldberg, Editorial Page Editor

The Editorial Page is seeking to hire a new member of the editorial board.

This person will join a team of writers and editors who meet several times a week to determine and articulate the editorial positions of the newspaper, both in print and on the Web. As with every other job at the paper, this is a multimedia, multi-platform position. An editorial writer’s job is to conceive and shape editorials, defend them before the board, and to report and write them – but also to write for our blog and to devise digital projects that expand on the concept of the traditional editorial.

Some members of the editorial board are generalists; others are experts in a particular subject area. If you have a special area of proficiency, by all means let us know. But potential candidates shouldn’t let a lack of expertise be an impediment to applying.

The ideal candidate is both a clear thinker and a powerful writer, intrigued by the challenge of squeezing complex arguments into a short space. Editorials require nuance and logic and intellectual honesty, but they also need to be authoritative, passionate and engaging. Opinion blog posts require cleverness, news judgment and a lively writing style, but they also demand clarity of thought.

The board forges its opinions as a team, so we’re looking for someone who is articulate, open-minded, flexible and collegial.

This is a demanding job, but it’s also one of the best at the paper (in our opinion). It is a serious and thoughtful job, and an influential one, and the person who takes it will be joining a great group of people.

The job reports to Nick Goldberg, the Editorial Page editor.