Executive Editor for Scholarly Journal on National Security

The Texas National Security Review (TNSR, https://tnsr.org) is seeking a motivated, detail-oriented, and energetic executive editor. We are looking for candidates eager to lead what has become one of the world’s premier journals on international security. This is a full-time role.

This is not a remote position. We are on a hybrid schedule of three days a week in the office (T, W, Th) in Washington, DC. We will therefore only consider candidates who live in the Washington metro area or who are willing to relocate there. This role also requires travel to major academic conferences relevant to the journal's mission.

The Position

The executive editor reports directly to Ryan Evans, the journal’s publisher. The executive editor also coordinates closely with editorial board chair, as well as the leadership staff at the Clements Center for National Security and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law -- both at the University of Texas, Austin. The executive editor also supervises our managing editor and production editor, as well as our part-time associate editors, who play a key role in shepherding manuscripts through the editorial process.

The executive editor will be primarily responsible for the following:

• Soliciting excellent manuscripts from both emerging and top scholars and key policymakers, and making timely and constructive decisions on suitability and peer review
• Ensuring and improving TNSR’s “best in field” reputation for constructive and timely peer review and time from submission to publication
• Serving as an intellectual spokesperson and evangelizer for TNSR, especially to academic audiences
• Creating day-to-day editorial, production, communication, and management processes to maintain and build upon TNSR’s intellectual vision and reputation for excellence
• Tracking submissions, as well as demographic data, and producing regular data-informed reports on performance

This job requires intellectual curiosity as well as stellar management and communication skills. The ideal candidate will be curious to identify and explore the world’s biggest questions, enjoy working with the world’s best scholars and practitioners, be committed to building TNSR’s brand and audience, and have a desire to challenge the stale customs of academic publishing.

About the Publication

TNSR is a print and online journal is dedicated to publishing accessible, rigorous, peer-reviewed scholarship relevant to international and national security policy from a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, as well as insightful articles from leading policy professionals. TNSR is dedicated to providing an influential, widely read platform for thoughtful decision-makers, national security professionals, and scholars. TNSR is produced by War on the Rocks in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. War on the Rocks is the flagship publication of Metamorphic Media, a D.C.-based media company.

A cover letter is required, along with your CV. In your cover letter, please include an amusing story about yourself. If the job website you see this on does not allow you to submit a cover letter, apply at this website instead. Before applying, please read "Who We Are, What We Do, and Why You Should Care," from our first issue.

Metamorphic Media is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any classification protected by federal, state, or local law.

Requirements

• Three years of editorial experience. This does not mean you need to have been employed as an editor, but you should be able to demonstrate that a past position has involved serious and sustained wordsmithing
• Strong background in history, international relations, security studies, and/or strategic studies. This must include familiarity with the relevant academic literature
• A Ph.D. in one of these fields, or a closely related one
• Exceptional and obsessive attention to detail
• Cross-disciplinary credentials and familiarity with historical and ongoing strategic debates in the United States
• Exceptional and elegant written English
• Patience and rigor
• Ability to work collegially with others and flexibly as part of a small team
• Right to work in the United States

Preferred

• A record of practitioner experience — in civilian government service, as a Congressional staff member, as a policymaker, in the armed services, or a combination of these
• Experience managing non-academic projects, processes, and people

Benefits

• Fully covered medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums
• Competitive salary
• Annual bonuses