Lead Editor

Date Posted	January 19, 2026
Industry	Digital Media
Specialty	Editorial
Remote / Telecommute	Telecommute
Job Status	Full-time
Salary	Negotiable

Description:

LEAD EDITOR — ORATO MEDIA

Remote | Full-Time | Leadership Role
First-Person News. True Stories. Real People.

Orato Mission Statement

To serve humans specifically and humanity generally by providing trusted, comprehensive, and objective news and information and thereby fostering an informed and engaged society. 

We are dedicated to educating, inspiring, and connecting people of all backgrounds worldwide, through reliable journalism and high-quality programming that reflects the diversity of human perspectives and promotes understanding of newsworthy events, ideas, and cultures. 

We commit to maintaining editorial integrity, adhering to scientifically proven facts, supporting democratic values, enriching lives through education, our content, the arts, and empowering all individuals to participate fully in civic, cultural, and social life in our pursuit of fair and free societies. 

To generate solidarity in humanity, safeguard our moral values and challenge the dysfunctionality in functioning democracies. 

About Orato

Orato exists to help people tell their own stories. 

At Orato, we publish first-person news-story accounts from around the world — stories of conflict, resilience, injustice, courage, and moments that change lives and written in the words of the person who experienced the event.

Our contributors include survivors, witnesses, and everyday people whose stories rarely make it into mainstream newsrooms. Our work is rooted in dignity, trust, accuracy, and compassion.

We are rebuilding our newsroom and looking for a Lead Editor who understands the weight and the honour of shaping lived-experiences journalism. With over 2800 stories published at orato.world, our aim is to perfect and establish the art of first-person news storytelling to provide a human-centric angle to current events around the globe.  

The Role

The Lead Editor will guide Orato’s editorial vision, manage story flow, support contributors, recruit and inspire the editorial team, and ensure that every story we publish is accurate, responsible, compelling and deeply human.

This role blends editorial craft, leadership, SEO fluency, training, and system-building. You will help Orato evolve into a self-sustaining, modern global newsroom — organized, ethical, and contributor-centered platform which celebrates the critical and unique role journalists play in giving a voice to the oppressed and holding those in power to account. 

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Orato’s editorial strategy and maintain the highest and most ethical standards in first-person news story journalism.

• Appeal to a new generation of journalists who have embraced all of the advances technology has had on the publishing world without sacrificing any of the timeless standards which make up ethical journalism. 

• Edit, refine, and publish stories on WordPress with attention to clarity, structure, and emotional truth along with all of the multimedia assets which enhances the appeal of the stories being told. 

• Fact-check all submissions and ensure rigorous verification, ethics, and responsible reporting has been upheld by all our correspondents.

• Train new journalists in first-person storytelling, interviewing, narrative craft, and ethical decision-making and with the benefit of online tutorials. 

• Develop and update a complete training curriculum for training purposes and use by every contributor.

• Run recurring onboarding sessions for small groups of journalists joining our Slack workspace.

• Author an OpEd column illustrating the critical importance of journalism in fair and free societies and the risks that journalists take by practicing their ancient vocation.    

• Manage a global contributor community, including re-engaging existing writers and welcoming new ones.

• Hire and mentor writers to build a strong, dependable contributor base.

• Create and maintain editorial guidelines that support consistency and quality.

• Optimize stories for SEO using best practices that amplify visibility without compromising authenticity.

• Oversee a smooth editorial workflow from pitch to publication, ensuring clear communication and timely delivery.

• Organize and manage assets including multimedia images, captions, fact sheets, and publishing materials.

• Collaborate with leadership to shape Orato’s long-term editorial identity and growth.

• Work independently and proactively, bringing steadiness, clarity, and structure to the newsroom.

• Represent Orato Media as a global ambassador in events around the world which promotes our mission and allows us to proliferate the brand and become a self-sustaining legacy media venture dedicated to the benefit of humanity.  

Who You Are

We’re looking for someone who leads with empathy, clarity, passion and conviction.

You are:

• An experienced and accomplished editor / journalist comfortable guiding writers through sensitive human stories

• Highly organized, thoughtful, self-motivated and can manage many moving parts at once

• SEO-aware and confident shaping stories for digital audiences

• Skilled in WordPress, Slack, and collaborative editorial tools

• A patient mentor who enjoys helping early-career writers grow

• Someone who values ethical journalism and treats lived experience with due-respect

• Able to work independently, make decisions, and build systems from scratch

• Aligned with Orato’s vision and values. 

• Technologically savvy. 

Experience with trauma-informed reporting, human rights, global storytelling, or narrative nonfiction is a plus.

How to Apply

Please send to publisher@orato.world

Subject: Lead Editor Application

• A brief introduction about who you are and why first-person journalism resonates with you

• Your CV or LinkedIn profile

• 2–3 published articles and editing samples or links to work you’ve overseen

*** Compensation will be based on your experience and editorial accomplishments, in line with the seniority of this role.