Assistant Editor, Fine Arts

About the role

The New York Times is hiring an Assistant Editor, Fine Arts to strengthen and expand coverage across visual art, architecture, design, museums, art institutions and auctions. The role is centered on ambitious, distinctive journalism for a wide and curious audience, including stories that explore the relationship between art, politics, power, culture and new media such as artificial intelligence.

This position is based in New York City and follows a hybrid schedule, with in-office attendance required at least four days per week.

What you’ll do

• Spot and rank the most important fine arts stories, ranging from urgent developments to longer-term investigations, profiles and criticism.
• Commission, edit and refine daily art coverage across news, features, reviews, service journalism, visual projects and larger enterprise work.
• Oversee reporting on museums, galleries, auction houses and nonprofit arts organizations across the U.S. and Europe.
• React to breaking developments in the art world by assigning explainers, analysis and other context-rich coverage.
• Plan advance obituary coverage for notable figures in the arts.
• Work with the European cultural editor on major events such as biennales and museum openings.
• Lead and guide at least one critic.
• Commission, schedule and edit freelance reviews for Weekend Arts, including the weekly Galleries section.
• Develop feature ideas and profiles for the weekly Arts & Leisure page.
• Partner with photo, design, visual and video teams on stories that appear in multiple formats.
• Help build a collaborative and inclusive desk culture through clear communication, thoughtful feedback and high editorial standards.
• Support journalistic independence and the company’s mission to help readers understand the world.

What we’re looking for

The ideal candidate brings deep knowledge of fine arts and art institutions, strong editing judgment across platforms, and a proven ability to guide journalism of a high standard. You should be comfortable making editorial decisions under pressure, managing several moving stories at once and coordinating smoothly across teams.

Qualifications

• 7 to 10 years of editing experience, preferably in a newsroom setting.
• Strong familiarity with visual art and a genuine interest in the field.
• Experience editing a range of story types and formats.
• Ability to handle deadlines, balance multiple assignments and make sound editorial calls under pressure.
• Excellent communication and organizational ability, including the capacity to manage complex workflows and work across teams.
• Preferred: experience coaching or managing journalists from pitch to publication.
• Preferred: experience collaborating with visual, audio and video teams on digital storytelling, plus openness to experimentation with new formats.
• Preferred: familiarity with Times style, standards and editorial independence.
• Preferred: ability to build strong cross-desk working relationships in a large newsroom.
• Preferred: commitment to growing arts readership and making coverage accessible, surprising and essential to a global audience.

Compensation and benefits

The annual base salary for this role is $150,000 to $175,000 USD. Depending on the role, U.S. employees may also be eligible for variable pay such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts, a company-matching 401(k), paid vacation, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs. For roles outside the U.S., benefits information is shared during the interview process.

Application expectations

Applicants are expected to submit original work and avoid using generative AI tools to create substantive application or interview materials. The company is committed to equal opportunity, fair consideration and reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. Candidates with criminal histories are encouraged to apply, subject to applicable fair chance laws. Legitimate hiring activity is handled through the company’s careers process, and applicants should be cautious of fraudulent postings or requests for payment.