openDemocracy is seeking a Security Editor to help re-shape a new Section on the openDemocracy website on security & reconciliation

Role: Security Editor

Salary: £20,000 (4 days a week)

Location: Working mainly from home but in/near London advantage...

openDemocracy is re-shaping its security coverage which was born out of the devastating March 2004 terrorist attacks on Madrid. We began by inviting 100 people from twelve countries to discuss the meaning and implications of these events, from an early stage arguing against the transgressions of civil liberties and legal process that accompanied the war on terror.

A longstanding demand of our contributors has been for transparency and freedom of information in the security sector and for democratic control of foreign and security policy. We have looked for practical proposals that can be debated by a worldwide readership that wants democratic solutions to security problems.

We want to help generate debate on what democratic security services should look like at the local, national and international level. Calling on experts and practitioners to put forward practical yet imaginative proposals for how security services can be organised and their use legitimately governed will be a primary objective for 2012.

In order to expand our coverage we are appointing two editors, one focusing on Reconciliation and the other on Security. In the latter we are looking for someone sympathetic to the founding aims of the project as described above, principally the democratisation of security services and policy. The editor will work in coordination with the reconciliation editor, openSecurity’s founding editor - now associate editor - Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal, and openDemocracy editor Rosemary Bechler.

Job description for openSecurity editor:

We are looking for a creative, self-starting individual who wants to lead and take responsibility for a high-profile editorial project.

Requirements:

● Essential

○ Excellent written English and a willingness to write

○ A desire to engage in public debate

○ In depth knowledge of the field of security studies or similar

○ Competence in IT

○ Ability to manage budgets

● Desirable

○ Editing experience

○ Fundraising experience

○ Web publishing skills

Tasks:

● Direction

○ Set editorial agenda

○ Help form and work in conjunction with the advisory board

○ Build relationships in the fields of security studies and peacebuilding and reconciliation, including possible partner organisations where appropriate.

○ Expand readership and strengthen reputation and relationship with readers

● Content

○ Manage overall content and publishing flow, structuring content into themed debates.

○ Commission, edit and publish at least two articles per week, c. 1500 words

○ Write weekly security briefing giving personal judgements and making sense of latest developments in the field, c. 800 words

○ Respond to and encourage submissions, editing and publishing the best

● Funding

○ Manage our compliance with all requirements of our current funding, including monthly report-backs.

○ Raise funding for next year

If you are interested, please email security(AT)openDemocracy.net detailing your motivation and relevant experience.