Associate Director, Editorial

WestEd • Alameda, CA

1d • $140,800 - $176,000 • Remote

About The Position

The Associate Director, Editorial leads WestEd’s editorial team and ensures that high-visibility products are delivered on time and meet rigorous standards for accuracy, objectivity, evidence, and quality. This hands-on role combines developmental editing of complex manuscripts with project intake, planning, prioritization, and coordination across editorial, design, proofreading, and accessibility staff. The Associate Director also leads a team of four direct reports, supports their professional growth, and advises Communications leadership and agency staff on editorial standards, writing, quality assurance, and responsible AI use.

The approximate weekly workload is 35% developmental editing, 35% project management, 15% team leadership, 10% agency guidance, and 5% additional editorial and Communications work. When priorities conflict, delivery of high-visibility products on time takes precedence. The position serves on the Communications leadership team and may edit or contribute to high-stakes proposals, RFP responses, and agency materials.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• At least 10 years of experience in roles where developmental editing of nonfiction publications, such as reports, briefs, or practitioner guides, was the primary responsibility.
• Experience supervising or leading a team.
• Strong project management and prioritization skills, including comfort with project management software and tracking many concurrent projects.
• Ability to set clear expectations and explain constraints and trade-offs to project staff in plain language.
• Exceptional developmental editing skills.
• Ability to quickly understand complex research content and assess whether claims are supported by evidence.
• Sound judgment about appropriate use of AI in editorial work.
• Diplomacy and credibility when giving candid feedback to senior authors and project leaders.
• Client-service orientation and ability to build productive relationships, negotiate timelines and scope, and maintain quality-assurance standards.
• Ability to coach authors and editors to improve their skills.
• Ability to delegate, empower others, and lead collaboratively while making clear and timely decisions.
• Ability to work with externally imposed timelines and deliver products on time while maintaining quality standards.
• Authorization to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree in education, English, public policy, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Knowledge of education and human development fields, research methods, and federal publishing contexts.
• Experience editing research-based publications and ensuring claims are supported by evidence.
• Command of APA, CMOS, and house-style conventions.
• Familiarity with accessibility requirements, including Section 508, in publishing.
• Familiarity with Asana.

Responsibilities

• Developmentally edit high-visibility, complex, and sensitive products, including research and evaluation reports, policy briefs, practitioner guides, infographics, and agency collateral.
• Ensure content is accurate, objective, evidence-based, clear, and appropriately qualified; assess whether claims are supported by evidence.
• Resolve structural problems, improve logic and clarity, draft suggested text, and revise sentences and paragraphs for readability and consistency.
• Collaborate with designers, proofreaders, and accessibility experts to prepare products for public release, identifying accessibility issues and suggesting inclusive adjustments.
• Work iteratively with authors, helping improve both their products and their writing skills.
• Lead intake for new products and publications; assess scope, complexity, and needed editorial support, and arrange intake meetings when clarification is needed.
• Serve as the editorial team’s primary contact for project staff and leaders; provide estimates, negotiate timelines and scope, and coordinate editorial capacity and funding with project leadership.
• Allocate labor across concurrent projects and balance editing, design, proofreading, and accessibility capacity.
• Manage products that do not have an assigned developmental editor; track work in Asana, anticipate bottlenecks, and coordinate staff to resolve them.
• Evaluate and refine intake, estimation, prioritization, and quality-assurance processes to support timely delivery.
• Lead four direct reports, set expectations, provide candid feedback, conduct check-ins and performance reviews, and support professional development and job satisfaction.
• Seek and use the editorial team’s expertise, delegate decisions, resolve escalated editorial issues, and make final decisions when needed.
• Maintain quality and consistency across the team’s work through coaching and guidance on editorial judgment and craft.
• Set expectations for responsible AI use in editing, support staff in developing critical and effective AI skills, and provide agency guidance on AI use in writing.
• Participate in hiring and onboarding, engage contractors when appropriate, and advocate for additional staffing when warranted.
• Communicate quality-assurance expectations and Communications processes for high-visibility products to agency staff.
• Develop ways to strengthen writing across the agency through training, tools, and guidance; consult with the editorial team on WestEd house style.
• Serve on the Communications leadership team and contribute to strategic decisions about departmental work and agency support.
• Edit or contribute to high-stakes funding proposals, RFP responses, capacity statements, annual reports, and web content.

Benefits

• 15% retirement contribution beginning on the first day of employment, immediately 100% vested.
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts and a Health Savings Account option.
• Health and welfare benefits effective the first of the month following the hire date.
• 19 days of PTO, increasing to 21 days beginning in the third year of employment.
• 12 paid holidays.
• Life insurance valued at three times gross salary, up to $500,000.
• Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases and annual incentives.
• Professional development opportunities and a mentorship program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior