Publications Specialist Level 2 — Magazine Editor

Venesco • Mc Lean, VA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

You will run a Federal agency's flagship full-color quarterly magazine — a publication read by transportation professionals worldwide, including State and local transportation officials, researchers, industry leaders, academia, and members of Congress. This is a senior role that combines the logistics of a quarterly publication cycle with high-level editorial judgment. Multiple issues run concurrently, so you will be closing one issue, producing another, and planning a third at the same time. You own the production schedule, the approval chain, and the final quality of what goes out the door. You are also the connective tissue of the program: between authors and designers, between technical reviewers and legal counsel, between the editorial calendar and the marketing calendar.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, English, Journalism, or a closely related field.
• A minimum of 7 to 10 years of progressively responsible experience in editorial and publication management.
• A proven track record of overseeing the production of a periodical, preferably a technical or specialty publication such as a transportation or research journal.
• Demonstrated experience managing a recurring publication cycle end to end, including production scheduling and version tracking through a multi-stakeholder approval chain.
• Demonstrated Section 508 compliance experience in published content.
• Expertise in project management for recurring publication cycles.
• Advanced proficiency in substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading.
• Deep understanding of Section 508 compliance and Federal publishing standards.
• Ability to manage complex approval workflows and coordinate between technical and creative teams.
• Comfort with editorial tracking systems, spreadsheets, and database reporting.

Nice To Haves

• A Master's degree or an equivalent advanced professional certification is highly desirable.
• Experience with a Federal or Government-sponsored publication.
• Experience in transportation, especially highway and surface transportation research.
• Experience coordinating with a design and layout team working in Adobe InDesign.
• Experience conducting author and subject matter expert interviews to develop feature content.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the complete magazine lifecycle for four issues per year — feature articles, regular departments, and special thematic issues.
• Establish and hold production schedules, manage the publication cycle, and systematically track article versions through the full approval chain.
• Coordinate and manage resources so each issue delivers by its due date while multiple issues run concurrently.
• Provide high-level editorial support at all stages of production, assisting with content development and promotional materials.
• Develop and write or edit feature articles, department content, announcements, summaries, and associated communications products.
• Apply strict version control and quality assurance throughout editing and document production.
• Gather and track story ideas, conduct interviews to verify or gather information, and organize stories across issues.
• Compile a summary of proposed featured stories for Editorial Board review.
• Work with authors to ensure all necessary materials are received, arrange technical reviews, and validate that review feedback was incorporated.
• Coordinate with printing specialists, copyright liaisons, Section 508 compliance officers, public affairs specialists, writers, editors, visual designers, and web developers.
• Ensure every article and the complete magazine adhere to the GPO Style Manual, the Chicago Manual of Style, the TFHRC RD&T Communication Reference Guide, and Section 508 accessibility requirements.
• Confirm all necessary sign-offs and approvals are secured before public release, including management, legal counsel, and public affairs.
• Manage complex review processes involving multiple stakeholders with competing timelines.
• Manage the administrative aspects of distribution and formatting specifications.
• Support posting the magazine to the web and distributing it through the agency's subscription platform.
• Deliver an archive package of digital files for each issue — a web file, a file copy, and any additional archive copies including layout files, fonts, and images.
• Monitor mailboxes and customer feedback mechanisms, respond to inquiries, and maintain project spreadsheets and reviewer contact lists.

Benefits

• A USDOT badge is required, which means a favorable HSPD-12 / PIV background check at the low risk / non-sensitive level — a National Agency Check with Inquiries including fingerprinting, covering the past five years.

What This Job Offers

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