Senior Editorial Manager

WestEd Career • Alameda, CA

1d • Remote

About The Position

The Senior Editorial Manager leads WestEd’s editorial team and ensures that high-visibility products are delivered on time and meet rigorous quality standards. The role supports WestEd’s credibility as a nonpartisan, mission-driven research agency by ensuring content is accurate, objective, and grounded in evidence. It combines hands-on developmental editing and project management with leadership of an experienced editorial team and agency-wide guidance on writing, editorial standards, and quality assurance (QA).

The approximate distribution of work is 35% developmental editing, 35% project management, 15% editorial team leadership, 10% agency guidance on writing, editing, and product development, and 5% additional editorial and Communications work. Priorities may shift week to week, and delivery of high-visibility products takes precedence when priorities conflict. The role leads four direct reports and works with project staff, authors, designers, proofreaders, accessibility experts, and Communications colleagues.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• At least 8 years of experience in roles where developmental editing of nonfiction publications, such as reports, briefs, or practitioner guides, was a core responsibility.
• Experience supervising, leading, or directing the work of others.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects, including scoping, prioritizing, assigning, and coordinating the work of others to meet deadlines.
• Exceptional developmental editing skills.
• Ability to quickly understand complex research content and assess whether claims are supported by evidence.
• 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.
• 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 working relationships, negotiate timelines and scope creatively, and maintain QA standards.
• Ability to coach authors and editors to improve their skills.
• Ability to delegate, empower others, and build on colleagues’ expertise while making clear, timely decisions.
• Ability to manage externally imposed timelines and deliver products on time while maintaining quality standards.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.
• Must complete WestEd’s criminal background check, fingerprint validation, and education verification, with employment offers contingent on a clear background check in accordance with applicable law.

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

• Provide developmental editing for high-visibility, complex, and sensitive products, including research and evaluation reports, policy briefs, practitioner guides, infographics, and agency collateral materials.
• Ensure products are clear, useful for their intended audience, accurate, objective, evidence-based, and appropriately qualified.
• Diagnose and 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 to improve products and strengthen their writing skills.
• Lead intake for new products by assessing scope, complexity, and editorial support needs, and arrange intake meetings when further clarification is needed.
• Serve as the editorial team’s primary contact for project staff and leaders; provide estimates and planning information, negotiate timelines and scope, and partner on scoping and funding editorial capacity.
• Allocate labor across concurrent projects, balancing editing, design, proofreading, and accessibility capacity.
• Project-manage products that are not assigned a developmental editor; track work in Asana, anticipate bottlenecks, and coordinate staff to resolve them.
• Evaluate and refine intake, estimation, prioritization, and QA workflow standards and processes to support on-time delivery.
• Lead four direct reports by setting expectations, giving candid feedback, supporting professional development and job satisfaction, conducting performance reviews, and delegating decisions and problem-solving.
• Consult the editorial team on standards, processes, workload, and priorities; provide guidance on complex or sensitive editorial issues and make final decisions when needed.
• Maintain quality and consistency across the team’s work, identify recurring issues, and coach team members on editorial judgment and craft.
• Set expectations for responsible AI use in editing and help the team develop critical and effective AI skills.
• Participate in hiring and onboarding, engage contractors when appropriate, and advocate for additional staffing when warranted by workload.
• Communicate QA expectations and clarify Communications processes for high-visibility products across the agency.
• Provide agency-wide guidance on responsible AI use in writing, including training and internal resources, and identify ways to strengthen writing through training, tools, and guidance.
• Raise and help resolve concerns about accuracy, objectivity, nonpartisan stance, and evidentiary support for claims.
• Lead decisions on WestEd’s house style in consultation with the editorial team.
• Serve on the Communications leadership team and help make strategic decisions about the department’s work and support for the agency.
• Edit or contribute to high-stakes funding proposals, RFP responses, and agency materials such as capacity statements, annual reports, and web content.

Benefits

• 15% contribution toward retirement effective 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 paid time off, increasing to 21 days beginning 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