Senior Technical Editor

BLN24•Mclean, VA

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Technical Editor leads the editorial planning, review, and quality assurance of complex technical publications that support research, engineering, and technology programs. This position ensures technical information is accurate, consistent, accessible, and compliant with established editorial and publication standards while collaborating with authors, researchers, engineers, technical subject matter experts, and Government stakeholders. The Senior Technical Editor also provides editorial leadership and mentoring to ensure the delivery of high-quality print and digital publications.

Requirements

Master’s degree in English, Journalism, Technical Communication, Communications, or a related technical field.
Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible technical editing experience, including supervisory responsibility, editorial project management, and coordination of multiple concurrent publication assignments.
Demonstrated experience managing the complete editorial lifecycle for technical reports, manuals, research publications, digital content, and other communications products.
Expert knowledge of the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) Style Manual, editorial standards, grammar, punctuation, usage, and technical editing best practices.
Experience performing substantive editing, copyediting, proofreading, fact checking, reference verification, and quality assurance for technical publications.
Demonstrated experience ensuring document consistency, technical accuracy, editorial quality, and compliance with Government publication standards.
Experience leading or supervising editorial teams and coordinating multiple concurrent publication projects.
Excellent written communication, organizational, and project coordination skills with exceptional attention to detail.
Experience collaborating effectively with researchers, engineers, scientists, technical subject matter experts, and Government stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting highway, surface transportation, or other transportation-related programs is highly preferred.
Experience supporting federal engineering, scientific research, infrastructure, or technology organizations.
Knowledge of engineering research, technology transfer, scientific publishing, and technical communications within the transportation or infrastructure sectors.
Experience editing engineering reports, research journals, technical manuals, environmental documents, policy publications, or large-scale technical communications programs.
Familiarity with Section 508 accessibility requirements, plain language principles, digital publishing platforms, content management systems (CMS), and web publishing best practices.
Experience supporting both print and digital publication workflows within a federal contracting environment.
Experience establishing editorial quality management processes, standardized review procedures, and publication quality controls.
Professional certifications in technical communication, editing, or project management are desirable.
Ability to lead, mentor, and guide editorial teams while maintaining the highest standards of quality, consistency, and professionalism.
Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading skills with the ability to communicate complex technical information clearly and effectively.
Ability to evaluate technical content for accuracy, clarity, logical organization, and completeness while resolving editorial challenges.
Meticulous focus on grammar, style, formatting, citations, references, technical accuracy, and publication quality.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent publications, coordinate review cycles, and consistently meet deadlines.
Proven ability to work effectively with authors, researchers, engineers, technical subject matter experts, graphic designers, and Government stakeholders to produce high-quality publications.

Responsibilities

Lead the editorial review and quality assurance of technical reports, research publications, engineering documents, manuals, digital content, and communications materials.
Manage the complete editorial lifecycle from manuscript development through final publication, including substantive editing, copyediting, proofreading, fact checking, reference verification, formatting, and publication readiness.
Ensure editorial consistency, technical accuracy, and compliance with organizational style guides, the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) Style Manual, and other applicable publication standards.
Edit complex technical, engineering, scientific, and policy documents to improve clarity, organization, readability, grammar, and overall quality without altering technical intent.
Verify references, citations, source documentation, copyright permissions, and publication compliance to ensure accuracy and integrity.
Collaborate with researchers, engineers, technical subject matter experts, authors, graphic designers, web content specialists, and Government stakeholders throughout the editorial and publication process.
Provide editorial guidance, mentoring, and quality oversight to technical editors, writers, and other communications staff.
Coordinate document reviews, comment resolution, version control, and publication schedules to support timely delivery of high-quality products.
Support digital publishing initiatives by preparing content for web publication and ensuring consistency across print and online communications.
Transform raw data, engineering terminology, technical analyses, and draft materials into accurate, authoritative, and accessible publications without changing the authors’ technical intent.
Recommend, implement, and monitor editorial process improvements, quality control procedures, and best practices that enhance efficiency and publication quality.
Work independently to manage the full document lifecycle from initial outline and manuscript development through technical review, editorial production, final approval, print publication, and online or web publishing.