Senior Editor

R Street Institute Senior Editor
Location Washington DC
Application deadline 31 March 2021
Contract type Permanent
Hours Full-time
Salary TBD
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The R Street Institute—a free-market think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with regional offices across the country—seeks an energetic and self-motivated senior editor with demonstrated experience editing scholarly research, op-eds and/or magazine and journal articles. If you are the right fit, you will report to the director of research publications. If you want to join an energetic organization and do something extraordinary, we are looking for someone like you!

The role

Your typical day at R Street may include editing our various scholarly publications and shepherding them through the publication process; working closely with our policy teams to maximize the impact of their scholarship, and to ensure the rigor and accuracy of our policy products; and helping the editorial director to create, manage and refine departmental processes. This role is nested within the Editorial department, which is housed alongside R Street’s policy team. Please note this is not a policy writing position and, as such, does not require a political or ideological affiliation representative of our policy positions. We believe the strongest candidates will be those who can approach our scholarship with a critical lens.

Key roles and responsibilities

Key aspects of your role:

  • Receive, review and edit white papers, policy shorts, the R Street Responds review series and one-pagers
  • Liaise between the policy team and external contractors, including graphic designers
    Work with authors to improve content and style where needed
  • Ensure all final copy is ready for publication, appropriate for target audiences and consistent with house style guidelines and R Street’s mission
  • Assist with rapid-response editing (op-eds and blog posts) as needed
  • Help director of research publications with the upkeep of the editorial calendar, the creation of departmental materials, updating the house style guide and other administrative tasks as necessary

Experience and skills

  • At least 5-7 years of experience, specifically either as a public policy or academic editor
  • A keen sense of effective argumentation, an ability to approach complex issues objectively and a desire to work toward real solutions
  • A near-obsessive attention to detail, and a willingness to learn and consistently apply the R Street style guide
  • Basic familiarity or polymath’s interest in major debates within R Street’s policy areas
  • A bachelor’s degree in English, journalism or political science (or related field) is required
  • Because a familiarity with scholarly research and writing is necessary to perform the duties of the position, the ideal candidate will have an advanced degree in English, or a related field
  • Fluency in AP Style is a must, as is a working knowledge of Chicago and/or MLA. R Street has its own house style guide, which you’ll be required to learn, but it is based upon a hybrid of these styles and existing familiarity with them will ease the learning curve
  • A knowledge of Bluebook is a bonus, but not required
  • A sense of humor and a desire to grow with a dynamic organization
  • A desire to work as part of a highly functional and productive team
  • Profound love of cats specifically encouraged

Other useful information

We understand that people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. If you believe you have the transferable skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of this role, we encourage you to apply.

Workplace

This is a full-time position that is fully remote. Currently, our Washington, D.C. offices are closed due to the pandemic.

R Street strives to provide a compensation package superior to those at other think tanks and nonprofits. In addition to a competitive salary, we provide a health insurance option entirely paid by the employer (even for families); wellness benefit; employer-subsidized mobile phones benefit; 401(k) contributions with up to a 4 percent match; and an exceptionally generous vacation policy.

R Street does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, era of military service, gender identity or anything else that’s illegal, immoral or stupid to use as a basis for hiring.

We currently plan to accept applications for this job until filled. We will contact qualified individuals for telephone interviews and conduct them on a rolling basis. Due to COVID-19, we will hold interviews virtually, via Zoom, until our D.C. office reopens.