Senior Editor

Job Description

Job Summary:

As the Senior Editor, your primary duty will be to review WRI knowledge products early in the review process and assess whether they need a substantive edit. Substantive editing involves ensuring that drafts follow a logical structure, demonstrate clear narrative flow and concise text free of repetition and jargon, and meet WRI’s mandatory word limits where appropriate. (Copyediting of final drafts before production is a separate operation, which is performed by external contract copyeditors.) Another important duty of the Senior Editor will be for you to screen the WRI Working Papers before they enter internal/external review to ensure that they are clearly understandable to reviewers and contain certain essential sections such as an executive summary, a methodology section, and conclusions or recommendations that are firmly based on the evidence presented in the paper. Where appropriate, you will provide feedback and coaching to authors (at all levels of seniority) to assist with strengthening the quality of their draft knowledge products. You will also work with global directors and their deputies to promote WRI’s research standards with a special focus on writing skills. You will lead a new initiative to help develop and launch a set of writing coaching workshops, to be delivered in person or online, and “train the trainers” so that RDI staff in WRI’s international offices can also conduct the workshops in their own countries.

This position is remote due to Covid-19, but you will be based at WRI’s office in Washington, DC once restrictions have lifted with the possibility to be continued as remote if the candidate lives on the east coast. We can also consider candidates based in The Netherlands or the UK if they are flexible to work during ET office hours.

Job Responsibilities:

Analytical screening and, where necessary, editing of WRI’s Working Papers (60%)

• Screen and review draft Working Papers to determine whether they are ready for review: standard of written English is acceptable, structure is in line with WRI guidelines, and approach, methodology, conclusions, and recommendations are robust.
• Provide constructive feedback and mentoring to authors and their directors where revisions are deemed necessary.
• Provide light editing as needed.

Substantive editing of WRI’s knowledge products (20%)

• Review additional types of WRI knowledge products (reports, guides, issue briefs, among others) when requested to assess the quality of writing and effectiveness of message communication and determine whether substantive editing is needed in addition to mandatory copyediting.
• Undertake substantive edits of WRI publications that do not meet research standards. Such editing includes ensuring a logical narrative flow, concise style, consistent and appropriate tone for the target audience, clear messaging, and overall readability (elimination of jargon, overuse of abbreviations, and superfluous content). In addition, editing will include review of visuals, typically graphical presentation of data.
• Commission and manage substantive editing services from external contractors when time does not permit editing in house.
• Provide constructive comments and feedback to improve publication plans and manuscripts.

Writing training and mentoring (10%)

• Provide coaching and mentoring support for WRI authors, including staff training sessions in effective structuring and writing of knowledge products, including in international offices.
• Work with WRI’s Human Resources staff to build out existing writing coaching materials and develop a body of self-paced training modules and group-setting workshops/seminars.
• The successful candidate will deliver some of the workshops, in person and/or online, and will work with RDI leads in WRI’s international offices to help them deliver training in their countries.
• Many trainees in both the global (Washington, DC) and international offices are non-native English speakers who generally possess excellent spoken English skills but who lack training in written English style.

Other (10%)

• Contribute to the RDI team’s efforts to foster a culture of excellence in research, including the design and operation of efficient and effective review processes.  
• Provide writing/editorial support on articles, blog posts, speeches, proposals, strategies, and other materials for the Vice President of Research, Data, and Innovation.

Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in English, Journalism, Communications or another writing intensive discipline. 
• Strong skills, including 8 years of experience in technical writing and editing for broad audience such as business, policy, technical and international audiences.  
• Excellent analytical and critical review skills.
• Ability to work flexibly, quickly, and under tight deadlines, while providing constructive and patient feedback to authors.
• Demonstrated knowledge of environmental and international development issues, and support for WRI’s core goals.
• Inter-personal skills and confidence to interact with, and influence senior staff, in the pursuit of consistent high standards of research excellence.
• Experience with research methods in the social and environmental sciences preferred.

Potential Salary:

$96,000 - $130,000. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

How to Apply:

Please submit a resume with cover letter. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. All applications must include a formal cover letter for this position, which will be deemed the first writing sample in consideration for the position. Additional writing samples will be required. Finalists will be required to take a writing and editing test.
Deadline for applications 4th April 2022.
Program Overview:

WRI is one of the few nongovernmental organizations with central staff dedicated to creating a strong learning culture and ensuring research excellence across programs and international offices. The Research, Data, and Innovation team oversees a rigorous quality assurance process for all knowledge products bearing the WRI logo and supports over 800 researchers across the Institute in their research projects, from proposal writing to polishing a final draft. WRI puts its research publications through a rigorous, centralized peer review process, both internally and among external experts, to help ensure quality, accuracy, institutional coherence, and a lack of bias in our research. We measure our success in both the quality of our research and in its ability to drive change in the world in ways that support our seven goals (Food, Forests, Water, Climate, Energy, Cities, and the Ocean).

About the Organization

WRI Overview:

World Resources Institute (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean.

We are passionate. We value our diversity of interests, skills, and backgrounds. We have a flexible work environment. And we share a common goal to catalyze change that will improve the lives of people. Our shared ideals are at the core of our approach. They include integrity, innovation, urgency, independence, and respect.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps, and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business, and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.

We have been growing rapidly: our staff has doubled in size over the past 5 years, and our operating budget is nearing $200 million. Founded in 1982, WRI has a global staff of over 1,600 people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa, Brazil, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia and the United States, as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.