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Job Opportunities

Senior Editor—ELA

Position based: Remote, USA

Reports to: ELA Editorial Director

Company Overview

Contentra Technologies was founded in 2012 as a content development, design, and composition company working for a major educational publisher. Contentra has since earned a stellar reputation within the educational publishing industry and is noted for its excellence in producing high-quality content and products. 

 

Today, Contentra partners with major educational publishing companies and offers a unique mix of content and technology expertise, coupled with solid project management methodologies. Contentra’s exceptional creativity and collaboration among in-house teams, experienced freelancers, and our clients allows us to bring inspired products to the marketplace.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Senior Editor is a subject-matter expert responsible for developing accurate, subject-specific content for Contentra and its clients. The Senior Editor can function as a content lead on large and small projects to generate content or check the work of other team members to maintain quality and ensure adherence to client guidelines. Strong project management skills are essential. This position reports to the ELA Editorial Director.

Major Duties, Activities, and Responsibilities

Writing/Content Development Skills

  • Apply a deep understanding of a curriculum area to accurately decide which concepts and difficulty levels are appropriate for material at different grade levels

  • Produce clearly worded, logically organized, creative content that is easy for learners to understand and is on target in terms of client expectations

  • Produce content that aligns with approach, tone, and format of the program/project

  • Apply useful knowledge of what works in the classroom and what a classroom teacher expects from a good lesson, item, or activity

  • Develop clear, comprehensive templates and guidelines that reflect client requirements

  • Effectively incorporate key elements of learning theory and design

Content Editing Skills

  • Ensure that

    • content from outside freelancers or other staff is accurate and contains clear, engaging, and pedagogically sound instruction.

    • content accurately matches client style, vision, philosophy, and guidelines and that approach, voice, tone, and format are consistent across deliverables from multiple writers and/or editors.

  • Accurately identify and correct grammatical and stylistic errors

  • Verify the accuracy of content, both print and digital

  • Review manuscripts and proofs to ensure alignment and consistency across grade levels

  • Effectively implement client feedback and strategically communicate it and other directives to others to ensure improved quality on subsequent assignments

Knowledge of K-12 Market

  • Apply an understanding of what is or isn’t acceptable content based on bias and sensitivity concerns in various markets

  • Incorporate state, national, and international standards, as appropriate, into content development

  • Maintain an awareness of trends, expectations, and standards of specific client marketplaces to keep content as marketable as possible

  • Draw on extensive knowledge of state-specific and national educational standards

Leadership and Communication Skills

  • Promptly answer queries from team members, freelancers, and clients

  • Adapt flexibly to changes in roles and needs on projects

  • Develop editorial workflows

  • Meet as needed with the Editorial Director to review projects and team performance

  • Solve content problems with sound reasoning around business and marketplace principles

  • Proactively identify solutions to issues and work with other team members to prevent problems from becoming roadblocks

  • Recognize and escalate issues of scope and approval criteria

  • Act as a genuine partner to clients

  • Adjust time-on-task to balance budget and schedule demands with client expectations

  • Collaborate effectively with project manager and other team members to balance competing demands of quality, schedule, and budget

  • Confidently direct, coach, and motivate project team members

  • Effectively communicate internally and externally, maintaining regular touchpoints with project or team staff

Desired Skills and Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in ELA or related field; master’s degree in ELA or education a plus

  • Minimum of three years’ experience in the publishing industry

  • Demonstrated experience in managing projects and project teams

  • Experience with MS Office products; experience with Adobe Acrobat a plus

  • Experience with implementing house and client editorial style guidelines; familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style

  • Familiarity with K-12 ELA

  • Problem-solving and analytical skills

  • An eye for detail while maintaining a perspective of the totality of the project

  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines while maintaining the quality of the product

  • Ability to follow explicit instructions consistently but also to exercise good judgment when making work-related decisions

  • Good communication skills

  • Ability to quickly learn and master new technologies and processes

  • Ability to positively receive and implement constructive feedback

  • Ability to collaborate effectively with peers

  • Willingness to travel for work-related commitments a plus

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