Developmental Editor

Yaqeen Institute; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Yaqeen Institute in Dallas is seeking a developmental editor to work with authors on sharpening structure, tone, and argument across manuscripts, while adding Islamic literacy to catch substantive errors and strengthen scholarship.

You will identify weaknesses, reorganize and rewrite passages, verify citations, coordinate with authors and peer-review, and align with Yaqeen's citation and transliteration standards. This is a full-time role based in Dallas, TX.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years experience editing long-form, non-fiction, research-based manuscripts (preferably in the field of religion, politics, or world affairs).
• Collaboratively working with authors and scholars through iterative revisions.
• Independently managing a defined scope of work against a project timeline.
• Audience awareness: ability to break sophisticated theological, philosophical, ethical, or legal arguments into manageable, engaging prose for diverse readers without diluting depth.
• Critical analysis and argument formation: identify assumptions, overclaims, inconsistencies, weak evidence, anticipated objections, and areas needing clarification.
• Voice: preserve the author’s voice while improving clarity, authority, accessibility, and reader engagement.
• Islamic sciences: grounding in Islamic sciences with ability to critically engage religious content and point to credible sources.

Responsibilities

• Identifying weaknesses in the manuscript’s overall argument and structure, including gaps in research, repetition, AI language over-use, weak transitions, and sections needing expansion or removal.
• Reorganizing, tightening, and rewriting passages to strengthen structure, clarity, tone, and argument while preserving the author’s distinctive voice.
• Suggesting or verifying citations from classical or contemporary scholarship where needed.
• Communicating directly with authors to suggest edits and collaboratively working through revisions.
• Incorporating peer-review feedback into subsequent drafts.
• Coordinating with the style/copyediting team to ensure manuscripts meet Yaqeen's citation and transliteration standards.

Skills

Developmental editing

Manuscript editing

Audience awareness

Critical analysis

Voice preservation

Job description

Developmental Editor

Yaqeen Institute Dallas, Texas, United States

About this position

About Yaqeen Institute

Yaqeen is a nonprofit on a mission to pioneer Islamic research in creative, cutting-edge formats tailored to meet people where they are. We work to dismantle doubts through well-researched truths, nurture conviction by strengthening belief with practical, spiritual guidance, and inspire contribution by reviving our tradition of faithful changemakers, insha’Allah . We’re seeking like-minded professionals who embody Islamic values including sincerity, excellence, and compassion, and want to make a difference in the faith of people worldwide.

At Yaqeen, we aim to provide our readers with trustworthy, intellectually compelling, and accessible research that inspires them towards a certainty of faith in Islam. Our book team carries that mission into long-form publications, working with scholars to produce manuscripts that dismantle doubts, nurture conviction, and inspire faith-driven contribution to society. We're looking for a developmental editor who can work closely with authors to sharpen structure, tone, and argument across a manuscript, while bringing enough Islamic literacy to catch substantive errors and strengthen the underlying scholarship itself.

What you'll do

• Identifying any weaknesses in the manuscript’s overall argument and structure, including gaps in research, repetition, distinctive language over-use associated with AI, weak transitions, and sections that need expansion or removal.
• Reorganizing, tightening, and rewriting passages to strengthen structure, clarity, tone, and argument whilst preserving the author’s distinctive voice.
• Suggesting or verifying citations from classical or contemporary scholarship where needed.
• Communicating directly with authors to suggest edits and collaboratively working through revisions.
• Incorporating peer-review feedback into subsequent drafts.
• Coordinating with the style/copyediting team to ensure manuscripts meet Yaqeen's citation and transliteration standards.

Qualifications/Required Skills :

• A minimum of 5 years experience:
• Developmentally editing long-form, non-fiction, research-based manuscripts (preferably in the field of religion, politics, or world affairs).
• Collaboratively working with authors and scholars through iterative revisions.
• Independently managing a defined scope of work against a project timeline.
• Audience awareness: the proven ability to break sophisticated theological, philosophical, ethical, or legal arguments into manageable, engaging prose, adapting explanations and terminology to our readers’ levels of Islamic knowledge and backgrounds. You must be able to understand the intended reader: Muslim, non-Muslim, new Muslim, academic, general-interest reader, young adult, professional, etc and adjust explanations and linguistic choices accordingly without unnecessarily diluting intellectual depth.
• Critical analysis and argument formation: the proven ability to identify assumptions, overclaims, inconsistencies, weak evidence, anticipated objections, and areas requiring clarification. You must be able to formulate sound and appealing arguments, both linguistically and structurally - our publications are produced with a clear purpose to persuade, enlighten, and convincingly impart knowledge.
• Voice: the proven ability to preserve the author’s voice while improving clarity, authority, accessibility, and reader engagement.
• Islamic sciences: a proven grounding in the Islamic sciences with the ability to critically engage religious content, catch errors, and point to credible sources.

Yaqeen Institute embraces a philosophy that values and promotes diversity. Our goal is to attract, develop, retain, and advance a talented and diverse workforce within a culture where all employees are empowered to reach their fullest potential.

Please note that all career opportunities at Yaqeen Institute are subject to a three-month probationary period, during which we assess performance, alignment with our values, and mutual fit to ensure long-term success in the role.