Editorial Director

Jobtailor; Kansas City (KS); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Unbound seeks an senior editorial leader to define and steward its voice across Catholic, broader Christian, and secular audiences. You will lead writing, editing, storytelling and content curation while ensuring dignity, accuracy and legal compliance.

You will supervise a global team of writers, editors, reporters, and media staff, coordinate editorial calendars, and collaborate with digital teams to maintain a consistent brand across platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in journalism, communications, public relations, marketing or English.
• Demonstrated excellence in writing and editing with a diverse portfolio.
• Working fluency in Catholic language, teaching and practice.

Responsibilities

• Define and steward Unbound's voice and language standards across diverse audiences.
• Lead writing, editing, storytelling, brand alignment and content curation.
• Ensure content portrays people and the organization with dignity, respect, honesty and accuracy.
• Supervise media relations and support strategy, including crisis communications.
• Oversee global content gathering and reporters in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
• Serve as lead editor and primary copyeditor for editorial content.
• Develop concepts, plan, coordinate, write and edit content for editorial purposes.
• Supervise writers, editors, reporters, content curators and media relations staff.
• Facilitate editorial meetings and coordinate calendars.
• Partner with social, digital and paid media teams on editorial pipelines.
• Monitor news events, lead reporting on issues and disasters, and notify staff of breaking news.
• Develop and maintain AP-style guide, consent and photography policies, and archives.
• Maintain accurate and credible Catholic faith content.
• Steward the Dignity Standard and human authorship standards.
• Advise teams on language and initiatives.
• Serve as brand standard leader and reputation consultant to leadership.
• Contribute to department planning and priorities.
• Supervise up to four reports, including hiring, training and performance management.

Skills

Writing

Editing

Content curation

Editorial processes

Media relations

Crisis communications

Team leadership

Project management

AP style

CMS

Digital publishing

AI-assisted editing

Spanish language

Education

Bachelor's degree in journalism/communications/public relations/marketing/English

Tools

Microsoft Office

Content Management Systems

Digital publishing platforms

Job description

• Define and steward Unbound's voice and language standards across Catholic, broader Christian and secular social-justice audiences
• Lead writing, editing, storytelling, brand alignment and content curation
• Ensure content portrays people and the organization with dignity, respect, honesty and accuracy
• Ensure compliance with media law, ethics, defamation, privacy, copyright, trademark, consent, truth and accuracy standards
• Supervise media relations and support media strategy, issue preparedness and crisis communications
• Supervise global content gathering and reporters in Africa, Asia and Latin America
• Serve as lead editor and primary copyeditor for editorial content
• Develop concepts, plan, coordinate, write and edit content for editorial purposes
• Supervise writers, editors, reporters, content curators and media relations staff
• Facilitate editorial meetings and coordinate News and Stories, eNews and Faith Reflection calendars
• Partner with social, digital and paid media teams on editorial calendars and content pipelines
• Monitor news events, lead reporting on issues and disasters, and notify key staff about breaking news
• Develop and maintain Unbound's AP-style guide, consent and photography policies, and archives
• Maintain accurate and credible Catholic faith content
• Steward the Dignity Standard and human authorship standard for organizational content
• Advise program, philanthropy, outreach and international colleagues on language and initiatives
• Serve as a brand standard leader and reputation consultant to leadership
• Contribute to department planning, quarterly priorities and special projects
• Supervise up to four reports, including hiring, training, development, work assignment and performance management

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university; journalism, communications, public relations, marketing or English degree preferred
• Minimum of six to 10 years of related experience and training, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Demonstrated excellence in writing and editing, with a portfolio showing range across audiences and formats
• Working fluency in Catholic language, teaching and practice
• Experience leading and developing a team of writers, editors, reporters or communications professionals
• Working knowledge of media law and ethics, including defamation, privacy, copyright, trademark, consent and accuracy standards
• Command of AP style and experience owning or building an organizational style guide
• In-depth understanding of and buy-in to Unbound's mission, values, principles and sustainable structures
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, problem-solving and analytical skills
• Project management skills and ability to manage and prioritize multiple efforts
• Strong computer skills in a Windows environment, including Microsoft Office
• Familiarity with content management systems, digital publishing workflows and major social platforms
• Comfort using AI tools responsibly for research, analysis and editing
• Ability to write, read and interpret reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of supporters or employees
• Willingness to undertake business travel, including occasional international travel
• Preferred but not required: nonprofit experience, global experience, charity evaluator standards familiarity, media relations/crisis communications experience, newsroom experience, Spanish or another relevant language, faith-based publishing or religion reporting, and experience managing distributed or international teams

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in writing, editing, and content curation while ensuring compliance with media law and ethical standards. Proven ability to lead and develop teams, manage editorial processes, and maintain organizational voice across diverse audiences.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Writing And Editing Excellence
• Media Law And Ethics Knowledge
• AP Style Guide Command
• Team Leadership And Development
• Project Management Skills

Hard Skills

• Content Curation
• Storytelling
• Editorial Content Development
• Media Relations Supervision
• Crisis Communications
• Content Management Systems
• Digital Publishing Workflows
• Research And Analysis Using AI Tools
• Portfolio Development
• Spanish Language Proficiency

Soft Skills

• Strong Organizational Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Analytical Skills
• Effective Communication

Industry Keywords

• Catholic Language
• Social Justice
• Nonprofit Experience
• Faith-Based Publishing
• Crisis Communications Experience

Tools & Technologies

• Microsoft Office
• Content Management Systems
• Digital Publishing Platforms