Senior Editor

AlphaX; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

AlphaGov, a public-sector consulting firm, seeks a Senior Editor to help researchers, analysts, and public affairs teams turn complex findings into reports and executive briefings. You will sharpen the main point, verify evidence, and prepare pieces for publication.

Responsibilities include editing reports and briefs, fact-checking against sources, translating technical language, and adapting material for diverse audiences while maintaining style and accuracy.

Qualifications

• At least five years of professional editing experience with editorial responsibility.
• Bachelor's degree in English, journalism, communications, or a related field.
• Strong command of grammar, plain-language writing, and AP style.
• Experience fact-checking technical or research content and editing documents with multiple contributors.
• Ability to give authors specific, constructive feedback and manage multiple publications with deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Edit research reports, policy briefs, articles, and executive communications for structure, clarity, tone, and accuracy.
• Check figures, quotations, citations, and factual claims against source material and resolve discrepancies with authors.
• Translate technical language into plain English while preserving meaning of findings and recommendations.
• Adapt material for different readers, from one-page leadership briefings to public summaries.
• Manage editorial calendars, coordinate reviews, and reconcile conflicting feedback before final approval.
• Maintain style guides and proofread final layouts, including headlines, tables, captions, and charts.

Skills

Editing

Copyediting

Technical writing

AP style

Fact-checking

Education

Bachelor's degree in English, journalism, communications, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Word

Adobe InDesign

Grammarly

Job description

AlphaGov delivers public-sector consulting for cities, counties, school systems, special districts, utilities, and related agencies. Our work spans classification and compensation, organizational and operational studies, research and program evaluation, economic and workforce analysis, surveys and community research, and applied data and infrastructure research.

AlphaGov is seeking a Senior Editor for future opportunities in research and public-sector communications. You'll help researchers, analysts, and public affairs teams turn complex findings into reports, executive briefings, and public-facing materials. You'll work directly with authors to sharpen the main point, verify the evidence behind it, and prepare each piece for publication.

What you'll do

• Edit research reports, policy briefs, articles, and executive communications for structure, clarity, tone, and accuracy.
• Check figures, quotations, citations, and factual claims against source material. Work with authors and subject-matter experts to resolve discrepancies.
• Translate technical language into plain English while preserving the meaning of findings, qualifications, and recommendations.
• Adapt the same material for different readers, from a one-page leadership briefing to a public summary.
• Manage editorial calendars, coordinate reviews, and reconcile conflicting feedback before final approval.
• Maintain style guides and proofread final layouts, including headlines, tables, captions, and charts.

• At least five years of professional experience in editing, copyediting, or technical writing with substantial editorial responsibility.
• Bachelor's degree in English, journalism, communications, or a related field.
• Strong command of grammar, plain-language writing, and Associated Press (AP) style.
• Experience fact-checking technical or research content and editing documents written by multiple contributors.
• Ability to give authors specific, constructive feedback and manage several publications with competing deadlines.

Nice to have

• Editorial experience in government, public affairs, healthcare, higher education, or a research organization.
• Experience reviewing sensitive material for public release or coordinating reviews with communications, legal, or policy teams.
• Experience developing editorial standards or coaching subject-matter experts who write for a general audience.