Position Description 

The RAND Corporation’s Office of External Affairs is growing its Research Editorial team and has opportunities for editorial professionals to support RAND’s mission to help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. 

Working within the Research Editorial and Production group, research editors play a critical role in ensuring that RAND’s publications adhere to the highest standards of quality and objectivity—word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, and beyond.

The primary duties of a research editor are developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading, and typesetting, including of citations, references, figures, tables, and equations. Products include both print and digital research publications (e.g., long-form reports) and outreach materials (e.g., corporate collateral).

Research editors also advise authors on matters of style, syntax, and usage and contribute to the refinement of editorial policies and practices. (This role affords only modest opportunities for original writing.)

Successful candidates must demonstrate a strong interest in copyediting, at least three years of prior editorial experience, an aptitude for working independently, the ability to simultaneously focus on the smallest details and the bigger picture, and excellent organizational and time-management skills, including the ability to work at a brisk pace and meet vigorous, concurrent deadlines across multiple projects.

Qualifications 

Required

• Superior copyediting, proofreading, and general communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills, attention to detail, and ability to work and troubleshoot independently 
• Proven ability to be successful in a deadline-oriented environment, juggle multiple tasks, and remain organized 
• Familiarity with commonly used style guides (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style) and scholarly citation formats (e.g., APA)
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Word (including templates and paragraph styles), as well as Excel and PowerPoint
• Thorough knowledge of Adobe Acrobat and InDesign
• Thorough knowledge of Mac and Windows operating systems

Preferred

• Interest in and familiarity with U.S. and international public policy
• Experience with formal editing for policy audiences
• Experience editing long-form content of 100 pages or more

Education Requirements 

Bachelor’s degree in English, communications, or a related discipline.

Experience 

Minimum of 3 years of copyediting and proofreading experience in a publishing or communications environment. Candidates with less experience may be interested in the open Research Editor (Early Career) position.

Security Clearance

The ability to obtain and maintain DHS Fitness and a U.S. security clearance is required. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance. 

Location

This position will be located at one of the following RAND offices: Arlington, Va.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; or Santa Monica, Calif. This position is eligible for RAND’s hybrid work environment, which enables a blend of on-site and remote work. Some on-site presence will be required to meet business needs, including on an ad-hoc basis; on-site needs will vary from month to month.

Special Note

As part of the recruiting process, candidates will be required to demonstrate their proofreading and editing skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer: race/color/religion/sex/sexual orientation/gender identity/national origin/disability/vet