Senior Technical Editor

Position Overview

Location: Hybrid; McLean, VA and Washington, DC

Travel: Limited local travel and occasional CONUS travel as required

Background Investigation: Must be eligible to obtain and maintain required USDOT facility and network access

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday during standard business hours with flexibility to support accelerated publication schedules and priority deliverables

Employment Type: Full-Time

Key Responsibilities

Lead editorial operations supporting FHWA research publications, reports, articles, manuals, newsletters, web content, and communications products.

Provide oversight and mentorship to Technical Editors and Technical Writer-Editors.

Manage editorial workflows, production schedules, and quality review processes.

Perform substantive editing, copyediting, proofreading, fact-checking, and final quality reviews of technical and non-technical content.

Ensure compliance with the GPO Style Manual, Chicago Manual of Style, FHWA communication standards, and other applicable publishing requirements.

Verify technical accuracy, consistency, readability, grammar, formatting, and logical flow across communications products.

Coordinate with researchers, engineers, authors, reviewers, graphic designers, web specialists, and Government stakeholders throughout the publication process.

Review references, citations, permissions, trademarks, copyrights, and supporting documentation.

Support public release approvals and publication review workflows.

Establish and maintain editorial quality standards and quality assurance procedures.

Ensure publications and communications products meet Section 508 accessibility requirements.

Manage multiple concurrent projects and support compressed deadlines when required.

Identify opportunities to improve editorial processes, consistency, and production efficiency.

Maintain version control and document management throughout all stages of production.

Required Qualifications

Master's degree in English, Journalism, Communications, Technical Writing, or a related field.

Minimum 10 years of professional experience in technical editing, publication management, or editorial services.

Demonstrated experience leading editorial teams and managing publication workflows.

Expert knowledge of the GPO Style Manual and Chicago Manual of Style.

Experience editing complex technical, scientific, engineering, research, or policy-related publications.

Strong knowledge of grammar, punctuation, proofreading, formatting, and content quality standards.

Experience managing projects through multiple review cycles and stakeholder approval processes.

Experience supporting both print and digital publication environments.

Strong organizational, analytical, and communication skills.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and document collaboration tools.

Preferred Qualifications

FHWA, USDOT, or other Federal civilian agency publication experience.

Transportation, infrastructure, engineering, or research communications experience.

Advanced experience supporting Section 508 accessibility compliance and Federal publishing requirements.