Editor

The purpose of this job is to assist the Church History Department in producing materials and messages that invite God’s children to follow Jesus Christ and help them make and keep sacred covenants—specifically by helping prepare Church history materials for publication.

Our team helps produce publications such as The Joseph Smith Papers, Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, and Rise Up and Speak: Selected Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, among others. We’re looking for an experienced editor to join that work in the Church History Department.

This is a benefited, full-time position. The position is located at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City and may be eligible for a hybrid work schedule.
 

With no supervision or in a supervisory role, the editor oversees all that is required to take lengthy, complex manuscripts from the writing stage to finished publication, either print or electronic. This includes the following:

• Creating and managing project schedules
• Editing the manuscript for style, substance, and readability
• Understanding the sources referenced in the manuscript, being able to do in-depth research when necessary, and being able to resolve questions raised by reference editors (source checkers) 
• Working with other editorial staff, writers, and reviewers to resolve concerns with the manuscript
• Preparing the manuscript to be typeset
• Proofreading typeset text and resolving problems at that stage 
• Editing the index for publication
• Assisting with publicity efforts.

The editor must be able to work well in complex, high-pressure situations to resolve problems with a variety of people. The editor is responsible for managing editorial work on individual manuscripts in a highly collaborative environment and therefore must have strong project management skills. 

 

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in English or related field, plus 8 years of editing experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Strong substantive editing, copyediting, and proofreading abilities
• Ability to organize work on many projects simultaneously and meet editorial deadlines under pressure
• Ability to give scrupulous attention to detail and sustain concentration for long periods of time with the highest level of accuracy
• Ability to work as part of a team in harmony with a wide variety of people
• Ability to work autonomously but provide regular updates to manager and other stakeholders
• Expertise in reviewing the work of colleagues and providing feedback
• Ability to communicate well verbally and in writing
• Strong initiative and problem-solving abilities
• Ability to research in original sources
• Familiarity with text markup (such as XML or HTML)
• Expertise in the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and proven ability to learn and apply in-house style
• Ability to quickly learn new technologies and processes

Preferred:

• College-level coursework in editing
• Experience with electronic publishing and page-layout software
• Knowledge of early Church history