Full Job Description
Assistant Editor – Human Rights Organization / Temporarily remote
The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates in furtherance of the human rights of prisoners, meaning all people incarcerated or otherwise detained against their will.
HRDC has an immediate opening for an experienced full-time Assistant Editor. The Assistant Editor will participate in all stages of the publication of HRDC’s monthly magazines, viz. Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News. The Assistant Editor will also be responsible for various administrative, clerical, and office duties.
This is a full-time (40 hours per week) position, M-F. Salary range is $35,000 to $40,000. We offer 100% employer-paid health insurance and a retirement plan after a six-month probationary period. We also provide paid vacation and federal holidays.
Due to Covid considerations, we require face masks be worn in our office building at all times.
We have reduced the number of office staff in our building from 16 to 5, with workstations socially distanced throughout the building. We are monitoring the Covid situation daily and making adjustments as needed. For the duration of the pandemic, this is a work from home position with the ability to go to the office on an as needed basis. Once Covid-related restrictions are lifted, we expect this to be an in office position.
No phone calls. Please submit a resume with three references from previous employers to Richard Resch.
Duties and responsibilities include:
- Work closely on a daily basis with the respective managing editors of the publications on all aspects of the publication process
- Factcheck, copy edit, and proofread articles for publication
- Serve as primary point of contact with contributing writers, including compiling and sending source material for article assignments and accurately track and file returned assignments in accordance with internal procedures
- Manage large amounts of data in electronic and hardcopy format as well as process articles in hard copy format
- See bottom of job posting for a more detailed list of duties and responsibilities
Requirements and qualification:
- Professional experience working as an Assistant Editor or similar position
- At least two years of experience working in an office
- Superb proofreading, copy editing, factchecking, and research skills
- Capable of successfully working on multiple deadline-driven tasks simultaneously
- Extremely organized and detail oriented
- Strong computer skills with advanced knowledge of Windows, MS Office, and Acrobat
- Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills
- Must be a critical thinker with outstanding problem-solving skills capable of working independently with minimal oversight while meeting multiple deadlines
Preferred background and skills:
- Experience, background, or working knowledge and interest in law, criminal justice system, prison-related issues (mass incarceration, prison-industrial complex, etc.), civil rights litigation, or FOIA
- Experience or familiarity with Lexis/Nexis and PACER
Additional duties and responsibilities:
HRDC is primarily a media organization. We assign articles to our contributing writers on an ongoing basis, and the Assistant Editor will process those assignments. This includes printing source materials to assign to writers, mailing or emailing assignments, and entering article assignments on a tracking spreadsheet.
The job requires the processing of articles as they are returned, including scanning/OCR and marking them off on the tracking spreadsheet, then sorting and moving them to folders on our server.
All articles are uploaded to our website in text format; this process includes indexing each article by subject categories. For some articles, the case citation needs to be located on Lexis/Nexis or
PACER and entered before the article is uploaded. The Assistant Editor will also need to edit the articles before uploading for spelling, grammar, punctuation, consistency, etc.
Additionally, the Assistant Editor will also request reprint permission from other news agencies as needed, i.e., obtaining permission to post their articles on our website or include them in our print publications and maintaining copies of permissions that are granted.
Other duties as needed, including occasional special assignments as required by our editor and managing editors.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $35,000.00 – $40,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Schedule:
- 8 hour shift
Supplemental Pay:
- Bonus pay
COVID-19 considerations:
We require face masks be worn in our office building at all times.
Work Location:
- One location
Company’s website:
- https://www.humanrightsdefensecenter.org
Benefit Conditions:
- Waiting period may apply
- Only full-time employees eligible
Work Remotely:
- Temporarily due to COVID-19
COVID-19 Precaution(s):
- Remote interview process
- Social distancing guidelines in place
