Editor

Position Overview

As KU Marketing, we tell the world how the University of Kansas is a community that harnesses the talent, ingenuity, and determination of Jayhawks to create and discover, working to bolster Kansas and better the world. Our strategic, creative team focuses its expertise on meeting branding and big-picture objectives for the university. We find stories that show how KU stands tall among higher education and research institutions with a focus on economic development, health care, fostering creative discovery, and delivering world-changing innovations.

The editor is a detail-oriented eagle eye responsible for the management of editorial standards across all branding, advertising, print, and digital collateral. Responsibilities include working with copywriters to deliver creative copy with consistent and effective messaging; ensuring that communications are on brand, strategically focused, and factually and grammatically accurate; and contributing to creative ideation for all KU Marketing endeavors. The editor participates in and relies on marketing research, focus groups, and surveys to inform their work. However, much of the editor’s work comes from independent research and personal expertise in marketing/editorial best practices.

The editor works both independently and collaboratively with internal teams and partners (clients) to imagine new concepts and copy in support of branding initiatives and partner or university goals. Projects include print, digital, broadcast, and social media tactics, including but not limited to: advertising copy; headlines; features, cutlines, and blurbs for multipage booklets; concise and targeted email messages and subject lines; Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X, and TikTok content; longform reported articles or blogs; scripts for video and for radio and TV ads; and informative, interactive text for websites.

The ideal person for this role enjoys refining words to make them clear, precise, efficient, and stylish. This person likely has strong opinions about commas, knows the difference between essential and nonessential clauses without looking it up, and gets excited when they find a typo.

Job Description

50% Copyediting/proofreading/fact-checking

• Provide copy edits for text that’s in production and review final versions and printer proofs of projects produced by the department.
• Verify the grammatical and factual accuracy of all content.
• Regularly confirm university statistics and facts and update them across a variety of print and digital resources.
• Ensure that all content conforms to AP Style, KU’s house style, and KU brand positioning.
• Work directly with copywriters, other editors, and the associate director of editorial services to maintain a consistent voice and tone while presenting clear, accurate, and creative copy.
• Work closely with project teams to ensure the timely flow of copy.
• Contribute to a comprehensive editorial style guide for the university.
  
  
  

40% Content creation

• Brainstorm with creative teams and partners and contribute to the development of marketing strategies, concepts, and projects.
• Conduct independent research to determine the best approach/content to achieve each project’s desired outcome.
• Collaborate with copywriters to ensure copy conforms to KU’s key messaging platform and branding objectives, and provide developmental and line edits that support KU Marketing’s strategic goals.
• Strive to create work that is original, creative, and inventive while meeting brand and marketing targets.
• On certain occasions, the editor may participate in photo or video shoots, recording sessions, social media campaigns, or other related activities.
  
  
  

10% Other duties as assigned

• Attend staff and partner meetings.
• Work collegially with staff and partners in a team environment.
• Track tasks, documents, and deadlines in a project management system.
• Maintain project and payroll hours and record them accurately and consistently.
• As needed, prepare and present research, work, or recommendations to internal and/or partner teams.
  
  
  

Required Qualifications

• A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college, university, or school in advertising, public relations, strategic communications, journalism, English, communications, or a closely related field
• At least four years’ professional editing or proofreading experience in an advertising, public relations, or marketing agency or similar in-house unit; magazine; publishing house; newspaper or related entity
• Mastery of English language usage, including rules of composition and grammar, as evidenced by application materials
• Ability to identify inconsistencies in the spelling, formatting, treatment, and placement of copy, as demonstrated by previous work experience
• Extensive knowledge of AP Style, as evidenced by application materials
  
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• An excellent portfolio that demonstrates a clear mastery of marketing copyediting, ideally with a range of projects and styles
• Demonstrated ability to develop compelling copy across a variety of topics and formats
• Previous experience creating copy/concepts for higher education clients, understanding a university’s brand, and editing copy and concepts to better support a university’s strategic long-term branding goals
• Demonstrated ability to translate instructions, rules, and regulations into clear, engaging copy containing a call to action
• Ability to quickly respond to creative brief requests and effectively address copy needs
• Demonstrated ability to develop copy for an integrated campaign using print, broadcast, and digital components
• Demonstrated ability to develop copy for websites and social media platforms
• Familiarity or experience working with InDesign or InCopy, Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and other production software and project-management software
• Outstanding interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills
• Ability to meet tight deadlines with grace under pressure
• A team player with self-initiative, a strong work ethic, and a positive attitude
• A problem-solver with strong organization skills and acute attention to detail
• Ability to respond to direction and adapt to frequent changes in project tactics, creative strategy, and/or deadlines
  
  
  

Additional Candidate Instructions

A complete application includes:

• Cover letter addressing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications
• Résumé
• Contact information for three professional references
• Completion of the online application
  
  
  

Only complete applications will be considered.

Application review begins Monday, March 17th, 2025 and will continue until a pool of qualified applicants is identified.

Contact Information to Applicants

Christy Lynch, Interim Associate Director of Editorial Services

christy.lynch@ku.edu

Advertised Salary Range

$53,000 - $55,000

Work Schedule

M-F 8-5

Application Review Begins

Monday March 17, 2025

Anticipated Start Date

Monday March 31, 2025