Country: United States of America
Closing date: 10 Feb 2018
Technical Editor and Communications Specialist, E3 Analytics and Evaluation Project, Arlington, VA
Company Profile:
MSI, a Tetra Tech Company, is a Washington, DC metro area international development firm with a 35-year history of delivering development results across the world. Our core expertise is in the fields of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), institutional development, public sector management, governance and anti-corruption. MSI has implemented projects in 90 countries around the world such as Jordan, Kenya, Indonesia, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Colombia, and Mexico. As one of the leading companies in our field, MSI has partnered with more than 80 organizations across all sectors of international development with clients ranging from large bilateral and multilateral donors such as USAID, the World Bank and the UNDP to national and local governments, NGOs, think tanks, foundations and universities. For more information on MSI, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.
Project Background:
The E3 Analytics and Evaluation Project is a five-year contract with USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) that carries out rigorous evaluations and provides other analytic technical assistance to the Bureau’s 13 technical offices, as well as other operating units of the Agency that work in E3 sectors. To date, the Project has initiated more than 80 activities, with at least 30 activities ongoing. The Project has more than a dozen full-time technical staff and produces a high volume of wide-ranging technical reports, briefing notes, presentations, and interim products.
Position Summary:
The Technical Editor and Communications Specialist will be an integrated member of the E3 Analytics and Evaluation Project team at the MSI home office. Her/his primary responsibility will be to edit, format, and prepare visually appealing graphics, technical deliverables related to evaluations, and other analytic studies. These reports can be highly technical with a quick turnaround time, and the content is typically provided from several individuals, including at times non-native English writers. The Technical Editor will help ensure Project reports and other deliverables meet MSI and USAID standards for style, clarity, consistency, logic, data visualization, formatting, and branding. The Technical Editor will possess specialized knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience to allow them to use independent judgment in the performance of these tasks and be capable of carrying out work with little guidance or supervision.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Edit (technical and copy edit) and format technical reports and other documents (e.g., presentations, briefing notes, training materials), with emphasis on:
- Ensuring correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure, to comply with MSI, USAID and other required standards.
- Identifying and correcting repetitious phrasing, technical and/or statistical inconsistencies, word choices that make passages ambiguous or unclear, and verbosity across different sections of lengthy documents.
- Ensuring consistency of narrative voice – both within documents and across all Project deliverables, such as evaluation design proposals, evaluation reports, briefing notes, and literature reviews.
- Ensuring clarity and soundness of logic and arguments provided in Project deliverables, including strength of supporting data for findings, ensuring that findings support conclusions, and that recommendations connect to findings and conclusions.
- Ensuring deliverables are written and visually presented in a way that is appropriate for their target audience, and appropriately utilize visual materials such as tables, figures, and photographs.
- Developing effective infographics, slide decks, figures, graphs, and other visual materials to successfully and concisely convey key messages for technical products, working closely with technical team members to ensure they capture the core messages.
- Reviewing deliverables against provided checklists and standards for quality, and suggest revisions to comply with those standards.
- Ensuring all reports to be made publicly available are compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
- Provide feedback and communicating with subject matter experts and other team members regarding substantive edits.
- Ensure data and other information provided in reports are presented in an effective, visually engaging, and accurate way that meets MSI standards and supports best practices in data visualization.
- Support the training of project staff and other team members on writing, editing and formatting standards and expectations.
- Improve editorial and visual standards for documents and recommending new formats and procedures as needed.
- Additional research and analysis tasks, as requested and availability permits.
Qualifications:
- A minimum of a bachelor's degree in English, technical writing, journalism, communications, or a related field required; master’s degree is strongly preferred.
- Native fluency in English.
- Exceptional and proven technical writing and editing skills.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office products, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, required, and proficiency with InDesign preferred.
- A minimum of three years of professional experience in technical editing or writing, preferably in a field relevant to international development and/or evaluations and for international donors or similar clients, strongly preferred.
- Experience with data visualization and/or graphic design, preferred.
- Experience with USAID terminology and evaluation policies and guidance, preferred.
- Understanding of Section 508 Compliance of U.S. Government reports, preferred.
- Outstanding attention to detail and accuracy.
Only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please.
MSI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer.
How to apply:
To apply: please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com