Freelance Science Writer Editor Jobs (NOW HIRING)

ITS requires Technical Writer/Editor support with a high degree of editorial expertise to staff the ITS Publications Office. The scope of work is to provide assistance to ITS staff in the preparation of manuscripts and other written materials, including reviewing for grammatical correctness, readability, accessibility, and compliance with applicable templates and standards; editing and formatting papers prior to publication; preparing and editing/formatting for clarity diagrams, illustrations, and manuals in support of technical authors/projects/project leaders; acting as Secretary of the ITS Editorial Review Board (ERB); and other tasks as assigned.

The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) provides research and development support for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) by performing basic research in radio science that provides the technical foundation for NTIA's policy development and spectrum management activities, as well as solves telecommunications challenges for other Federal agencies, state and local Governments, private corporations and associations, and international organizations. Additionally, ITS addresses emerging telecommunications, information technology, and federal spectrum challenges and contributes to the creation of international standards that support the full and fair competitiveness of the U.S. communications and information technology business sectors.

ITS performs applied telecommunication research which often requires the public presentation of the research results to stakeholders in a variety of formats such as peer-reviewed publications, sponsor reports, technical news articles, and presentations to government and non-government groups. The ITS Publications Office is principally responsible for managing this federally mandated process referred to as "technology transfer". Publication of reports and papers is the primary means of dissemination of results of ITS's research and engineering programs and services; however, ITS strives to promote prompt dissemination via the most effective media, while maintaining the highest standards of quality, accuracy, and technical soundness.

Drafting and Editing ITS-Owned Media Assets

• Create and edit content for ITS-owned media assets intended for public distribution, including public websites, social media posts, blog articles, informational videos, and other public media.
• Translate information provided by technical staff into clear, accurate, publication-ready content for non-technical or general audiences.
• Provide full-cycle content editing, formatting, visual asset refinement, and workflow coordination.
• Assist in preparing communication plans and promotional materials for dissemination of ITS media assets through public channels.
• Ensure public-facing content is grammatically correct, properly formatted, accurate, accessible, and aligned with applicable federal/publication standards.
• Support Section 508 compliance for public-facing materials, including HTML/web content, Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, and related communication products.
• Apply knowledge of WCAG 2.0 standards and assist with accessibility review/testing for websites and public-release documents.

Presentation and Event Support

• Assist ITS authors in preparing, editing, and formatting technical presentations, including graphics support.
• Support ITS senior managers, event organizers, and committee chairs in preparing conference collateral, communication plans, and promotional materials.
• Support scientific conferences and events as needed, which may include on-site assistance such as registration desk support, event photography for social media, microphone support, or related event-support tasks.
• Provide timely, professional customer support to ITS authors, presenters, event organizers, and committee chairs.

Technical Paper Editing and Publication Support

• Provide manuscript editing services, including developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading.
• Prepare technical papers for internal and external publication, including IEEE journal articles and other scientific or technical materials.
• Review materials for grammar, readability, formatting, accessibility, style-guide compliance, and template compliance.
• Work collaboratively with junior technical specialists, senior technical staff, project leaders, authors, and senior management.
• Maintain internal records of incoming manuscripts, publication status, deliverable deadlines, and deadlines met or missed using established Publications Office tracking methods.
• Support Editorial Review Board records and publication pipeline tracking so publication status remains visible to senior managers.

Templates and Application Support

• Support the ITS Publications Office lead in maintaining or creating Microsoft Word and PowerPoint templates in response to changing technology, requirements, or publication needs.
• Assist ITS authors with editorial, formatting, and application support in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and related tools.
• Support preparation and delivery of guidance or training on revised templates, styles, formatting, and publication workflows.
• Help troubleshoot document formatting, template, and publication-preparation issues in a federal enterprise IT environment.

Technical Report Archives and Publications Repository Support

• Support maintenance of the ITS technical report archives and publications indexing database.
• Enter new publication records and proofread, normalize, update, and maintain existing records.
• Support cataloging, metadata review, digitization, scanning, upload, and repository/document-preparation workflows.
• Work closely with technical leads to ensure electronic archive records meet required standards for free, immediate, and equitable access to federally funded research.
• Help ensure catalog records, metadata, citations, report numbers, abstracts, publication dates, technical contacts, DOI information, funding/publishing agency information, and related archive elements are complete and accurate.

Editing Policies and Procedures

• Provide editorial support to ITS leadership in preparing, editing, and maintaining policy and procedure documents.
• Coordinate with points of contact on procedure updates and incorporate final policy changes into official documentation.
• Support Publications Office editorial and publishing policies, processes, procedures, style guides, and internal guidance.

Minimum of 4 Years of Experience.

• Ability to work collaboratively with highly technical subject matter experts.
• Experience working with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Skills in Adobe Creative Suite, including:
  • Advanced skills with Acrobat
  • Intermediate skills with content creation and design software (e.g. InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop)
• Knowledge of HTML.
• Knowledge of Section 508 requirements for public-facing government websites and documents.
• Knowledge of WCAG 2.0 standards and how to apply or test them for websites and public-release documents.
• Strong writing, editing, proofreading, formatting, and publication-quality-control skills.
• Ability to create content for general audiences based on technical information provided by scientists, engineers, analysts, or other technical staff.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate publication, archive, and workflow records.
• Ability to provide responsive, professional customer service to authors, presenters, senior managers, event organizers, and other stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a highly technical research and development environment.
• Advanced Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel skills.
• Experience editing scientific, engineering, telecommunications, spectrum, federal, or research-related content.
• Experience with public-facing communications, including websites, social media, blog posts, technical news articles, informational videos, or other owned media.
• Experience with video editing, captioning, transcripts, upload/publishing support, or review of existing video footage.
• Experience with digital archives, records repositories, publication databases, catalog records, metadata, scanning, digitization, and document upload workflows.
• SharePoint experience.
• Familiarity with The Chicago Manual of Style and use of authoritative editorial/reference sources.
• Experience supporting publication workflows, editorial review boards, style guides, templates, policy documents, or procedure documents.
• Ability to work in a federal or enterprise IT environment where Microsoft Office, Adobe products, templates, and workflows may be affected by IT updates or security controls.

BS/BA degree (or equivalent) and related industry certifications.

This position is 100% on site at

The compensation range for this position is $64,600 - $91,200 annually. Compensation will be discussed in greater detail with candidates who advance in the interview process, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of qualifications and alignment with role requirements.

Compensation Disclaimer:The salary range provided for this position represents a general guideline. Final compensation will be determined at the Company's discretion based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, skills, education, internal equity, geographic location, and contract requirements. Not all candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range.

At Ardent Eagle Solutions, we offer a comprehensive benefits package to our employees and their families:

• Medical/Dental/Vision Coverage
• Matching 401(k) Plan
• Continuing Education Assistance
• Paid Time Off

This job description is intended to describe the general scope of work and level of work that is needed to perform while on task with Ardent Eagle Solutions. Other duties may be assigned. Selected candidates may undergo a government security investigation and must fulfill eligibility criteria for accessing classified information. US citizenship may be a prerequisite for certain roles. Ardent Eagle Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer