Communications Editor

The Judicial Council of California is accepting applications for the position of Communications Editor for the Judicial Council and Trial Court Leadership unit in Leadership Support Services.

The Communications Editor provides copyediting, proofreading, fact-checking, and document preparation to ensure the professional quality expected of the Chief Justice, Supreme Court, Judicial Council, and California judicial branch in written communications intended for the public or other internal and external recipients. Thorough, attention to detail and the ability to deliver high-quality, accurate work under tight deadlines are essential for this position. Editors coordinate production activities and perform quality assurance for adherence to Judicial Council publication and correspondence standards, maintain and make recommendations on council guides and standards, and train staff on those standards by responding to queries and by developing and delivering organization-wide courses.

The Communications Editor is also involved in coordinating production for graphics, printing, and publishing projects. This position works collegially with clients, utilizing staff time efficiently, creatively, and fully to support the Judicial Council and its staff. This position demands independent judgment and decision making to review documents, assess content, and perform the appropriate fact-checking to finalize draft documents. This position is responsible to a unit supervisor and is expected to perform collaboratively with other editing and graphics professionals on staff.

The Judicial Council

The Judicial Council of California is the policy setting body for the state court system and has constitutionally conferred statewide rule-making authority. This authority includes developing, advocating for, and allocating the judicial branch budget. A majority of Council members are California state justices and judges; however, the Council also includes lawyers, legislators, and court administrators.

By enhancing its role as a leadership, knowledge, and service resource for the judicial branch, the Judicial Council’s staff organization seeks to continue to evolve as one of California’s most dynamic public service entities, focused on improving access to justice for all Californians by innovating and responding to the changing needs of the courts and the public. As a government body charged with improving the statewide administration of justice, the Judicial Council has multiple offices with diverse responsibilities relating to court policy and operations. As employees of the council, every member of staff should view and approach their work as one Judicial Council with a public service mission that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Judicial Council strives for work life balance and includes substantial vacation and holiday time. In addition, we offer an excellent benefits package including pension, medical, dental and vision coverage, flexible spending, up to $130 per month reimbursement for qualifying commuting costs, and retirement savings plans. In San Francisco, the office is only a 7-minute walk from the downtown Civic Center BART station. In Sacramento, the office is located minutes from downtown, just north of Discovery Park.

The Judicial Council offers hybrid work arrangements for many positions. The successful candidate will be expected to work in person on Wednesdays at the Judicial Council’s San Francisco or Sacramento office and reside in the areas surrounding these locations. Beginning January 2025, employees will work in the office at least two days per week.

Duties

• Proofread, edit, and rewrite a variety of media for accuracy, content, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and compliance with requirements of the Chief Justice and Judicial Council style guides and standards.
  • Exercise extreme attention to detail and deliver high-quality, accurate work on a breadth of materials (such as reports to the Judicial Council and Legislature, jury instructions, rules of court, Judicial Council forms, legal opinion memos, and correspondence of senior management and the Chief Justice), tailoring the level of edit to the various projects, their specific style conventions, and their audiences.
  • Perform format editing on materials for web posting or for external distribution.
  • Collaborate with clients to determine needs and objectives for projects requiring editing and graphic production.
  • Monitor project schedules, status, and compliance. Coordinate deadlines and prioritize competing demands.
  • Implement principles and practices of professional writing and editing and basic research methods for fact-checking. Apply Chicago Manual of Style, in-house style, and legal terminology and legal citation style.
• Develop, document, maintain, and train staff on publishing standards, writing conventions, and the council’s Style and Correspondence Guide, Report Writing Manual, Graphics Standards, and report templates.
  • Implement quality customer service principles and represent the unit at agency trainings.
  • Maintain an understanding of work rules and policies, judicial system and court operations, and agency hierarchy and procedures.
  • Contribute to ongoing maintenance of and provide training and technical assistance on guides, manuals, and templates maintained by the Editing and Graphics group and other Judicial Council offices.
• Oversee design, layout, revisions, and update to various Judicial Council report templates, training materials, publications, and intranet content to check for accuracy and errors and to comply with established practices, standards, and guidelines.
• Log daily workflow and project information and maintain editor’s project tracking database.

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Copyedit other text as needed, including for videos, webpages, and special projects.
• Collaborate and confer regularly with peer editors. Keep supervisor informed of barriers, deadline challenges, or other issues as they arise.
• Attend regular one-on-one, office, unit, and agency meetings. Comply with educational requirements and other trainings determined by the agency, as required.
• Perform other duties as appropriate and assigned.

Salary

• $6,708 - $9,391/month

Qualifications

Possession of a bachelor’s degree, preferably in a directly related field that would provide the knowledge and skills required. An additional four years of professional experience as noted above may substitute for the bachelor’s degree. Or additional directly related experience and/or education may be substituted on a year-for-year basis.

Desirable Qualifications

• Proven working experience as an editor
• Strong writing/editing/proofreading skills
• Excellent written skills in English
• An eye for detail along with critical thinking
• An ability to communicate effectively and in plain language
• An ability to prioritize and multitask
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and publishing tools
• Familiarity with social medial and best practices
• Familiarity with legal terminology, legal citation style, and principles of basic legal research (e.g., using Lexis or Westlaw and the California Style Manual)

Other Information

If you are selected for hire, verification of employment eligibility or authorization to work in the United States will be required.

How to Apply

This position is Open Until Filled and requires the submission of our official application, a resume and a response to the supplemental questions. To ensure consideration of your application for the earliest round of interviews, please apply by Friday, November 22, 2024. 

To complete an online application, please click the Apply for Job button.

The Judicial Council provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities who request such accommodation. Reasonable accommodation needs should be requested through Human Resources at (415) 865-4260. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (415) 865-4272.

Supplemental Questions

To better assess the qualifications of each applicant, we will review your responses to the questions below.

1. Please explain why you are interested in this position.
2. Please describe your editing experience, including the types of materials you’ve worked with.

Benefits

Some highlights of our benefits package include:

• Health/Dental/Vision benefits program
• 14 paid holidays per calendar year
• Choice of Annual Leave or Sick/Vacation Leave
• 1 personal holiday per year
• Up to $130 per month reimbursement for qualifying commuting costs
• CalPERS Retirement Plan
• 401(k) and 457 deferred compensation plans
• Employee Assistance Program
• Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
• FlexElect Program
• Pretax Parking
• Long Term Disability Program (employee paid/optional)
• Group Legal Plan (employee paid/optional)

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Judicial Council of California Is an Equal Opportunity Employer.