Reporting to the Director of Curriculum on the High School Outbound (HSOB) Academics team, the Senior Editor plays a critical role in developing, editing, and maintaining communicative, task-based curriculum for CIEE’s High School Summer Abroad (HSSA) Language & Culture programs, managing curriculum development processes, and contributing editorial and pedagogical expertise to support program goals.
This individual works with instructors, freelance editors, and CIEE staff around the world to support the development and implementation of academic plans for four-week HSSA Language & Culture programs serving U.S. high school students.
Strong candidates will have extensive editorial experience in the publishing industry and deep content knowledge in world languages to develop best-in-class, standards-aligned curriculum, as well as source and manage editorial freelancers.
Strong candidates will have extensive editorial experience in the publishing industry and deep content knowledge in world language education. The Senior Editor will develop, write, edit, and revise curricular materials in collaboration with the HSOB Academics team and freelance contributors across multiple languages (currently Spanish, French, Italian, and German) and program locations.
Success in this role means ensuring that language instruction is clear and standards-aligned, authentic resources are high-quality and appropriate, and curriculum materials are engaging, age-appropriate, level-appropriate, and feasible for instructors to implement. You should be excited about working across cultures, managing complex editorial projects, and helping create meaningful language-learning experiences for high school students.
Limited travel will be required (approximately 2–3 trips per year).
What you’ll do:
Language Curriculum Development and Editing:
- Develop, enhance, revise, edit, and proofread language curricula and instructional materials, including detailed daily lessons, student-facing materials, supplemental curriculum components, scope and sequence charts, and related resources.
- Ensure that assigned curriculum products are coherent, accurate, engaging, standards-aligned, age-appropriate, and level-appropriate.
- Localize curriculum materials so they reflect the language, history, and culture of each CIEE program location.
- Contribute editorial and content expertise to prototypes, specifications, and revised master curriculum models developed in collaboration with the Director of Curriculum and/or Executive Editor.
- Source, onboard, support, and manage freelance editors and contributors across languages. This includes answering questions, reviewing and editing submitted work, providing feedback, and ensuring alignment with CIEE’s pedagogical approach and development guidelines.
- Manage assigned curriculum development workflows and project schedules in alignment with established editorial guidelines, timelines, and priorities.
- Identify project bottlenecks and recommend improvements to editorial processes, documentation, and team efficiency.
- Recommend updates to development guidelines and support onboarding or training for freelancers and contributors on established processes.
- Maintain up-to-date scope and sequence documents across assigned curricula.
- Manage copyright permissions for authentic resources across languages.
Training and Instructional Support:
- Assist with the annual training of HSSA instructors. Training consists of an online asynchronous Canvas course paired with synchronous live, virtual workshops.
- Provide support to international staff and instructors concerning academic matters, including via email and video calls.
- Assist with the development and maintenance of staff- and student-facing courses in CIEE’s learning management system, Canvas.
Program Evaluation and Academic Strategy:
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the language curriculum using qualitative and quantitative measures, including survey results, instructor feedback, site visits, and pre- and post-program language proficiency assessment data. Adjust the curriculum to improve outcomes.
- Research and identify teaching methods, resources, and technologies appropriate for high school language instruction and classroom management.
Research and Promotion:
- Stay informed about trends and innovations in the K–12, world language, and international education fields.
- Help establish CIEE as a leader in language education by presenting at relevant conferences and networking with experts in language learning and education abroad.
- Support teacher-facing academic initiatives by contributing language-learning expertise to professional development materials and events, as needed.
What you’ll bring:
The ideal candidate will possess:
- Bachelor’s degree in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, curriculum and instruction, world language education, or a related field.
- Minimum of 5 years of editorial experience as a senior editor in educational publishing and curriculum development.
- Demonstrated experience owning or leading the editorial development of substantial curriculum products.
- Professional fluency in Spanish; proficiency in additional languages, such as French, Italian, or German, is a plus.
- Exceptional written communication skills in English, strong attention to detail, and excellent editorial judgment.
- Ability to manage multiple complex projects and meet deadlines while maintaining quality.
- Experience managing freelancers, external contributors, or cross-functional collaborators.
- Expertise in world language standards (ACTFL), and experience developing scope and sequence documents and standards-aligned lessons.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and willingness to learn new systems quickly.
- Readiness to grow and develop yourself, our client group, and our Company.
- Ability to embrace CIEE’s Core Values (Excellence, Integrity, Respect, Inclusion, and Problem-Solving) and culture.
Strongly preferred:
The ideal candidate will possess:
- Master’s degree.
- High school world language teaching experience.
- Experience creating and managing resources in Google Drive.
- Experience working within a learning management system (e.g., Canvas).
CIEE believes that professionals with varied backgrounds bring unique approaches and ideas to solving problems and advancing our mission to bring the world together. Qualified candidates from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
Due to federal regulations and CIEE policies, a background check, reference check, and education and employment verification will be conducted as conditions of employment.
