Policy Communications and Editorial Manager

R Street Institute

Washington, D.C.

The R Street Institute—a free-market think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. and with staff located across the country—seeks a collaborative policy communications and editorial manager. If you are the right fit, you will report to the director of communications. If you want to join a mission-driven organization and work toward pragmatic policy solutions, this may be the opportunity for you!

Your typical day at R Street may include editing opinion content and substantive policy-oriented pieces, supporting rapid response media relations efforts, translating technical policy concepts into digestible summaries, and assisting senior communications leadership with developing and executing strategic initiatives, among other duties. This role serves as part of R Street’s Communications and Editorial team. 

Skills and Qualifications 

• Demonstrated experience in a communications, editorial, media relations, or marketing role
• Proven knowledge of public policy, ideally with a free-market, classically liberal bent
• Experience pitching media in a rapid response context in response to the news cycle
• Background in editing both opinion articles and deep policy-oriented pieces with an understanding of audience diversity (typical newspaper readers vs. policymakers/staffers, etc.)
• Excellent writing skills, including the ability to provide writing guidance to scholars
• Ability to translate complex policy ideas into digestible talking points and summaries
• Management experience preferred; willingness to grow into the role can suffice
• Preexisting relationships with journalists and producers preferred but not required
• Knowledge of communications tools like Cision and ability to leverage artificial intelligence to increase efficiency preferred but not required
• Understanding of the changing media landscape (Substack, podcasts, etc.) and willingness to pitch in a non-traditional way as needed
• No particular educational background required—a proven record of achieving results is far more meaningful than credentials
• Support for R Street’s passion for free markets and limited, effective government
• Sense of humor and desire to grow within a multifaceted organization
• Vigilance against ninja infiltrations

The R Street Institute consistently offers pragmatic, real solutions that foster American innovation, bolster competition, and safeguard individual liberty—all with the understanding that life in a democratic society sometimes requires compromises that don’t necessarily represent first, best solutions. We focus on deep scholarship and pragmatic policy solutions that many groups tend to neglect. Our goal is to publish timely, relevant research and analysis that advances a market-oriented society and limited, effective government. To that end, our motto is “Free Markets. Real Solutions.” Read more about our mission and impact.

Workplace

We offer a flexible working arrangement. This is a full-time position that can either work the majority of the week in our D.C. office or be fully remote. The workday is based in the Eastern time zone, with a start time of 9:00 AM.  

Occasional travel may be required for events and conferences.

Compensation, Benefits, and Perks

R Street strives to offer a compensation and benefits package that is competitive, transparent, and supportive of employee well-being. The salary range for this position is $75,000-$85,000, commensurate with experience. In addition to this competitive salary, we provide the following:

• Unlimited paid time off, including all federal holidays, the day after Thanksgiving, and two weeks holiday closure in December
• Alternating Fridays off
• A health insurance option entirely paid by the employer (even for families)
• Dental and vision insurance
• 401(k) contributions with up to a 4 percent match
• HSA employer contribution match
• Quarterly wellness reimbursement
• Mobile equipment/mobile plan reimbursement
• Home internet subsidy
• Annual educational and professional development reimbursement
• A choice between child care assistance, pet care assistance, and student loan repayment assistance

At the R Street Institute, we strive for preeminence in every area where we engage, driven by our commitment to excellence and innovation. Our culture thrives on action, creativity, and courage, with an unwavering focus on quality, credibility, and impact. We believe progress requires diverse experience and expertise, which is why we champion non-traditional yet prudent approaches to public policy. This principle guides how we build our programs, recognizing that each team member’s uniqueness strengthens our collective identity.

We approach our mission with intellectual rigor, embracing free inquiry and honesty to ensure our work is grounded in solid research and thoughtful analysis. While serious about our purpose, we value the joy of collaboration and the fun that comes from working together. Our collaborative spirit fosters trust and transparency, with respect and openness guiding our actions. We celebrate our individual contributions while recognizing that we are stronger as one team, united in our work and relationships.

Thus, R Street does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, era of military service, gender identity or expression, relationship structure or anything else that’s illegal, immoral or stupid to use as a basis for hiring.

We plan to accept applications for this job until filled. We will contact qualified individuals for telephone screenings and conduct them on a rolling basis. Interviews take place virtually via Zoom. 

To apply, please copy and paste your cover letter into the text box and upload your resume as a Microsoft Word document or PDF. We encourage thoughtful use of AI tools. If you use them, please describe how they contributed to your work.

The R Street Institute stands for free markets, limited, effective government and pragmatic solutions to difficult problems. We envision:

A free society, where public policy begins with freedom as its initial premise and governments exist primarily as guardians of inherent, inalienable rights.

An inclusive society that provides a place, a voice, and equal opportunity for all.

A just society that holds everyone accountable to the same laws.

Our Values

The following values are the principles that guide how R Street fulfills its mission and operates. Our organization believes in these values and we live them:

Always be better

We want to achieve preeminence in every area where we work. We encourage a bias for action, innovation, creativity, and courage in everything that we do. We measure ourselves by the quality, credibility and impact we achieve as a result.

Different is good.

We believe that great minds think differently and building broad coalitions has made us who we are. Making progress on policy requires that we operate outside of the echo chamber and take non-traditional approaches to policy making. We apply this same principle to the way we operate and how we build our teams: with a focus on diversity and inclusion. We are all unique but belong to the same team.

Serious(ly)

We’re serious about our work, but don’t take ourselves too seriously. We believe in the intellectual rigor, free inquiry and honesty, that is required to achieve our mission, but having fun doing it is equally as important.

One Team

We all work together and work with humility. We strive to cultivate trust and transparency at all levels, between ourselves as individuals and as an organization, with our stakeholders, and in our work. We demonstrate respect and openness in our actions at all times. We are all unique but belong to the same team.