Executive Editor, World Language Curriculum

About the role

The Executive Editor provides editorial, curricular, and product leadership for CIEE’s High School Summer Abroad Language & Culture curriculum portfolio. This role shapes the vision, development processes, and quality standards for communicative, task-based world language curriculum used in CIEE’s four-week study abroad programs for U.S. high school students.

Responsibilities

• Lead the editorial development of CIEE’s High School Summer Abroad Language & Culture curriculum portfolio across multiple languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and German, with the long-term goal of expanding and standardizing curriculum across additional languages, potentially including Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
• Translate academic priorities into curriculum architecture, including scope and sequence mapping, resource and skills planning, lessons, assessments, student- and instructor-facing materials, supplemental resources, and implementation supports.
• Ensure that curriculum reflects CIEE’s pedagogical priorities, including communicative, task-based language teaching, target language engagement, authentic resources, intercultural learning, and developmentally appropriate instruction for high school students.
• Lead complex curriculum development projects from concept through final delivery, including prototype planning, manuscript development, field review, revision cycles, quality assurance, and implementation support.
• Evaluate curriculum manuscripts and contributor work, identifying issues related to learning progression, task design, cognitive load, feasibility, pacing, cultural authenticity, linguistic accuracy, style and voice, and overall quality.
• Manage complex feedback from multiple stakeholders, including instructors, site staff, reviewers, and strategic advisors, using qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate curriculum effectiveness.
• Contribute to the annual training of HSSA Language & Culture instructors, including asynchronous Canvas training and synchronous live virtual workshops.
• Research and recommend teaching methods, resources, tools, and technologies appropriate for high school language instruction in study abroad contexts.
• Help establish CIEE as a thought leader in language education by contributing world language and curriculum expertise to teacher-facing professional development events, initiatives, and materials, as needed.

Requirements

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, curriculum and instruction, world language education, educational publishing, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7–10 years of editorial experience in educational publishing, including experience in senior editorial, executive editor, managing editor, or product development roles; significant experience in K–12 world language strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading the editorial development of curriculum products, including setting product specifications, managing manuscripts, directing contributors, and ensuring quality from concept through final delivery.
• Experience developing or overseeing standards-aligned curriculum across multiple languages, scope and sequence documents, lesson plans, and student- and teacher-facing materials.
• Experience managing and developing staff and leading teams of 4–6 contributors.
• Deep understanding of world language pedagogy, including ACTFL proficiency guidelines, communicative language teaching, task-based learning, authentic resources, and proficiency-oriented instruction.
• Professional fluency in Spanish required; proficiency in additional languages, such as French, Italian, German, or Chinese, is a plus.
• Excellent written communication skills in English and the ability to write, edit, and give feedback with clarity, precision, and diplomacy.
• Experience managing writers, editors, freelancers, external contributors, reviewers, or cross-functional collaborators.
• Strong project management skills, including the ability to create and manage schedules, workflows, documentation, feedback cycles, and quality-control processes.

Qualifications

Preferred:

• Master’s degree in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, curriculum and instruction, world language education, educational publishing, or a related field.
• High school world language teaching experience.
• Experience creating and managing resources in Google Drive.
• Experience with language proficiency assessment data, such as STAMP, ACTFL-aligned assessments, or other proficiency-based measures.
• Experience supporting teacher training, professional development, or implementation of curriculum products.