Freelance Writer jobs

About Verbal

Verbal Arts Centre (Verbal) NI Ltd envisions a world where every story matters. We are dedicated to making storytelling accessible to all, integrating digital technology, literature, and psychology to break down societal barriers. Our mission is to promote positive mental health and social inclusion through high-quality, inclusive storytelling programmes.

Job Summary

The Writer/editor sits within Verbal's Creative Content team, alongside Applied Psychologists and other writers. The team produces three issues of the Honest Ulsterman each year, and, through the Verbal Writers Room, creates the story content that underpins Verbal's Applied Storytelling programmes for children, young people and adults. You will write and edit across both children's/young people's stories and adult fiction, including interactive and choose-your-own-adventure formats, depending on what each programme needs.

Job Title: Writer/Editor

Reporting to: Applied Psychology Coordinator

Salary: £30,541 per annum

Hours: 36 Hours per week (Monday to Thursday 9:00 to 17:30, Friday 9:00 to 16:00)

Contract: Fixed Term until March 2028 to align with the end of the PEACE of Mind Project (POM).

Location: Derry-Londonderry Office

Application Deadline: Midnight 1st November.

Please submit you CV and monitoring form to aideen@theverbal.co

Monitoring Forms can be downloaded from theverbal.co

Responsibilities

Editing and Production

• Contribute to the reading, reviewing, editing and production of three issues of the Honest Ulsterman magazine each year, coordinating a section in line with your experience and expertise.

Programme Design and Development

• Take part in the Writers Room, developing story worlds, plot construction and character building for Verbal's Applied Storytelling materials.
• Explore and use AI tools to extend the creative process and output, including producing multiple story versions to increase participant engagement and immersion.
• Write to the psychology-based curriculum the Applied Psychology Coordinator has built, keeping stories tailored to the needs and characteristics of the participant group each project serves.
• Facilitate programmes that underpin Verbal's Stories of Lived Experience programme (SoLeX), running the writing pilots that surface authentic stories for the "lived experience story libraries"

Additional Responsibilities

• Committed to and adhere to Verbal's vision, mission and values
• Actively engage in monthly staff meetings
• Actively engage in training as and when necessary
• Comply with Verbal's Child Protection and Adult Protection policies and procedures and with National Guidance Comply with Verbal's Code of Conduct
• Actively consider the involvement of participants with whom we work in all areas of practice
• Work within and promote policies in relation to Equal Opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices
• Observe all Health and Safety requirements

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• A resume of your writing career detailing where and when you have been published. (You may include samples of your work, but these will not be returned)
• Experience or strong working knowledge of different literature for age ranges, ideally including both children's/young people's writing and adult or interactive narrative fiction
• Willingness and ability to work collaboratively in a small, interdisciplinary creative team
• Openness to using AI tools as part of the creative writing and editing process
• Strong written communication skills, suited to editing a literary magazine to a professional standard

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of magazine, journal or anthology editing
• Experience designing or facilitating creative writing training or workshops
• Understanding of or interest in applied storytelling, bibliotherapy, or the use of narrative for wellbeing
• Experience writing for or working with marginalised groups
• Access to transport to enable full possible range of duties of post

Conditions of Employment

• Right to work in the UK
• Provide 2 satisfactory references
• Successful Applicants will be required to go through an enhanced Access NI check
• Flexibility in working hours

Pay: £30,541.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Health & wellbeing programme
• Private medical insurance

Work Location: In person