However we also need some non-technical or semi-technical members of the team to be able to make updates to these files. Today they do that by just downloading them, making the updates, and re-uploading them. Now I am worried the idea of branches, PRs, merge conflicts, etc. will be a distraction and a drain.
Is there any system which makes this more approachable? We've used Netlify CMS for a similar task in the past but it's not quite right.
Edit:
Why would they need to update multiple files "at once". Tell them the "commit" button is like "save", and to enter "save" as the commit note. Yes, the git history log will become a trash heap, but this is the compromise when asking non-technical folks edit VCS files.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.