Torchora
Back to Home

Writer Manager

💰 $70,000 - $120,000

ContentEditorialManagement

🎯 Role Definition

As the Writer Manager, you will lead a team of in-house and freelance writers to create high-quality, SEO-optimized content that supports brand voice, demand generation, product marketing, and customer education. This role combines editorial rigor, content strategy, people management, and cross-functional project leadership. You will own the content calendar, enforce style and quality standards, mentor writers, measure performance, and continuously improve content processes to increase organic traffic, engagement, and conversion.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Content Writer / Senior Copywriter
  • Content Strategist / SEO Content Strategist
  • Editorial Lead / Associate Editor

Advancement To:

  • Director of Content
  • Head of Content Strategy
  • VP of Marketing (Content & Editorial)

Lateral Moves:

  • Product Marketing Manager
  • Content Operations Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead, hire, mentor and develop a cross-functional team of content creators (writers, editors, content strategists, and contractors), defining clear goals, career paths, and quarterly performance objectives that align with company OKRs.
  • Define and execute a data-informed content strategy and editorial roadmap that drives organic search growth, audience engagement, lead generation, and thought leadership across blog, long-form content, product documentation, email, and social channels.
  • Own and manage the editorial calendar, coordinating content production schedules, prioritization, and resource allocation to meet product launches, campaign deadlines, and business priorities.
  • Produce detailed content briefs and creative direction that include SEO targets, target audience, messaging hierarchy, tone of voice, keyword targets, CTA strategy, and success metrics for each deliverable.
  • Edit and proofread content for clarity, accuracy, grammar, tone, brand voice, and adherence to style guides (AP, Chicago, or custom brand guide), ensuring content is publication-ready and aligned with legal and compliance requirements.
  • Implement and maintain a consistent editorial style guide and quality-control process to standardize brand voice, terminology, formatting, and accessibility best practices across all content.
  • Collaborate closely with SEO specialists to perform keyword research, topic clustering, content gap analysis, and on-page optimization; ensure every piece of content is optimized for both users and search engines.
  • Partner with product marketing, demand generation, UX, design, and analytics teams to align content with product positioning, campaigns, conversion funnels, and user experience needs.
  • Monitor and report on content performance using analytics tools (Google Analytics, Search Console, Looker/Looker Studio, or equivalent), translating data into actionable editorial improvements and prioritized content updates.
  • Drive content experimentation—A/B testing headlines, meta descriptions, CTAs, and formats—to identify high-impact tactics and iteratively improve conversion and engagement rates.
  • Manage freelance networks and external agencies: scoping projects, negotiating contracts, approving invoices, and ensuring on-time delivery and consistent quality standards.
  • Build scalable content workflows and governance for ideation, drafting, editing, localization, publishing, and content maintenance, using project management and content tools (Asana, Trello, Airtable or equivalent).
  • Oversee content publishing and technical SEO tasks in content management systems (WordPress, Drupal, HubSpot CMS), including structured metadata, canonical tags, schema, and page performance best practices.
  • Lead content audits and evergreen content optimization programs to refresh, consolidate, or retire underperforming assets to maximize organic growth and resource efficiency.
  • Collaborate with legal and compliance stakeholders to review content for regulatory, trademark and privacy issues and implement sign-off processes for high-risk content.
  • Develop and manage budget for content initiatives, including freelance spend, tools (SEO, CMS, analytics), and content distribution programs.
  • Support product launches and integrated campaigns by creating launch-specific content assets—launch blogs, press-ready articles, FAQs, and enablement materials—and coordinating cross-channel amplification.
  • Champion accessibility (WCAG) and localization best practices, collaborating with L10N teams to adapt content for international audiences and ensure inclusive language and formats.
  • Establish KPIs and success metrics (organic sessions, time on page, conversion rate, lead volume, keyword rankings) and provide regular executive-level reporting and insights.
  • Act as the content liaison for customer-facing teams (sales, customer success, support) to create enablement content, playbooks, and case studies that support revenue and retention goals.
  • Drive innovation in content formats and production—podcasts, video scripts, interactive tools, long-form guides, and white papers—to reach diverse buyer personas and platform preferences.

Secondary Functions

  • Develop training materials and run regular workshops to upskill writers on SEO best practices, research methodology, storytelling frameworks, and brand voice.
  • Support editorial governance by maintaining version control, content inventories, and a content lifecycle policy to minimize stale content and technical debt.
  • Respond to ad-hoc executive or cross-functional adoptions of content needs—rapid briefs for crisis comms, thought leadership, or analyst relations.
  • Coordinate with design and multimedia teams to ensure copy is integrated seamlessly with visual assets and that production timelines are synchronized.
  • Manage vendor relationships with content platforms, transcription services, and creative contractors to expand content capacity on demand.
  • Participate in product and UX discovery sessions to represent content needs and ensure documentation and microcopy meet user needs.
  • Assist in building content scoring models and ROI frameworks to justify content investment and prioritize high-impact content topics.
  • Ensure content meets privacy and data policy guidelines when using customer data or case examples; coordinate redaction and anonymization where necessary.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Content strategy development and editorial calendar ownership
  • Advanced copyediting and proofreading (AP / Chicago / internal style guides)
  • SEO: keyword research, on-page optimization, topic clustering, and technical SEO basics
  • Content Management Systems (WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Drupal, or similar)
  • Analytics and reporting: Google Analytics / GA4, Search Console, Looker Studio / Data Studio
  • CMS publishing workflows, metadata, canonical tags, and schema implementation
  • Experience with content collaboration and project management tools (Asana, Trello, Airtable, JIRA)
  • Writing and producing long-form content: white papers, eBooks, case studies, pillar pages
  • Familiarity with CRO principles and A/B testing for headlines and landing pages
  • Localization workflows and translation management systems (TMS) knowledge
  • Familiarity with UX writing and microcopy best practices
  • Budgeting and vendor management for freelance/agency partnerships

Soft Skills

  • Strong leadership and people-management skills with a track record of building high-performing writing teams
  • Excellent verbal and written communication; ability to give constructive editorial feedback
  • Strategic thinking with a bias for data-driven decision making and continuous optimization
  • Project prioritization and time management across multiple concurrent initiatives
  • Cross-functional collaboration skills to partner effectively with product, marketing, design, and analytics
  • Coaching and mentoring ability to grow junior writers into senior contributors
  • Attention to detail and commitment to high editorial standards and brand consistency
  • Adaptability and problem-solving in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
  • Stakeholder management and executive communication to present content performance and strategy
  • Creative storytelling mindset with the ability to translate complex topics into clear, compelling content

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in English, Journalism, Communications, Marketing, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Communications, Journalism, Marketing, or an MBA with heavy content/marketing focus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Journalism
  • English / Creative Writing
  • Communications
  • Marketing
  • Technical Writing

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 5–10 years of professional writing and content experience, including 2–5 years in a management or lead role.

Preferred:

  • 7+ years of content creation with at least 3 years managing writers, experience scaling editorial teams, demonstrated SEO-driven content impact, and hands-on CMS and analytics proficiency.
Explore More Careers