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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Writing Editor

💰 $ - $

EditorialContentWritingCommunicationsPublishing

🎯 Role Definition

The Writing Editor is responsible for shaping, refining, and delivering written content that aligns with editorial strategy, brand voice, and audience needs. This role balances line-by-line copyediting with higher-order structural edits, SEO optimization, fact-checking, and cross-team coordination. The Writing Editor ensures content is accurate, readable, legally compliant, and optimized for search and conversion across web, email, and social channels.

Key focus areas:

  • Editorial quality assurance and consistency across channels
  • SEO-driven content optimization and metadata management
  • Managing editorial calendars, workflows, and publishing schedules
  • Coaching writers, enforcing style guide, and maintaining brand voice
  • Using CMS and analytics to measure and improve content performance

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Content Writer / Staff Writer
  • Copy Editor / Proofreader
  • Journalist or Reporter
  • Communications Specialist

Advancement To:

  • Senior Editor / Managing Editor
  • Editorial Director / Head of Content
  • Content Strategy Lead / Content Operations Manager
  • Director of Communications

Lateral Moves:

  • Content Strategist
  • UX Writer / Product Writer
  • Social Media or Community Lead
  • Content Marketing Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the end-to-end editorial process for assigned beats and content types, including commissioning, editing, SEO optimization, fact-checking, and final sign-off prior to publication to ensure accuracy, clarity, and brand alignment.
  • Perform detailed copyedits and line edits to improve grammar, punctuation, syntax, tone, flow, and readability while preserving author voice and intent across long-form articles, blog posts, white papers, and marketing copy.
  • Conduct structural edits to enhance organization, argumentation, pacing, and narrative arc in feature stories, technical guides, and thought-leadership pieces, recommending rewrites or restructures where necessary.
  • Optimize headlines, subheads, meta descriptions, image alt text, and URL slugs for SEO and CTR using keyword research and SEO best practices to improve organic visibility and search performance.
  • Build and maintain editorial calendars in coordination with content marketing, product, and social teams to prioritize stories, meet campaign deadlines, and align content output with business goals and seasonal initiatives.
  • Develop, update, and enforce a comprehensive style guide and templates that define brand voice, formatting rules, citation standards, and legal/compliance requirements; provide training and enforcement to contributors.
  • Collaborate with content strategists and SEO specialists to run keyword gap analyses, content audits, and topic clusters, recommending new content opportunities and updates to existing pages to drive traffic and conversions.
  • Fact-check technical and data-driven content, verify sources, reference studies and statistics, and manage corrections/retractions when required to maintain editorial integrity and reduce reputational risk.
  • Manage a roster of freelance writers, subject-matter experts, and contributors: hire, brief, set expectations, deliver feedback, and conduct quality reviews to scale content production while maintaining standards.
  • Work closely with product, design, legal, and marketing teams to coordinate gated content, landing pages, email campaigns, and UI microcopy, ensuring consistent messaging and smooth handoffs through publishing workflows.
  • Publish content using CMS platforms (e.g., WordPress, Drupal) including formatting, inserting metadata, setting canonical tags, scheduling posts, and troubleshooting basic CMS issues to guarantee accurate deployment.
  • Use analytics tools (Google Analytics, Search Console, content analytics platforms) to monitor content performance, generate insights, A/B test headlines or layouts, and iterate editorial approaches based on data.
  • Mentor and coach junior editors and writers on editorial best practices, style, SEO writing techniques, and time management to elevate the overall quality of the content team and individual contributors.
  • Create and present editorial performance reports, content ROI analyses, and recommendations to stakeholders and leadership, linking editorial work to KPIs like pageviews, engagement, lead generation, and retention.
  • Manage multiple editorial projects simultaneously, balancing short-term news-driven items with long-term evergreen content initiatives while meeting rigorous deadlines within an agile/fast-paced publishing environment.
  • Ensure accessibility, readability, and inclusivity standards in all copy, applying plain-language principles, alt-text conventions, and diversity-aware editorial checks throughout the publication process.
  • Coordinate multimedia integration — working with video producers, audio editors, and designers to ensure text complements visual assets and captions, transcripts, and graphic copy are accurate and optimized for search.
  • Implement and maintain content governance processes, version control, archive procedures, and templates that reduce duplicate work and accelerate publishing throughput.
  • Lead periodic content audits and pruning initiatives to identify outdated pages, reduce content bloat, and update or consolidate materials for improved SEO and user experience.
  • Oversee headline development and copy testing programs (A/B tests, topic variants) to refine messaging approaches and increase click-through rates across distribution channels.
  • Review legal or regulatory copy with legal/compliance teams for disclaimers, terms, and claims in sponsored content, ensuring compliance with advertising standards and industry regulations.
  • Develop onboarding documentation and run workshops for writers on SEO fundamentals, CMS usage, and editorial workflows to raise the baseline competence of cross-functional content contributors.
  • Drive innovation in editorial technology, recommending and piloting tools (content optimization platforms, grammar/style tools, DAM integrations) that improve editorial efficiency and content quality.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist in ad-hoc reporting and editorial performance analysis to support strategy iterations and stakeholder briefings.
  • Support cross-functional campaigns, integrating editorial deliverables with product launches, PR initiatives, and marketing promotions.
  • Contribute to hiring interviews and evaluations for editorial and writing roles, providing technical assessments and sample-edit reviews.
  • Participate in process-improvement projects to shorten editing cycles, improve handoffs, and reduce production bottlenecks.
  • Manage small budgets related to freelance commissioning and content production when assigned.
  • Stay current on industry trends, SEO algorithm updates, and audience consumption habits; propose experiments and pilots to test against emerging formats and channels.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert-level copyediting and line-editing proficiency with strong command of grammar, punctuation, and syntax across AP, Chicago, or house style guides.
  • Structural editing and story development skills for long-form content, features, white papers, and case studies.
  • SEO content optimization: keyword research, metadata optimization, on-page SEO best practices, and familiarity with Search Console and keyword tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz).
  • Experience with content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal, Contentful, or equivalent platforms, including hands-on publishing and templating.
  • Strong fact-checking, source evaluation, and research skills; comfortable vetting technical sources, studies, and primary documents.
  • Experience using analytics tools (Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Chartbeat, or similar) to measure content KPIs and inform editorial decisions.
  • Proficiency with collaborative editing tools and version control: Google Docs, Microsoft Word Track Changes, editorial plugins, and basic knowledge of HTML for content formatting.
  • Familiarity with content governance and metadata practices (taxonomies, tagging, canonicalization) to support discoverability and internal search.
  • Competence with editorial tooling such as Grammarly, Hemingway, Clearscope, Surfer SEO, or other content optimization platforms.
  • Ability to run and interpret A/B tests for headlines, lead paragraphs, or content layouts using testing platforms and analytics.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with strong ability to give clear, constructive feedback to writers and stakeholders.
  • Leadership and mentorship: experience coaching writers, managing freelance talent, and developing junior editors.
  • Strong project and time management skills; proven ability to manage multiple deadlines and prioritize competing editorial demands.
  • Critical thinking and editorial judgment to make nuanced decisions about tone, fact risk, and story prioritization.
  • Collaboration and stakeholder management: comfort working with cross-functional partners such as product, legal, marketing, design, and analytics teams.
  • Attention to detail and high standards for quality and accuracy, with a commitment to upholding brand voice and editorial consistency.
  • Adaptability and resilience in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments with evolving editorial priorities.
  • Creativity in headline writing, angle development, and content packaging to improve audience engagement and conversion.
  • Problem-solving orientation with ability to troubleshoot CMS issues, publishing errors, and workflow blockages.
  • Ethical judgment and integrity when handling sensitive information, corrections, and source relationships.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

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

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree or advanced certification in Journalism, English, Content Strategy, or Digital Communications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Journalism
  • English or Creative Writing
  • Communications / Media Studies
  • Marketing or Digital Media
  • Technical Writing

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3–8 years of professional editorial or writing experience, including time spent in digital publishing environments.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of editorial experience with demonstrable results in SEO-driven content publishing, team leadership, and cross-functional collaboration. Experience managing editorial calendars, CMS publishing, and analytics-driven content iteration is highly desirable.
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