Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Written Communications Director

🎯 Role Definition

The Written Communications Director is a senior communications leader responsible for shaping and executing a cohesive written content and messaging strategy across internal and external channels. This role provides editorial leadership and governance, establishes voice and style standards, manages a team of writers and editors, partners with cross-functional stakeholders (marketing, product, legal, HR, leadership), and uses analytics and SEO best practices to drive measurable engagement, brand reputation, and business outcomes. The ideal candidate combines deep editorial experience, strategic thinking, data fluency, and strong people management skills to deliver compelling, on‑brand written communications at scale.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Communications Manager / Senior Content Manager
Editorial Director / Senior Editor
Content Strategy Lead / Copy Chief

Advancement To:

Vice President, Communications
Head of Content Strategy / Chief Content Officer
Chief Communications Officer

Lateral Moves:

Brand Marketing Director
Product Content Director
Employee Communications Director

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and implement a comprehensive written communications and content strategy that aligns with organizational objectives, brand positioning, and target audience needs across website, blogs, email, social copy, press materials, and internal channels.
Lead, hire, mentor, and manage a cross-functional editorial team of writers, editors, content strategists, and contractors, setting clear priorities, objectives, and professional development plans.
Create and maintain an authoritative editorial style guide and brand voice framework that standardizes tone, grammar, terminology, and messaging across all written touchpoints.
Oversee content planning and calendar management, aligning content production with product launches, marketing campaigns, editorial initiatives, and company milestones.
Architect and enforce content governance processes, including approval workflows, legal/compliance review, version control, and retention policies for written materials.
Partner with SEO specialists to define keyword strategy, optimize on‑page content, and increase organic discoverability while balancing editorial integrity and user experience.
Commission, edit, and approve high-impact thought leadership, executive op-eds, white papers, and long-form content that elevate organizational authority and drive lead generation.
Lead executive communications and speechwriting efforts, including briefing documents, talking points, Q&A, and keynote content that align leadership voice with brand narratives.
Collaborate with product marketing and UX teams to craft product messaging, in-app microcopy, knowledge base content, and release notes that clearly communicate value and reduce customer friction.
Design, implement, and analyze content performance metrics (page views, time on page, CTRs, lead conversion, engagement rates) using Google Analytics, content analytics platforms, and A/B test results to iterate and optimize content programs.
Conduct regular editorial audits and content inventories to identify gaps, redundancies, opportunities for repurposing, and technical SEO improvements.
Lead crisis and issues communications for written content, rapidly developing clear, consistent messaging, Q&A, and external statements in coordination with legal and executive teams.
Manage relationships with external agencies, freelance networks, and vendors; negotiate scopes, rates, and contracts to scale content production effectively.
Develop and own documentation and training programs for internal stakeholders and subject-matter experts to enable consistent content contributions and reduce review cycles.
Set content budgets, forecast resource needs, and manage spend across in‑house and outsourced content production.
Ensure all written communications comply with accessibility standards (WCAG), legal/regulatory requirements, and industry-specific guidelines for accuracy and transparency.
Champion data-informed editorial decisions, presenting insights and recommendations to senior leadership to demonstrate content ROI and inform strategic priorities.
Drive multi-channel copy strategy for campaigns and product launches, ensuring coherent messaging across paid, owned, and earned media and aligning KPIs with business goals.
Build and maintain a library of approved messaging frameworks, boilerplate copy, FAQs, and templates to accelerate consistent, on‑brand writing across teams.
Oversee multilingual content strategies and localization efforts, coordinating with translation vendors and regional teams to maintain voice and quality globally.
Serve as a peer to marketing, PR, legal, and HR leaders to synchronize storytelling efforts that support employer branding, recruiting content, and internal engagement.
Lead initiatives to improve content production efficiency (editorial calendars, CMS workflows, style-checking tools) and champion tooling that reduces manual review and accelerates time-to-publish.

Secondary Functions

Support cross-departmental training on writing best practices, plain language, and storytelling techniques for non-writer stakeholders and subject-matter experts.
Conduct stakeholder interviews and discovery sessions to translate technical subject matter into clear, audience‑centric written content.
Drive continuous improvement programs, including content testing, voice refinement, and style guide updates based on qualitative feedback and quantitative data.
Oversee content migration and CMS governance projects, ensuring metadata, taxonomy, and redirects preserve SEO value during site reorganizations.
Act as a quality control reviewer for high-visibility written deliverables such as earnings releases, investor communications, and regulatory filings in coordination with legal and finance.
Participate in cross-functional strategy sessions (product roadmaps, brand refreshes, campaign planning) to ensure writing and messaging are integrated from ideation through execution.
Support employer branding and recruitment content strategy, including job descriptions, career site copy, and employee stories that attract top talent.
Manage risk and compliance checks for customer communications, privacy notices, and consent language, incorporating legal and compliance feedback into final copy.
Facilitate editorial retrospectives and postmortems after major launches to capture lessons learned and update playbooks and templates accordingly.
Evaluate and pilot new content technologies (AI-assisted writing tools, editorial governance platforms, content performance dashboards) to increase team productivity and quality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Content strategy and editorial planning — demonstrated success building long-term content programs and calendars.
Advanced copywriting and substantive editing skills across long-form, short-form, technical, and marketing copy.
Familiarity with editorial style guides (AP, Chicago, in-house), grammar, and plain-language principles.
CMS proficiency (WordPress, Drupal, Contentful, or equivalent) including content modeling and workflow configuration.
SEO best practices and tools (Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or equivalent) to optimize content performance.
Experience with content governance, version control, and compliance workflows.
Data literacy: ability to interpret content performance metrics, run A/B tests, and translate insights into editorial decisions.
Executive communications and speechwriting experience for senior leaders.
Experience managing localization and translation processes and vendors for global content.
Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and applying them to written content.
Project management and editorial workflow tools (Asana, Jira, Trello, Airtable, or equivalent).
Vendor management and contract negotiation experience for agencies and freelance talent.
Experience using modern writing/quality tools (Grammarly, ProWritingAid, style linters, or AI-assisted writing platforms).

Soft Skills

Strategic leadership and vision — translates organizational goals into actionable content programs.
Strong verbal and interpersonal communication for cross-functional influence and stakeholder management.
Coaching and people development — proven ability to mentor writers and build high-performing editorial teams.
Attention to detail and high editorial standards under tight deadlines.
Collaboration and diplomacy — ability to align competing stakeholder priorities and achieve consensus.
Critical thinking and problem solving — synthesizes data and qualitative feedback into clear recommendations.
Time management and prioritization in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
Adaptability to shifting business priorities and evolving channel trends.
Resilience and calm under pressure, especially during crisis communications.
Creative storytelling balanced with commercial and audience-focused thinking.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Communications, Journalism, English, Marketing, Public Relations, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Business Communications, or MA in English/Writing preferred but not required.
Completed executive leadership or content strategy certification (optional).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Communications
Journalism
English / Creative Writing
Marketing
Public Relations
Technical Communication
Digital Media

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8–15 years of progressive experience in communications, editorial, content strategy, or related fields, with 3–5+ years in a leadership role.

Preferred:

10+ years of writing, editing, and content strategy experience, including managing cross‑functional teams and content programs at scale.
Demonstrated track record of improving content KPIs, driving SEO growth, and delivering executive communications.
Experience in industry-specific environments (technology, healthcare, finance, nonprofit, or enterprise B2B) when relevant to the hiring organization.
Prior experience working with legal/compliance, product, and marketing partners to launch complex, regulated, or technical content initiatives.