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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Written Communications Specialist

💰 $55,000 - $110,000

CommunicationsContentWritingMarketingUX

🎯 Role Definition

The Written Communications Specialist is responsible for producing, editing, and optimizing high-quality written content that advances brand goals, supports organizational initiatives, and improves user comprehension. This role leads content creation for multiple channels (web, email, intranet, reports, proposals), enforces style and accessibility standards, partners with subject-matter experts, and measures content performance to iterate on messaging and format. The Specialist ensures consistency of voice and accuracy while meeting deadlines in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Communications Coordinator or Specialist
  • Content Writer / Copywriter
  • Technical Writer or Documentation Specialist
  • Marketing Coordinator or Digital Content Associate

Advancement To:

  • Senior Written Communications Specialist / Lead Writer
  • Communications Manager or Content Manager
  • Content Strategy Lead or UX Content Lead
  • Director of Communications or Head of Content

Lateral Moves:

  • UX Writer / Product Content Designer
  • Content Strategist
  • Proposal or Grants Writer
  • Corporate Affairs or Public Relations Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, write, and edit clear, accurate, and persuasive content for websites, landing pages, microsites, email campaigns, newsletters, social copy, internal communications, reports, white papers, and executive messaging, ensuring each piece meets audience, channel, and business objectives.
  • Own the end-to-end content lifecycle for assigned projects: research, outline, draft, revisions, stakeholder review, SEO optimization, CMS publishing, and performance measurement, coordinating handoffs with designers, developers, and product managers.
  • Create and maintain brand voice, tone, and style guidance (including AP/Chicago/house style adaptations), producing style sheets and content templates to ensure consistent messaging across all channels and touchpoints.
  • Edit and copyedit content for grammar, clarity, accuracy, legal/compliance requirements, and tone; perform final proofreads and quality checks prior to publication and distribution.
  • Translate complex technical, policy, or product information into plain-language content for non-expert audiences, working closely with subject-matter experts to verify facts and simplify messaging without sacrificing accuracy.
  • Optimize content for discoverability and engagement using SEO best practices, keyword research, meta tagging, structured data basics, and collaboration with SEO specialists to improve organic search performance.
  • Manage and maintain content in CMS platforms (e.g., WordPress, Drupal, Contentful), including templating, tagging, version control, and ensuring published content adheres to accessibility (WCAG) standards.
  • Plan and execute editorial calendars and content workflows that align with marketing campaigns, product launches, and organizational priorities; coordinate cross-functional deadlines and editorial reviews.
  • Produce audience-driven messaging frameworks and target-audience personas; apply audience analysis and user research insights to tailor messaging and format for different segments and channels.
  • Develop high-impact executive communications, talking points, presentations, and briefing notes for senior leaders, ensuring alignment to strategy and succinct articulation of key messages.
  • Lead content reviews and governance processes, facilitating stakeholder feedback cycles, resolving editorial disputes, and documenting approvals and review decisions.
  • Create and deliver writing training, workshops, and coaching for internal teams to raise writing quality, plain-language adoption, and brand alignment across the organization.
  • Support crisis and change communications by drafting rapid-response messaging, internal employee communications, FAQs, and public statements in collaboration with communications leadership and legal counsel.
  • Produce measurement frameworks and KPIs for written content (click-through, engagement, readability, conversions, time on page), analyze results with analytics tools, and iterate content based on performance and A/B test outcomes.
  • Localize and adapt content for regional audiences and partner with localization vendors or internal translators to ensure cultural and linguistic accuracy.
  • Enforce documentation and content governance for policies, procedures, and knowledge bases, ensuring versioning, discoverability, and alignment to compliance requirements.
  • Partner with product, design, UX research, marketing, and sales teams to integrate content strategy into product roadmaps, user flows, and campaign plans; contribute to user journeys and wireframe/content decisions.
  • Draft and refine proposals, grants, case studies, and customer success stories that highlight impact, metrics, and compelling narratives to support revenue and partnership initiatives.
  • Create plain-language summaries and visual-friendly content (headlines, bullets, captions) to improve scannability and accessibility of long-form documents and reports.
  • Conduct editorial audits and content inventories to identify gaps, overlaps, and optimization opportunities across the content ecosystem; propose prioritized content plans and governance improvements.
  • Maintain close relationships with legal, compliance, and regulatory teams to ensure all external communications meet necessary requirements and reduce risk of misstatements.
  • Own metadata, taxonomy, and content tagging strategy to improve searchability across web and intranet properties, enabling better content discovery and reuse.
  • Mentor and support junior writers and contractors, reviewing deliverables, providing constructive feedback, and ensuring consistency to standards and timelines.
  • Produce press releases and media-facing communications in collaboration with PR teams, ensuring message clarity, factual accuracy, and alignment with broader PR strategies.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc writing and editing requests across departments, providing fast-turnaround content that adheres to style and brand guidelines.
  • Contribute to the organization's content strategy and roadmap by participating in planning sessions, providing editorial estimates, and identifying content reuse opportunities.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate complex business or technical requirements into clear editorial briefs and prioritized content deliverables.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies when embedded with product or UX teams to scope content work and integrate content into development cycles.
  • Maintain documentation of editorial processes, templates, and checklists to speed drafting and ensure consistent quality across high-volume content production.
  • Stay current on industry writing trends, SEO algorithm changes, accessibility updates, and content tooling to recommend process and tooling improvements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Exceptional copywriting and copyediting skills with mastery of grammar, punctuation, and style; experience applying AP, Chicago, or in-house style guides.
  • Plain-language writing and technical translation experience: ability to convert technical, legal, or product content into accessible copy for diverse audiences.
  • SEO copywriting: keyword research, on-page optimization, meta descriptions, URL hygiene, header structure, and basic familiarity with schema/structured data.
  • Content Management Systems (CMS) experience: publishing, templating, content modeling, version control in platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, Contentful, or Sitecore.
  • Web accessibility knowledge (WCAG 2.x), including writing for screen readers, alt text best practices, and accessible content structures.
  • Analytics and measurement: experience using Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or similar tools to evaluate content performance and inform optimization.
  • UX writing and information architecture: experience crafting microcopy, navigation labels, error messages, and content that supports user flows and conversion.
  • Editing and QA tooling: experience with editorial workflows, track changes, content review platforms (e.g., GatherContent, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office), and proofreading techniques.
  • Basic HTML/CSS familiarity for content formatting, troubleshooting templates, and collaborating with developers on content implementation.
  • Localization and translation workflows: experience preparing source copy for localization, working with translation vendors, and reviewing translated content.
  • Project management fundamentals: ability to scope content work, estimate effort, manage deadlines, and use tools like Jira, Asana, or Trello.
  • Familiarity with digital marketing channels (email platforms, social scheduling tools) and content types (landing pages, microsites, long-form content).

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional written and verbal communication: ability to present concepts clearly to non-writing stakeholders and defend editorial decisions diplomatically.
  • Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy, consistency, and quality in all published materials.
  • Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management: skilled at building consensus and managing feedback among product, legal, marketing, and executive partners.
  • Project prioritization and time management: able to balance multiple concurrent writing projects and meet tight deadlines with minimal supervision.
  • Critical thinking and editorial judgment: choosing the right tone, format, and channel to achieve business and audience outcomes.
  • Adaptability and learning mindset: comfortable working in a changing environment, adopting new tools, and iterating on processes.
  • Coaching and mentorship: experience guiding less-experienced writers and leading writing workshops or trainings.
  • Empathy and audience orientation: strong user-first approach to craft messaging that resonates and reduces friction.
  • Relationship-building and influence: ability to persuade stakeholders of content decisions grounded in data and best practices.
  • Resilience and calm under pressure: ability to produce high-quality communications during crises or rapidly changing situations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

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

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree with relevant certifications (SEO, UX Writing, Content Strategy) or Master’s degree in Communications, Technical Communication, or Rhetoric/Composition.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Journalism
  • English / Literature
  • Technical Communication
  • Marketing / Communications
  • Human-Computer Interaction / UX (beneficial for product-facing roles)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of professional writing, editing, or communications experience; combination of agency, corporate, nonprofit, or product experience acceptable.

Preferred: 5+ years producing cross-channel content for web and email, proven experience with CMS publishing, SEO, accessibility, and measurable content improvements; demonstrated success collaborating with product teams, legal/compliance stakeholders, and senior leadership.

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