| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Media and Advertising |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Content Manager |
| Direct reports | Content Writer, Sub Editor |
| Experience | 3 to 6 years in content writing or editing, with some publishing responsibility |
Content Editor job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Content Editor
Department: Media and Advertising
Reports to: Content Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Content Editor commissions, edits and publishes written content for a website, publication or brand. They plan pieces against a calendar, edit drafts for accuracy, structure and house style, add headlines and SEO elements, and schedule publishing through a CMS. The role manages writers and freelancers and owns the quality of everything that goes live. A good one keeps a steady flow of well-edited, accurate content going out on time, in one consistent voice, that readers and search engines both find useful.
Key responsibilities
- Plan content against the editorial calendar, assign topics to writers, and set word counts, angles and deadlines.
- Edit drafts for accuracy, structure, clarity, grammar and house style, and fact-check claims before publishing.
- Write and refine headlines, subheadings, meta titles and descriptions so pieces read well and rank in search.
- Format and publish articles through the content management system, adding images, links and tags.
- Brief and coach writers and freelancers, give clear feedback, and lift the standard of their drafts over time.
- Keep a consistent tone and style guide across all content, and update it as the brand voice changes.
- Coordinate with SEO, design and social teams so content is optimised, illustrated and promoted.
- Track content performance such as traffic and time on page, and refresh older pieces that are slipping.
- Manage the freelance budget and pay, and commission work within the approved plan.
- Check every piece for plagiarism, copyright and legal risk before it goes live.
Requirements
- Bachelor's or master's degree in English, journalism or mass communication
- Strong writing and editing samples
- Knowledge of SEO and content tools is an advantage
- 3 to 6 years in content writing or editing, with some publishing responsibility
KRAs and KPIs for a Content Editor
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Content quality | Published pieces need no post-publish correction on facts or grammar in most cases |
| Publishing cadence | Planned pieces published on the calendar date at least 95 percent of the time |
| Search performance | A set share of edited pieces rank on the first search page within the target period |
| Style consistency | All content follows the house style guide, checked on a sample each month |
| Writer development | Drafts from regular writers need fewer edits over the quarter |
| Originality | Zero plagiarism or copyright issues in published content across the year |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: WordPress or a CMS, Grammarly, Ahrefs or SEMrush, Google Analytics, MS Word or Google Docs.
Reporting line and career path
Interview questions for a Content Editor
- How do you edit a draft that has good research but a weak structure?
- Walk me through how you write a headline that reads well and also works for search.
- A writer keeps missing the brief. How do you coach them?
- How do you decide which old articles to refresh and which to leave?
- How do you check a piece for facts, plagiarism and copyright before publishing?
- How do you keep one consistent voice across ten different writers?
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What does a content editor do?
A content editor plans, edits and publishes written content. They assign topics to writers, edit drafts for accuracy, structure and house style, write headlines and SEO elements, and publish through a CMS. They manage writers and freelancers, keep one consistent voice, and own the quality of everything that goes live.
What is the difference between a content editor and a content writer?
A content writer researches and writes the drafts. A content editor plans the calendar, assigns the work, edits and fact-checks the drafts, writes headlines and SEO elements and publishes. The editor is senior, owns quality and consistency across many writers, and gives feedback that improves the team's writing.
What is the difference between a content editor and a content strategist?
A content editor focuses on producing and polishing pieces: assigning, editing and publishing. A content strategist decides what content to create and why, plans topics and channels against business goals, and measures results. The strategist sets direction, the editor makes sure the writing that comes out of it is good.