Senior Editor Job Description

Here’s the Senior Editor job description template we used to scale a content team to 45 writers and editors. Learn how we grew a startup backed by A16 from 0 to 1,000,000 / organics per month.

Vanessa

Jan 19, 2022

Senior Editor Job Description Template

We are looking for an experienced Senior Editor to join our content marketing team and oversee the production and publication of content, as well as train and manage junior members of our editorial team.

As a Senior Editor, you will be in charge of proofreading content pieces, improving their clarity, accuracy, and overall quality, and ensuring consistency in style and tone. You will report to the head of the content department and contribute to developing content strategies for internal and external use.

Our ideal candidate is a great communicator with previous experience in content production and editing.

Responsibilities

Overseeing the content production process and ensuring it meets our quality standards
Proofreading content to ensure accuracy, readability, and consistency in tone
Ensuring that publishing deadlines are met and that content matches objective briefs and brand visions of our clients
Leading the junior editorial team by facilitating brainstorming sessions to identify relevant content topics and strategies that will attract and retain target audiences
Mentoring junior editors and helping them improve the clarity, consistency, and overall quality of content
Collaborating cross-functionally with Project Managers and other team members to identify areas for improvement in the workflow, creating supporting documentation, and overseeing the implementation of the new processes

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications, or a related field
5+ years of editing experience
Ability to adapt the tone and style to a particular audience’s sensitivity
Outstanding grammar, spelling, punctuation, and written language skills
Experience with Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc.
Excellent communication skills
Knowledge of SEO best practices/WordPress or similar content management systems/Adobe Creative Cloud/digital marketing concepts is a plus

Salary Ranges for a Senior Editor

Average salaries for the position of a Senior Editor vary according to the level of education, work experience, type of content, industry, location, and/or current market rates. The table below presents annual salaries for this position across the U.S., as per Glassdoor:

City	Entry-Level	Median	Top 10%
San Francisco, CA	$62,000	$89,241	$129,000
New York, NY	$65,000	$91,106	$128,000
Seattle, WA	$53,000	$88,372	$148,000
Dallas, TX	$42,000	$65,820	$104,000
Los Angeles, CA	$51,000	$80,416	$126,000
Portland, OR	$44,000	$65,582	$98,000
Austin, TX	$49,000	$75,301	$115,000
Atlanta, GA	$50,000	$81,995	$135,000
Nashville, TN	$46,000	$74,672	$121,000
Tampa Bay, FL	$45,000	$77,010	$131,000

How To Tailor Your Senior Editor Job Ad According to the Needs of Your Company

When you start writing a job description for a Senior Editor, you may be tempted to copy the template you have found. Using a ready-made template is a great starting point, but make sure you customize it so your job ad accurately reflects what you are looking for.

It is necessary to state what industry or niche the content is about and specify any relevant deadlines a person in this position must meet—daily, weekly, or monthly. It is also advisable to say whether that person needs experience with a specific CMS platform, such as WordPress, Joomla, etc., especially if they will use it daily.

You have to adapt the template to suit your organization and specify the type of editor you want to hire. That is why it is necessary to be concrete regarding the responsibilities the new editor will perform and the requirements they have to meet to be taken into consideration.

For example, different niches and different areas of content marketing would require editors who specialize in a particular subject matter. Consider specifying the niche in the title:

Retail Editor—Supervises the process of writing social media posts, newsletters, announcements, etc. for retail
Social Media Editor—Focuses on the quality of the content on the brand’s social media channels
Newsletter Editor—Selects and edits relevant pieces of news, updates, and stories to share with the target audience and existing clients

Similar Roles to a Senior Editor

Another reason why it is essential to be extra specific when composing your job advertisements is that there are separate roles that sound similar to Senior Editor. While some duties and requirements of these similar positions tend to overlap, these roles may come with different sets of responsibilities in different companies and confuse your applicants. Take a look at the following positions:

Executive Editor—Assumes a managerial role and is in charge of the entire editorial team. A person in this position oversees content production and collaborates with uploaders, publishers, and other staff members
Chief Editor (or Lead Editor)—Oversees the production of content for print or digital publications, such as newspapers and magazines

If you need to customize your job ad further and ensure a Senior Editor is what your team needs, check out more of Workello’s job description templates:

Get More Senior Editor Job Description Inspiration

It is always a good idea to look at other job ads posted on some of the popular job boards online. You will find job description examples you can learn from and communicate the message you want to send to your candidates more effectively.

These are some of the best job boards you should explore:

Hire Qualified Senior Editors Faster

Workello helps content teams hire better writers more consistently.

Sign up for Workello
Confirm your pre-optimized job description, writing assessment, and candidate notifications
Distribute your Workello job ad across your favorite hiring channels
Watch candidates stream into your Workello dashboard
Send pre-hire assessments to promising candidates in one-click

Workello helps content teams assess and hire any type of writer—including copywriters, content writers, SEO writers.

Sign up now and send 5 automated writing tests to Senior Writer candidates for free.

Want More Content About Creating Content?

Our team has built and led a forty five person content team. Learn what we’ve learned.

1. AI writing tool reviews
2. Assessment software reviews
3. Content agency reviews
4. Playbooks for hiring writers