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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Written Word Specialist

💰 $ - $

ContentCommunicationsWritingEditorial

🎯 Role Definition

The Written Word Specialist is responsible for developing high-quality written content that advances brand goals, improves discoverability, and elevates user experience across marketing, product, and customer communications. This role blends strategic content planning, hands-on writing and editing, SEO and analytics-driven optimization, and cross-functional stakeholder management. The Written Word Specialist ensures every published word reflects brand tone, accessibility standards, and measurable business outcomes.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Content Writer / Content Creator
  • Copywriter / Junior Copywriter
  • Editorial Assistant / Proofreader

Advancement To:

  • Senior Content Strategist
  • Content Manager / Editorial Manager
  • Head of Content or Communications Director

Lateral Moves:

  • UX Writer / Product Content Designer
  • Marketing Communications Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Produce polished, on-brand long-form content such as blog posts, whitepapers, case studies, and e-books that support demand generation and thought leadership objectives while meeting SEO best practices and keyword intent.
  • Write persuasive, conversion-focused marketing copy for landing pages, email campaigns, paid ads, and product pages that align with campaign goals, A/B test results, and performance KPIs.
  • Edit and proofread content for clarity, grammar, tone, and style—applying brand and editorial guidelines (AP/Chicago/house style) to ensure consistency across all channels and audience segments.
  • Develop and maintain content briefs and outlines that translate business objectives into actionable writing tasks, including target audience, user intent, keyword targets, CTAs, and success metrics.
  • Execute keyword research and competitive content analysis to inform topic selection, on-page SEO, metadata (title tags/meta descriptions), and internal linking strategies that improve organic search visibility.
  • Collaborate with SEO specialists and product/engineering teams to implement technical content SEO practices, content sitemaps, structured data recommendations, and canonicalization when needed.
  • Create concise, user-centered microcopy for product interfaces, error messages, CTAs, and onboarding flows that reduce friction and improve task completion rates.
  • Manage the editorial calendar: plan, prioritize, and track multi-channel content production to meet deadlines and campaign timelines while coordinating contributors and freelancers.
  • Localize and adapt content for international audiences working with localization vendors and in-country marketers to preserve tone and legal compliance in translated assets.
  • Conduct content audits and gap analyses to identify underperforming pages, duplicate content, and opportunities for content consolidation, refreshes, and repurposing.
  • Lead ideation sessions with marketing, product, sales, and customer success to generate content that supports the buyer journey and reduces customer support load through proactive documentation.
  • Collaborate with designers, videographers, and product teams to align copy with creative assets, UX, and brand design systems, ensuring a cohesive cross-channel customer experience.
  • Produce technical documentation, help center articles, FAQs, and knowledge-base entries that are accurate, searchable, and optimized for self-service customer resolution.
  • Maintain and evolve the brand voice and editorial style guide, training internal stakeholders and external contributors on tone, terminology, and accessibility best practices.
  • Review legal, compliance, and regulatory requirements in collaboration with legal and privacy teams to ensure written materials meet industry standards and risk mitigation needs.
  • Monitor content performance using analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Search Console) and present monthly reports with insights and actionable recommendations for content optimization and strategy changes.
  • Execute on-page optimization tasks including header structure, readability improvements, image alt text, and internal/external linking to increase dwell time and decrease bounce rates.
  • Coordinate and manage external writers, contractors, and agencies: produce briefs, review submissions, enforce deadlines, and ensure deliverables meet quality standards.
  • Participate in user research, interviews, and usability testing to validate content hypotheses and iterate copy based on quantitative and qualitative feedback.
  • Implement accessibility (WCAG) and plain-language principles in all published copy to ensure inclusivity and legal compliance for diverse audiences.
  • Create and maintain templates, modular content blocks, and CMS-ready assets that accelerate content production and ensure consistency across product and marketing pages.
  • Use editorial tools (CMS, style checkers, content collaboration platforms) to streamline publishing workflows, version control, and stakeholder reviews.
  • Drive continuous improvement through writing experiments (headline tests, CTA variants), analyzing the impact on engagement and conversion, and scaling what works across content programs.
  • Mentor junior writers and editors, providing actionable feedback, career development guidance, and training on writing techniques and SEO fundamentals.

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross-functional initiatives such as product launches, sales enablement, and brand campaigns by contributing strategic copy and collateral.
  • Assist in crisis communications and rapid-response messaging under guidance from communications leadership to maintain accurate public-facing content.
  • Help maintain content governance: metadata standards, taxonomy, tags, and archival processes to ensure long-term content discoverability and compliance.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies with marketing/product teams to prioritize content work within development cycles.
  • Provide ad-hoc copy and editorial support for internal stakeholders, executive communications, and investor or partner materials.
  • Contribute to content strategy roadmap, including recommendations for topical clusters, pillar pages, and evergreen resource development.
  • Support customer research and feedback loops by summarizing content-related pain points and feature requests to product teams.
  • Aid onboarding and training for content contributors and cross-functional partners to streamline content intake and review processes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • SEO copywriting: keyword research, on-page optimization, meta tags, schema basics, and content clustering strategies.
  • Strong command of English grammar, AP/Chicago style familiarity, and advanced proofreading/editing skills.
  • Experience with CMS platforms (WordPress, Contentful, Drupal, or similar) including publishing workflows and content templates.
  • Content analytics: comfortable with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and content performance dashboards to interpret traffic, engagement, and conversion data.
  • Keyword research tools and SEO platforms (e.g., Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Screaming Frog) to inform content opportunities.
  • Familiarity with A/B testing frameworks and experimentation tools (Optimizely, VWO, Google Optimize) for headline and CTA testing.
  • Experience creating content briefs, editorial calendars, and workflow documentation using tools like Asana, Trello, JIRA, or Airtable.
  • Basic HTML/CSS knowledge for formatting content, troubleshooting layout issues, and ensuring accessibility friendliness.
  • Experience with localization workflows and translation tools (e.g., Smartling, Transifex) and adapting copy for international markets.
  • Proficiency with collaboration and document tools (Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Notion, Figma comments for content/design handoffs).
  • Knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG) and plain-language principles applied to web and product copy.
  • Familiarity with content governance, taxonomies, and metadata practices to support findability and lifecycle management.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional verbal and written communication with demonstrated ability to tailor tone and messaging to varied audiences and channels.
  • Strong editorial judgment and attention to detail; able to catch nuance, legal sensitivities, and factual inconsistencies.
  • Collaborative mindset: proven experience partnering with designers, product managers, marketers, and developers to ship content.
  • Project management skills: ability to prioritize multiple deadlines, allocate resources, and maintain quality under pressure.
  • Analytical curiosity: uses data to inform writing decisions, iterates on content based on measurable outcomes, and communicates insights clearly.
  • Creative problem solving and ideation to generate original content angles and storytelling approaches that resonate with target audiences.
  • Stakeholder management: negotiates feedback, aligns conflicting priorities, and builds consensus across distributed teams.
  • Time management and reliability: consistently meets deadlines and manages freelance contributors or internal reviewers to deliver on schedule.
  • Coaching and mentorship: provides constructive editorial feedback and supports the growth of junior writers and content contributors.
  • Adaptability: comfortable in fast-paced environments and responsive to shifting product, market, or regulatory needs.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

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

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree or advanced certifications in Journalism, Technical Communication, Content Strategy, or Digital Marketing.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • English / Literature
  • Journalism / Media Studies
  • Communications / Public Relations
  • Marketing / Digital Marketing
  • Technical Communication / Linguistics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of professional writing, content development, or editorial experience in B2B, B2C, SaaS, or agency environments.

Preferred:

  • 4+ years specifically in content roles with evidence of driving SEO gains, conversion improvements, or measurable audience growth.
  • Experience working with product teams on UX microcopy or product documentation and leading content projects end-to-end.
  • Demonstrable portfolio of published work (articles, landing pages, emails, product copy) and case studies showing impact.
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