Head of Editorial (SA)

Client Overview

This company specializes in producing a high volume of client-facing content, including authority articles, owned-media pieces, and social and Web 2.0 content. They leverage AI-assisted drafts to enhance speed and are now focused on elevating editorial quality.

Role Summary

The Head of Editorial will own the content quality before it reaches clients, ensuring every piece meets high editorial standards. This role involves defining quality benchmarks, rewriting drafts, coaching writers, improving AI workflows, and ensuring SEO integrity and platform compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the editorial gate, ensuring all client-facing content clears review before moving downstream.
• Define and maintain editorial quality standards for voice, structure, accuracy, readability, and SEO soundness.
• Rewrite AI-assisted or rough drafts to a publication standard, improving structure, flow, and verifying claims.
• Provide clear and specific coaching notes to writers to improve their skills and prevent recurring mistakes.
• Own and refine AI prompts, templates, and workflows to improve the quality of initial drafts.
• Ensure content is correctly optimized for SEO without sacrificing readability.
• Understand and apply publishing rules and best practices for various platforms (e.g., Medium, WordPress, LinkedIn).

Required Qualifications

• Professional background editing for publications (magazine, newsroom, or serious digital publication).
• High-level, native-quality English with full command of grammar, style, structure, and tone.
• Ability to work to AP Style.
• SEO literacy, understanding on-page SEO and content best practices.
• Knowledge of publishing rules and content conventions for platforms like Medium, Vocal, Ghost, Hashnode, WordPress, X, and LinkedIn.
• Proficiency with AI tools, including identifying and correcting AI filler, hallucinated claims, and generic phrasing.
• Strong prompt engineering skills to improve AI-generated drafts.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in reputation management, PR, or agency content.
• Familiarity with storytelling / narrative non-fiction for business audiences.
• A portfolio of edited work or before/after examples demonstrating quality improvement.
• Experience building editorial standards or style guides from scratch.

Soft Skills & Attributes

• Genuine editor with a focus on editorial standards beyond proofreading.
• A coach who provides actionable notes to writers.
• Fast, organized, and reliable under steady content volume.
• Strong judgment to prioritize tasks.

Compensation

Competitive package

Location & Work Arrangement

Remote, full-time

To apply:

Share (1) examples of content you have edited — ideally before/after — and (2) a short note on how you use AI in your editorial process without relying on it.