Content Executive job description

Content and SEO — Content Executive
Writes and publishes content to a brief under editorial guidance.

RESPONSIBILITIES
- Pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it.
- Research keywords for a brief you have been given, group them by topic, and note whether each is informational, commercial or transactional.
- Plan your own content production against deadlines, flag slippage early, and keep the calendar accurate without being asked.
- Optimize a routine page's headings, copy and images against an agreed target keyword without a checklist.
- Write titles and descriptions that earn a click without misrepresenting the page, for routine pages, unaided.
- Write a long-form piece from a brief, using plain language and descriptive headings so a reader can follow the argument to the end.

REQUIREMENTS
- No earlier level needed: this is the first level of the ladder

REQUIRED SKILLS
Search Strategy
- Keyword and Search Intent Research — You can research keywords for a brief you have been given, group them by topic, and note whether each is informational, commercial or transactional.
- Competitor and Content Gap Analysis — You can open a competitor page you are pointed at and list the topics it covers that your own site does not.
- Content Strategy and Briefing — You can fill in a content brief template with the details a strategist gives you, without leaving fields blank.
- Editorial Calendar Management — You can plan your own content production against deadlines, flag slippage early, and keep the calendar accurate without being asked.

Search Optimization
- On-Page SEO Optimization — You can optimize a routine page's headings, copy and images against an agreed target keyword without a checklist.
- SEO Metadata and Title Writing — You can write titles and descriptions that earn a click without misrepresenting the page, for routine pages, unaided.
- Internal Linking and Architecture — You can add a link to a related page when the brief tells you to.
- Technical SEO Auditing — You can run a pre-built technical checklist against a page and report what fails.
- Site Speed and Core Web Vitals — You can read the field Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP and CLS) for a page from the Search Console report and say which pass.
- Structured Data Markup — You can add a schema type someone has already chosen for a page by following an existing template, and you run the markup through a validator before it goes live while a reviewer checks your work.
- Crawl and Indexation Management — You can read a robots.txt file and a sitemap and say which pages they let search engines reach. You make the changes someone specifies for you and confirm the result in Search Console before calling it done.

Editorial Craft
- Long-Form Editorial Writing — You can write a long-form piece from a brief, using plain language and descriptive headings so a reader can follow the argument to the end.
- Editorial Style Governance — You can look up a rule in the style guide when asked and apply it to your own sentence.
- Copyediting and Proofreading — You can copyedit to a house style guide, checking facts, links, image rights and any AI-drafted claims against their sources.
- Content Localization — You can prepare content for translation and check that a translated page shows dates, currencies and names in the local form, before a fluent reviewer signs off.
- Content Quality and Trust — You can check a page for a named author, dated updates and cited sources, and list the ones that are missing.
- Content Management and Publishing Operations — You can publish and update pages in the content system by following the team's checklist, and ask a reviewer when a page does not fit the template.

Digital PR
- Digital PR Campaign Development — You can help gather the data or assets for a PR campaign someone else designed.
- Link Prospecting and Outreach — You can check that each site on a prospect list is real and relevant, and send the approved pitch without offering payment or a link swap.
- Backlink Profile Analysis — You can pull a backlink report and describe what it shows: how many domains link in, which pages they point at, and which links are new or lost. Someone senior interprets it with you.

Performance Analysis
- Organic Performance Analysis and Reporting — You can read traffic and ranking figures from a dashboard someone else built and check them against the source before reporting them.
- Content Audit and Pruning — You can gather what an audit needs, such as traffic, age, rankings and duplication, into one sheet and apply the keep-or-cut rules someone else has set. A reviewer signs off your list before anything is removed.

Delivery
- Project Management — You can keep your own tasks and deadlines in a current to-do list, and tell your manager as soon as work you own will be late.
- Planning & Estimation — You can estimate how long a task will take once the approach is clear, and you say promptly when the estimate turns out to be wrong.
- Ownership & Accountability — You can stay responsible after you hand work over: you check it did what it was meant to, fix your own mistakes, and give updates before anyone asks.
- Quality Focus — You can choose checks that suit the task in front of you, catch your own mistakes before anyone else sees them, and confirm the result works once people start using it.

Craft
- Problem Solving — You can work out what is wrong in work you did not create, and you fix the underlying cause instead of working around the symptom.
- Domain Expertise — You can apply the basics of your field to the work you are given, and ask an expert when a task goes beyond what you have learned.
- Continuous Learning — You can pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it, and you turn what you learned into something others can reuse.

Communication
- Communication — You can explain your work so your team can act on it, and play a request back in your own words before you act on it.
- Collaboration — You can work well with people in other roles, share context and credit, and take criticism of your work without defending territory.
- Writing & Documentation — You can document your own work well enough for a colleague to follow it unaided, such as a how-to guide or a handover, and keep it current as things change.
- Stakeholder Management — You can keep your manager and immediate team informed of your progress, and you raise an issue before someone else discovers it.

Leadership
- Leadership — You can act on direction well, seek feedback on how you work, and be open about what you need help with.
- Mentoring — You can share what you have just learned with your peers and help a newer colleague find their way around.
- Strategic Thinking — You can explain why the work you were given matters and who it is for.