Job Descriptions / Content Writer
Content Writer Job Description Template for Agencies
A ready-to-post content writer JD built for 2026: multi-client rosters, AI-assisted drafting, SEO and AEO constraints, and clients who pay for authority rather than word count.
What does a content writer do at an agency?
An agency content writer turns briefs, source material, and SME interviews into polished long-form content for client brands. They own voice and structure, work within SEO and editorial guidelines, and ship pieces that rank, convert, or earn links. They work closely with editors, SEO specialists, and account leads across multiple clients at once.
Unlike in-house writers who live inside one brand, agency writers switch voices, industries, and formats every week. The best ones pair real craft with humility, write tight first drafts, use AI responsibly to go faster, and take editorial feedback without defensiveness.
Job description template
Job title
Content Writer (Agency)
Summary
We're hiring a Content Writer to produce long-form content for a portfolio of client brands. You'll own voice, structure, and research across blogs, guides, and thought leadership pieces, partnering with SEO, editorial, and account leads to ship work that rank and converts.
Responsibilities
- Write long-form content (blogs, guides, whitepapers) for a portfolio of 4-6 client brands.
- Own voice and tone for each assigned client, with consistent style and POV across pieces.
- Translate content briefs from SEO, strategy, and account into publishable drafts on deadline.
- Interview subject-matter experts and synthesize transcripts into authoritative articles.
- Self-edit against briefs, SEO guidelines, and brand voice before handoff.
- Partner with editors, SEO, and designers to land pieces that rank and convert.
- Use AI tools responsibly as research and drafting aids, not as a finished output.
- Contribute to content strategy by proposing topics, angles, and content formats.
- Maintain a clean style log per client and flag voice or accuracy drift proactively.
- Present drafts and rationale to clients when required, taking feedback without defensiveness.
Required qualifications
- 3+ years of content or copywriting experience, at least 2 years inside an agency or publisher.
- A portfolio of 10+ long-form pieces across at least two industries or content types.
- Demonstrated ability to hit brand voice on the first draft, not the fourth.
- Strong research skills: can read primary sources, synthesize data, and avoid generic output.
- Working knowledge of SEO principles: keyword intent, structure, internal linking, schema.
- Hands-on with at least one CMS (WordPress, Webflow, Contentful) and editorial tools.
- Comfort writing on unfamiliar topics with the help of briefs, SMEs, and source material.
Preferred qualifications
- Deep subject-matter expertise in a specific vertical (SaaS, fintech, healthcare, ecommerce, etc.).
- Experience writing for AI search surfaces: clear definitions, structured answers, citations.
- Journalism, editorial, or professional publishing background.
- Comfortable interviewing executives and translating long transcripts into crisp pieces.
- Bachelor's degree in English, journalism, communications, or a related field.
Salary range
United States
- Junior (1-3 yrs): $50,000 - $70,000 base
- Mid (3-5 yrs): $70,000 - $95,000 base
- Senior (5+ yrs): $95,000 - $125,000 base
Sources: Glassdoor, Built In, Salary.com (2025-2026 US medians).
Global
- UK: GBP 30,000 - 60,000
- EU: EUR 35,000 - 65,000
- Canada: CAD 55,000 - 95,000
- LATAM / remote: USD 20,000 - 55,000
Sources: Payscale, LinkedIn Salary, Remote.com benchmarks.
Top skills to look for
- Brand voice adaptation across multiple clients
- Clear, specific, concrete prose
- Research and source synthesis
- SEO-aware structure and formatting
- Subject-matter interviewing
- Editorial self-discipline against briefs
- Responsible use of AI tools
- Calm response to editorial feedback
Red flags
- Portfolio reads as generic, clearly AI-assisted, or identical in voice across brands.
- Cannot explain their research process for a topic they didn't already know.
- Delivers drafts that ignore the brief or brand voice and expect editors to fix it.
- Rejects SEO input as "compromising the writing" rather than a constraint to work within.
- No examples of pieces that ranked, drove leads, or were published in a named outlet.
Interview process structure
Stage 1: Recruiter or hiring manager screen (30 min)
Confirm vertical experience, content formats, tool fluency, comp, and motivation. Quickly screen out candidates whose portfolios lean heavily on AI-first output.
Stage 2: Editor or content lead interview (60 min)
Walk through three writing samples. Probe for brief, research, drafting process, SME interviews, and how they handled a tough edit. Evaluate for craft and humility.
Stage 3: Paid writing exercise (3-4 hours, paid)
Send a real brief and 3-4 paid hours to produce a 1,200-1,500 word piece in a specific brand voice. Evaluate voice match, structure, research, and editorial quality.
Stage 4: Cross-functional panel (45-60 min)
Panel with SEO, strategy, and account. Discuss the exercise, content strategy, and how they handle pushback from clients. Assess collaboration and commercial sense.
Frequently asked questions
Should content writers use AI tools?
Yes, as drafting and research assistants, never as a final layer. Agencies that prohibit AI outright lose productivity. Agencies that publish AI-first drafts lose clients. The middle path is transparent, human-edited output with clear quality gates.
What's the difference between a content writer and a copywriter?
Content writers typically focus on long-form, education-led work (blogs, guides, thought leadership). Copywriters focus on short-form, conversion-led work (ads, landing pages, email). Skill overlap is common, but most people are genuinely stronger at one.
How many pieces should one content writer produce per month?
Standard output is 4-8 long-form pieces per month if they're also doing research and interviews, or 10-15 if they're working from tight briefs and existing SME content. Anything higher usually degrades quality fast.
Should content writers work with SEO?
Yes. Strong writers treat SEO as a constraint like tone of voice or a word count. Writers who see SEO as the enemy of good writing tend to produce pieces that are interesting but never ranked or found.
Should content writers be generalists or specialists?
Specialists earn more and ramp faster on accounts in their vertical. Generalists are useful for agencies with diverse rosters, but the best generalists have a specialist phase in their history and know how to dig in.
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