196 Freelance Desk Editor jobs near me

Location – Hybrid – minimum 2 days a week in the Leeds office
Salary – £26.5k–£28k
Reporting to – Senior Copywriter

Got an eye for the typo everyone else misses? Know when copy just isn’t quite right – and how to fix it?

We’re looking for a Content Editor to join the SEO and content team at a well-established agency in Leeds.

This is a brilliant opportunity for someone with around a year’s experience in copywriting, editing or content quality who loves language, cares about the detail and wants to build their career in digital content.

You’ll be the quality check before content reaches the client or goes live – reviewing work from freelance writers, making sure it follows the brief, sounds right for the brand, works from an SEO perspective and meets any relevant compliance requirements.

There’s plenty of volume and variety, so you’ll need to be organised, confident making editorial decisions and able to move quickly without letting standards slip.

What You’ll Be Doing

✔ Reviewing and proofreading content – checking grammar, spelling, punctuation, accuracy and overall quality.

✔ Keeping content on brief – making sure copy follows brand guidelines, tone of voice, SEO requirements and the purpose of the page.

✔ Editing and rewriting where needed – improving clarity, flow and structure while keeping the original intent intact.

✔ Keeping an eye on compliance – particularly across insurance, financial services and healthcare content, flagging anything that needs further review.

✔ Thinking beyond the words – considering headings, internal links, calls to action, scannability and how the copy will actually work on the page.

✔ Giving clear feedback – helping freelance writers and the wider team understand what needs changing and why.

✔ Working across different content formats – primarily web content, alongside blogs, social, email and paid media copy.

✔ Managing the content queue – prioritising work, hitting turnaround times and confidently keeping things moving when the Senior Copywriter isn’t available.

✔ Keeping everything organised – updating Workfront, ClickUp, Excel trackers, QA logs and timesheets accurately.

✔ Helping improve how the team works – contributing to style guides, QA processes, briefing templates and editorial standards, as well as team discussions around content quality and efficiency.

✔ Supporting wider agency processes – including relevant ISO 27001 responsibilities, mandatory training and other reasonable tasks when needed.

What You’ll Bring to the Table

Around 1 year’s experience in copywriting, editing or content quality – agency, in-house or freelance backgrounds are all welcome.

✍️ Excellent written English – you genuinely notice the small stuff and know how to turn okay copy into really good copy.

Strong attention to detail – particularly when working across multiple brands, briefs and content pieces at once.

A basic understanding of SEO content – including keywords, readability and meta descriptions.

Great organisation and prioritisation skills – there can be plenty happening at once, so you’ll need to keep a cool head when things get busy.

Comfort using AI writing tools – and, importantly, the judgement to spot when AI-generated content isn’t good enough and improve it efficiently.

Confidence communicating with others – you’ll give constructive written feedback, work with freelancers and wider teams, and occasionally communicate directly with clients.

Good editorial judgement – you’ll need to feel comfortable making decisions and taking ownership rather than waiting for someone else to tell you what to do.

Experience with insurance, financial services, healthcare or other regulated content would be a big plus , although it isn’t essential. An understanding of why compliance matters in these sectors is important, and further training will be provided.

Experience with Workfront, ClickUp or similar workflow tools would also be useful.

Why Apply?

A great step forward for someone early in their content career who wants more ownership and responsibility.

Learn loads – from SEO and digital content to regulated sectors, brand tone of voice and emerging AI tools.

Real responsibility – you won’t just be proofreading commas. You’ll play an important role in making sure the final content clients receive is genuinely good.

Plenty of variety – switch between different clients, sectors, audiences and tones of voice.

Support when you need it, autonomy when you don’t – you’ll work closely with an experienced Senior Copywriter while being trusted to manage your own workload.

Sound like your kind of role?

If you love good writing, spot the things other people miss and get a strange amount of satisfaction from making copy just that little bit better, we’d love to hear from you.