It’s hard to imagine an editor of the future without thinking about how much the role has already changed. Editors once focused on grammar, structure, and style guides. Now, strategy, SEO, distribution, and product marketing are part of the package.
Ten years from now?
The skill set will be broader, sharper, and more business-minded than ever.
If you’re hiring (or shaping your own résumé), here’s what you might be looking for (or adding) over the next decade.
Brand alignment defeats voice & tone
Editors who can translate a brand’s market position into a repeatable content strategy bring far more to the table than writing chops. They create the conditions for that voice to mean something over time.
Instead of being reactive, they’re proactive.
They define how a brand speaks, what it says, and when it says it. This level of thinking shifts content creation from a task to a framework, allowing a brand to speak with clarity and purpose across multiple channels without losing consistency.
These editors will have an edge because they think in terms of systems. They connect the dots between positioning and production. They help shape briefs. They ask, “Why does this matter for where the brand is going?”
That mindset turns content from an output into a strategic asset. If a brand is trying to own a particular conversation in its industry, then the editor decides how that conversation should unfold.
Week after week, quarter after quarter.
This requires more than understanding a tone of voice or an internal style guide. Those are just surface details. The deeper work lies in shaping the ongoing themes a brand wants to lead with.
It’s about identifying the ideas that support a company’s position in the market and building a repeatable approach to expressing them. This future editor must be able to decide what kind of stories deserve attention and how to build editorial pillars that guide decision-making.
This is where strategy meets execution.
Strong editorial leads think ahead:
- They set up calendars that reflect real business priorities, not just vague content buckets.
- They work with marketing and product leads to pinpoint moments worth amplifying.
- They build briefs that help contributors focus on what matters.
- They craft templates and feedback systems that shorten review cycles and improve quality across the board.
- They create the infrastructure that lets a team move faster without sacrificing depth or direction.
Editors who do this well give brands the confidence to speak consistently. They make it easier for others to contribute without drifting off message. They reduce ambiguity, shorten approval loops, and protect the strategic throughline even when multiple hands touch the work.
The result is a content program that scales with intention. Not just more content, but content that builds toward something. Editors who can drive that kind of clarity earn trust quickly.
They’re defining.
And once you’ve done that, you’re no longer proving you can “write for the brand.” You’ve shown that you can lead the brand’s voice across time, across topics, and across teams.
That’s where the real value is.
Market share is in your vocabulary
The best editors are increasingly expected to understand their influence beyond traditional metrics. They’ll need to speak to their impact in terms rooted in outcomes, not just output. Editing work is becoming less about volume and more about shaping a content operation that supports broader business goals.
Future resumes won’t be filled with long lists of articles published.
Instead, they’ll reference measurable results. Editors will highlight how their strategic input helped increase share of search across high-value keywords (some of us already have this on our resumes). They’ll discuss how they helped their brand claim a greater share of voice in a competitive category. They’ll point to improved visibility across priority verticals.
This shift demands a new type of awareness.
Editors are no longer just polishers of prose or defenders of style guides. They’re collaborators with SEO leads, content strategists, and product marketers. They help shape briefs with search intent in mind. They push for content formats that make sense for different distribution channels. They question how each piece of content supports broader goals.
Editorial decisions can influence how content performs across a funnel.
From early discovery through organic search to engagement via email, and even conversion on landing pages, editing isn’t an isolated function. When editors understand the objectives behind a campaign or content initiative, they’re better positioned to make decisions that improve outcomes.
This doesn’t mean every editor needs to be a data analyst.
However, it does mean they should be familiar with key performance indicators and understand how to read a content report. Knowing how long a piece of content held a top ranking, what kind of backlinks it attracted, or how it compared against competitors provides context for future strategy.
Hiring teams are looking for editors who can speak the language of performance. They want to see examples of content that didn’t just read well, but helped shift perception, improve search performance, or drive qualified traffic. Editors who understand how their work ties into campaign results or quarterly targets will stand out.
Editors don’t need to transform into marketers.
However, they need to recognize that their work contributes to the same goals. Editorial thinking (when combined with business awareness) can lead to sharper, more effective content. Editors who embrace this broader view will be better positioned for senior roles and long-term growth. Their resumes will reflect outcomes like “grew traffic to product pages by X% through editorial improvements” or “helped increase share of search for strategic keyword groupings.”
The bar is rising.
Editing is no longer a behind-the-scenes function. It’s becoming central to how organizations compete for attention and trust. Editors who can show how their decisions helped move key metrics will be the ones whose work stands out.
AI fluency is the floor, not the ceiling
Editing is entering a new phase.
Shaping machine-generated output is just as common as rewriting a colleague’s draft. As AI becomes a regular part of content production, editors must adapt their skill sets to work across both human and machine inputs.
Traditional editing practices aren’t going away.
They’re being redefined.
Editors now need to think beyond sentence-level revisions and grammar. They’re expected to structure content generated by models, refine prompts that influence tone and clarity, and manage workflows where machines do the first pass and humans refine the results.
This shift changes the rhythm of the editorial process. Instead of starting with a rough human draft, editors often begin with a block of text that’s technically accurate but lacks voice, context, or insight.
Structuring that raw output into something useful requires new instincts:
- What can stay?
- What needs rewriting?
- Where is the content bland or generic?
This isn’t traditional line editing. It’s closer to sense-making. Editors will (unfortunately, perhaps) become curators, working with blocks of generated content and identifying what fits and what misses the mark.
Prompt writing will be a central skill.
Not just to get better output from the start, but to standardize how teams use AI tools. Editors who create prompt libraries are setting editorial benchmarks. A well-crafted prompt library turns guesswork into process. It helps content teams stay consistent in tone, accuracy, and structure, even when using generative tools across multiple channels.
We aren’t just trading red pens for dashboards.
It’s about building a workflow where machine output is useful (but not final). Editors must decide when a piece is ready to publish and when it still needs a human touch. That judgment call is becoming one of the most valuable skills in the process.
It can’t be automated.
And it will define how trusted a brand or publisher remains. The hard truth is that editing is expanding to include orchestration. It’s time to add some new skills.
Content operations experience required
The ad-hoc editorial calendar has seen its day.
Random publishing dates, last-minute copy changes, or vaguely aligned campaigns are quickly becoming obsolete. Editors who want to lead in this new environment must shift focus from creative bursts to consistent, scalable execution.
Creativity still matters.
However, without infrastructure to support it, even the best ideas fall flat.
Editors who will thrive in this new environment are system builders. They think beyond the article or campaign to consider how each piece fits into a larger framework. They work across teams to align marketing, product, and sales.
They make publishing predictable.
Start with the workflow:
- Who needs to be involved?
- What are the key approvals?
- Where do things get stuck?
Answering these questions early helps reduce confusion later. A clear process gets people out of Slack threads and endless meetings, and into actual production. The best workflows are boring.
They’re consistent.
They’re trusted.
People know what to expect.
Editors must manage a calendar that syncs across functions. It reflects campaign timelines, product launches, event moments, and seasonal shifts. It’s updated regularly.
And everyone knows where to find it. A synced calendar prevents duplicate work, makes cross-promotion easier, and keeps the entire org rowing in the same direction.
Next up: briefs.
Too many teams still work from vague descriptions or half-baked ideas. A good brief eliminates confusion. It makes expectations clear from the start:
- What the goal is
- Who the audience is
- What success looks like
Done well, a brief speeds up production and improves quality. It gives writers and designers the clarity they need to execute. The right structure also makes it easier to onboard freelancers or new hires.
Now, the dreaded feedback loop.
Reporting can’t be an afterthought. Editors who track performance consistently can make better decisions. They learn what works, what misses, and where to double down. Reporting also helps secure buy-in for future projects.
Budget conversations are easier when leadership sees the numbers.
None of this is flashy. Over time, this is what separates teams that grow from those that burn out. Ideas are still the heart of great content, but execution is the muscle. Without systems, the heart doesn’t move much. With systems, content teams can do what they’re meant to do: produce work that connects, informs, and drives real outcomes.
The editor of the future still needs taste.
Still needs instincts.
Still needs a feel for story and language.
But just as much, they need to be builders. People who can think in systems, align teams, and turn strategy into something real.
Strategic thinking is baked in
The resume of 2035 might read a bit like a hybrid between editor, project manager, and strategist. Storytelling will always matter. It’s the backbone of good content and the mark of a sharp editor. But to lead in this field over the next decade, editors will need more than strong prose and a keen sense for narrative.
They’ll need to think like operators.
They must become people who can influence the pipeline, accelerate delivery, and measure the value of content in hard numbers.
Editors of the next era will still need to care about the craft. But they’ll also need to be systems thinkers. They’ll be asked to solve operational problems, manage inputs across departments, and understand how their work fits into revenue and retention conversations. They’ll build assets that keep working long after publish day.
Storytelling will always be part of it. But the editors who rise will be the ones who treat content like an engine, not just a deliverable.
So if you’re hiring (or looking ahead) it might be time to reframe what “editorial experience” really means.
Dan O'Brien | Author & Consultant 