Content Operations Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Position Summary

Sarasota Magazine is hiring a Content Operations Manager to sit at the center of the company’s editorial, creative, digital, and commercial content workflow.

The Content Operations Manager is responsible for making sure ideas become assignments, assignments become completed stories, completed stories move through editing and design, digital versions are prepared, deadlines are met, and content is properly coordinated across print, web, newsletters, social, events, Content Studio, Partnership Content, and Branded Content.

This is not simply an editorial support role. It is the operating backbone of the content system.

The Content Operations Manager works closely with the Editor, Writers, Digital Editor, Art/Creative, Revenue Operations, Events, and Publisher to ensure Sarasota Magazine’s content moves through the organization with clarity, discipline, and accountability.

The right candidate is highly organized, editorially aware, deadline-driven, calm under pressure, and capable of managing many moving parts without losing sight of quality.

Why This Role Matters

Sarasota Magazine has evolved from a print-centered publication into a modern regional media company.

The company now needs to produce and manage content across multiple channels:

• Print magazine
• Website
• Newsletters
• Social media
• Events
• Guides
• Sponsored content
• Branded content
• Partnership content
• Content Studio work
• Special sections
• Audience engagement campaigns

That creates opportunity, but it also creates complexity.

Without Content Operations, the Editor, Art Director, Digital Editor, Publisher, and sales team all get pulled into too much coordination. Deadlines become unclear. Story status lives in people’s heads. Digital becomes an afterthought. Branded content gets bolted on late. Production pressure increases. The team ends up relying on heroics instead of systems.

Content Operations exists to prevent that.

This role gives Sarasota Magazine the workflow discipline needed to protect editorial quality, support new revenue products, and publish consistently across platforms.

Core Purpose

To make sure Sarasota Magazine’s editorial, creative, digital, branded, and event-related content is properly planned, assigned, tracked, produced, published, and archived.

Core Responsibilities

Master Content Calendar

• Own and maintain the master content calendar.
• Track print issues, digital publishing, newsletters, social priorities, events, guides, special sections, branded content, partnership content, and Content Studio projects.
• Ensure all major content deadlines are visible across the organization.
• Coordinate editorial, creative, digital, revenue, and event needs in one shared planning system.
• Identify conflicts, bottlenecks, and unrealistic timelines early.
• Keep the team focused on what is due, what is late, what is blocked, and what needs a decision.

Print Issue Workflow

• Manage the production schedule for each print issue.
• Track story assignments, draft deadlines, edit deadlines, art deadlines, copy deadlines, proofing deadlines, and final close.
• Coordinate with Editor, Writers, Art/Creative, Production, and Revenue Operations.
• Ensure recurring departments, features, guides, listings, captions, credits, and assets are accounted for.
• Maintain issue checklists and close procedures.
• Monitor story status from assignment through final proof.
• Help reduce last-minute chaos and prevent avoidable production emergencies.

Editorial Assignment Tracking

• Track all assigned stories, writers, due dates, edit status, photography needs, art needs, fact-checking needs, and final approval status.
• Maintain visibility into what each writer is working on.
• Coordinate with the Editor to ensure assignments are clear, deadlines are realistic, and priorities are understood.
• Follow up on missing drafts, missing assets, unclear story scope, and late approvals.
• Help ensure completed stories are ready for both print and digital use.

Digital Content Coordination

• Work with the Digital Editor to ensure print stories are properly prepared for digital publishing.
• Track which stories need web versions, headlines, summaries, images, tags, links, SEO basics, captions, and related assets.
• Coordinate timing between print publication, web publication, newsletter placement, and social promotion.
• Help identify stories that should receive expanded digital treatment.
• Ensure digital content is not treated as an afterthought.
• Help maintain a consistent handoff from editorial to digital.

Content Studio, Partnership Content, and Branded Content Workflow

• Manage the workflow for commercial content projects once they are approved and documented.
• Coordinate with Revenue Operations to understand scope, deliverables, deadlines, client approvals, labeling requirements, and publishing commitments.
• Coordinate with writers, designers, Digital Editor, and client-facing team members to move projects through production.
• Ensure branded and sponsored content is clearly separated from independent editorial coverage.
• Track client review rounds, revisions, approvals, publishing dates, and deliverable completion.
• Maintain a commercial content tracker in coordination with Revenue Operations.
• Escalate timing, quality, labeling, or scope concerns before they become problems.

Art and Creative Coordination

• Coordinate with Art/Creative on photography, illustration, design needs, layout deadlines, cover packages, and visual assets.
• Track which stories need original photography, supplied images, illustrations, infographics, or design treatment.
• Ensure captions, credits, usage rights, and visual assets are complete.
• Help prevent art and design needs from being discovered too late.
• Support a smoother handoff between editorial and creative.

Events Content Coordination

• Work with Events, Digital Editor, Revenue Operations, and Editor to plan event-related content.
• Track pre-event stories, event pages, promotional copy, newsletter placements, social assets, speaker bios, sponsor content, programs, scripts, and post-event recaps.
• Ensure event-related content is planned early enough to support attendance, sponsorship fulfillment, and audience engagement.
• Coordinate with Content Studio when events include partner storytelling or sponsor deliverables.

Production Meetings and Communication

• Run or support weekly content operations meetings.
• Prepare clear status updates for editorial, creative, digital, and commercial content projects.
• Identify what is on track, what is late, what is blocked, and what needs a decision.
• Follow up after meetings with clear next steps, owners, and deadlines.
• Reduce ambiguity across departments.
• Keep people accountable without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

Systems, Templates, and Process

• Build and maintain the systems that keep content work organized.
• Create repeatable workflows for print issues, digital publishing, guides, branded content, partnership content, special sections, and event content.
• Maintain templates, checklists, calendars, trackers, and production documents.
• Document key processes so the company is not dependent on memory or informal habits.
• Recommend workflow tools or improvements that increase speed, visibility, and quality.
• Help the company move from personality-driven execution to system-driven execution.

Quality Control and Publishing Readiness

• Ensure content packages are complete before they move to the next stage.
• Check for missing assets, missing captions, missing credits, incomplete metadata, unclear approvals, or deadline risks.
• Coordinate copy flow and proofing procedures.
• Support accuracy, consistency, and brand standards.
• Help ensure stories are ready for print, web, newsletter, and social use.
• Maintain a strong standard for operational completeness.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Content Operations Manager will help Sarasota Magazine:

• Improve deadline discipline.
• Reduce last-minute production chaos.
• Improve visibility into story and project status.
• Strengthen coordination between editorial, art, digital, revenue, and events.
• Make print close smoother and more predictable.
• Ensure digital publishing is planned earlier and executed better.
• Support Content Studio, Partnership Content, and Branded Content without overwhelming the editorial team.
• Create repeatable workflows for recurring content types.
• Protect the Editor and creative team from unnecessary traffic management.
• Help the company produce more content across more channels without losing quality.

Required Skills and Experience

• Strong organizational skills.
• Strong editorial instincts.
• Experience managing deadlines, calendars, workflows, or production schedules.
• Ability to coordinate across writers, editors, designers, digital staff, sales operations, and events.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• High attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple projects at once.
• Comfort with spreadsheets, project management tools, calendars, and shared documents.
• Ability to identify problems early and escalate appropriately.
• Ability to keep people accountable while maintaining strong working relationships.
• Understanding of print and digital publishing workflows.
• Respect for editorial standards and brand quality.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in magazines, newspapers, digital media, publishing, content marketing, or agency production.
• Experience working with CMS platforms, project management tools, editorial calendars, or production systems.
• Experience coordinating print production.
• Experience coordinating digital publishing.
• Experience with events, guides, special sections, or recurring editorial franchises.
• Familiarity with SEO basics, newsletter planning, and social content handoffs.

Personal Qualities

The right candidate is:

• Highly organized
• Calm under pressure
• Editorially aware
• Process-driven
• Detail-oriented
• Direct but respectful
• Comfortable with deadlines
• Strong with follow-through
• Practical and solutions-oriented
• Able to manage competing priorities
• Comfortable working across departments
• Willing to build systems, not just complete tasks
• Able to protect quality while moving work forward

About Sarasota Magazine

Sarasota Magazine is the region’s leading lifestyle and city magazine, known for award-winning journalism, distinctive storytelling, and deep connection to the Sarasota community.

As the company evolves, Sarasota Magazine is expanding its work across print, digital, newsletters, social, events, Content Studio, Partnership Content, Branded Content, guides, and strategic partnerships.

The Content Operations Manager will play a central role in building the systems that allow this next chapter to succeed.