Senior Copywriter - Womenswear & Workflow Allocation

Job Introduction

Selfridges has always been much more than a shop. We’re a social space where everyone is welcome and feels a sense of belonging, a creative playground where culture and commerce collide, and an experimental hub where you can discover the most innovative and sustainable ideas in retail. We’re here to help make the world brighter. And you can be an important part of this. We’ll talk more about the role below, but before we get to that, let’s share with you the good stuff…  

Rewards and benefits 

Life at Selfridges is dynamic, exciting, and always evolving. As well as working with some of the most cutting-edge, iconic and boundary-pushing brands, designers and creatives, we also offer our team members opportunities to help make a positive difference through our network of communities, both within and outside Selfridges. Here are just a few of our rewards and benefits that help make our team experience that bit more extraordinary. 

• Flexible working options to benefit you, your family and your wellbeing that can include part-time, flexi-time, job sharing or hybrid working

• Generous annual leave that increases with length of service 

• Up to five paid volunteering days – from beach cleans to co-ordinating food and clothing donations 

• Family leave that suits your set up including Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental leave policies 

• Defined pension contribution scheme  

• Generous bonus and/or commission scheme  

• Enviable team member discount including sale previews and double discount days 

• Exclusive local discounts on a range of restaurants, bars, beauticians and entertainment 

• Subsidised gym memberships  

• Annual travel pass and cycle-to-work schemes  

• A sustainable car salary sacrifice scheme 

• Several internal communities to get involved in from our Diversity Board and Green Warriors who are leading the charge on D,E&I and sustainability, to the Wellbeings who are always thinking of new ways to champion healthy minds, bodies and routines for our team members 

• Workplace Options, our confidential team member assistance programme for when life gets tricky or you need a little guidance 

• Access to a wide range of training programmes to help your career development 

Read on to find out how you can play your part in Reinventing Retail… 

Role Responsibility

As Senior Copywriter, you will be producing engaging, creative and informative product copy, helping to build our reputation as an authoritative fashion destination and leading the team with your expert craft. You will play a key role in delivering an extraordinary digital experience to our online customer and be integral to the smooth running of a fast-paced ecommerce studio environment. You will line manage the Junior Copywriter, along with providing mentorship and guidance to all other team members and provide day-to-day support to the Content Editor.

As part of this, you will:

• Write 15 products daily to a high standard – leading by example.
• Take on additional last-minute copy requests and priorities to support the business.
• Daily allocation of work, being mindful of individuals’ strengths and what we give to team members, including freelancers.
• Mentor and manage two junior team members, sub-editing their work daily and eventually reviewing it in STEP before go-live day.
• Monitor the workflow for missed SLA daily.
• Manage and update cost trackers, freelance trackers and copy trackers daily.
• Edit all products in line with SLA.
• Oversee and be a guardian of Selfridges TOV and style onsite, with a meticulous and keen eye for detail – feedback to team members and Content Editor.
• Support Content Editor on all workflow-related queries, ensuring product hits quality requirements and goes live within SLA deadlines.
• Oversee and manage the womenswear and accessories division, organising mini projects and liaising with other teams across the business (PL, PR, B&M, SEO, Events, Editorial) for upcoming launches to anticipate these coming through the workflow.
• Oversee site walk/web query process for your division encourage and support team to take ownership for these.
• Liaise with team to conduct daily/weekly workflow sweeps.
• Liaise daily with other Studio teams on supplier numbers and priorities – chase when needed.
• Attend interviews, screen CVs, review copy tests and support Content Editor on recruitment where required.
• Hold weekly 121s with junior report, support on day role and objectives building for the year.
• Edit freelancer copy and feedback/confirmation of updates ahead of product live to site.
• Attend training sessions and meetings with the stakeholders across wider team and answer daily queries from said teams.
• Align with all content touchpoints within the company, supporting the Content Editor on the rollout of any refreshed tone of voice guidelines.
• Respond promptly to ad-hoc requests from manager, wider teams and senior stakeholders.
• Manage time effectively in an extremely fast-paced and demanding role.

The Ideal Candidate

• Experienced. With a background in copywriting/journalism/content  (ideally fashion/lifestyle writing experience) within a ecommerce/fashion environment
• Experience with people management; a direct report/direct reports and/or providing guidance and support to junior team members
• Experience in an ecommerce fashion environment
• Experience with content management systems and managing workflow
• Educated to degree level in a related subject (e.g. Journalism/English/Fashion/Media)

Desired Skills

• An accomplished and experienced writer with genuine passion and enthusiasm for the English language and impeccable grammar
• Highly organised with excellent time management and meticulous attention to detail
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to form strong working relationships and lead, engage and inspire a team
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently at pace to a very high standard, managing workload to strict deadlines
• Experienced in sub-editing and proof-reading
• Strong awareness of fashion trends and in-depth brand knowledge
• Knowledge of SEO best practices and how to apply them

About the Company

Everyone is welcome 

Selfridges is a place where we want everyone to feel a sense of belonging. We embrace every self and are committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive working culture. We are leading with purpose to not only increase the visibility and recognition of under-represented talent within our organisation, but the wider industry too. Here at Selfridges, everyone is welcome – irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age or disability, we stand by equal opportunities for all.   

Our awards cabinet  

We’re not ones to brag, but since you asked...Selfridges has won the award for The World’s Best Department Store an unprecedented four times at the IGDS awards, with an additional award for the Best Sustainability Campaign. We were also recognised as a ‘Best 25 Big Company to Work For 2020’ as awarded by The Sunday Times. 

Selfridges