Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
Browse all 229 roles Brief us on a seatFlat 15% of first-year base · shortlist in 10 working days
Twelve seats sit under content marketing, from the copywriter who writes the page that converts to the strategist who decides what gets written at all. We split them by the stage of the content engine each one owns, screen for what published work did rather than how it reads, and charge a flat 15% only once your hire starts.
Most content briefs ask for a writer and describe a strategy problem, an editing problem or a conversion problem. We start with the stage of the engine that is stuck.
The content engine, and the seat that owns each stage
Moves: organic pipeline and content-sourced revenue
2 seats
What gets written and why: audience research, topic and keyword architecture, formats and the plan that maps content to each stage of the buying process.
Brief us when content gets made one request at a time, with no plan behind what to write next or what to stop.
Hire a Content StrategistThe content program against a pipeline number: the calendar, the writers and freelancers, distribution and the reporting that ties content to revenue.
Brief us when you publish regularly but cannot show what content contributes, or the calendar runs on whoever has time.
Moves: publishing cadence and quality
2 seats
The editorial calendar and the quality bar: commissioning, editing, style and the review steps every piece passes.
Brief us when pieces ship late or uneven, and nobody edits before they go live.
The publication as a whole: standards, contributors, the production schedule and the voice across every channel.
Brief us when you run content like a publication, with several writers and outside contributors, and need one owner.
Moves: rankings, traffic and reads
3 seats
Articles, guides, case studies and ebooks written to a brief, accurate for a B2B buyer and on schedule.
Brief us when the plan exists and the gap is reliable, well-researched writing every week.
Hire a Content WriterSearch-led articles written to rank: intent, structure and on-page detail, measured on positions and organic traffic.
Brief us when you have keyword targets and search demand but the articles that go live do not rank.
Hire an SEO Content WriterReported stories from inside the company and its customers: interviews, features and thought leadership with a journalist's standards.
Brief us when your strongest stories are inside customer accounts and subject experts, and nobody is reporting them.
Moves: conversion rate and subscriber engagement
2 seats
The words that convert: web pages, landing pages, ads, emails and sales assets, tested against conversion rather than read time.
Brief us when pages get traffic but not demos, or every campaign launches with copy written by committee.
Hire a CopywriterThe newsletter as a channel: editorial, segmentation, sends and the subscriber growth that turns readers into pipeline.
Brief us when your newsletter goes out irregularly, or the list grows while opens and clicks fall.
Moves: documentation use and support deflection
1 seat
Documentation, help centers, API references and product guides that let customers succeed without opening a ticket.
Brief us when engineers write the docs in their spare time, or support answers the same questions every day.
Hire a Technical WriterMoves: output per writer and time to publish
2 seats
How content gets made: briefs, workflows, tools, the CMS and the asset library that let a team ship more without adding writers.
Brief us when writers spend more time chasing approvals and files than writing.
AI-assisted content production: prompts, workflows and editing standards that raise output without publishing generic copy.
Brief us when the team is using AI tools ad hoc and quality varies by whoever wrote the prompt.
Measured on
Content hiring runs on writing samples, and a sample shows polish, not results or how much an editor rewrote it. We screen for outcomes on published work, the ability to turn a subject expert into accurate copy, and a process that holds up without a heavy editor behind it.
We ask for three published pieces and what each one did: rankings, sign-ups, pipeline or deals it touched. Clips without outcomes are where we dig.
We give a short brief built from your product and audience, and read the questions they ask before they write a word.
For technical and B2B seats we test whether they can interview an engineer or a customer and turn it into accurate copy, and we check one piece against the facts.
We ask how they edit others, run a calendar and use AI tools without publishing generic copy, and confirm it with a former editor or manager.
Not sure which seat you need? Tell us what you publish, where it stalls and which number it should move, and we will tell you which of the twelve owns it.
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Content pay is mostly base salary. The sources disagree on manager pay: the Salary.com band below sits well above self-reported figures, where Built In’s median base for content marketing managers is $78,000.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Median base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
Content Marketing Manager
Salary.com base benchmark
$106,212 to $128,101 base
Copywriter
Built In, self-reported
$68,000 median base$81,391 average total
Technical Writer
BLS, all industries
$70,880 to $115,510
Editor
BLS, all industries
$57,300 to $106,100
Content Marketing Manager: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026; Built In figure in the lead: median base salary, self-reported, reviewed October 5, 2026. Copywriter: Built In median base salary and average total compensation, self-reported, reviewed October 5, 2026. Technical Writer and Editor: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 27-3042 and 27-3041), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
The clock starts when the brief is signed and stops when three to five calibrated candidates are in front of you. Most of that time is spent talking to people, not searching for them.
Day 1
Forty-five minutes with whoever the hire reports to. We leave with the number the seat owns, the range you can pay and the two or three things that genuinely disqualify.
Days 2 to 7
We build the list from people doing the job now, approach them directly and screen every name against the brief before it reaches you.
Days 8 to 10
Three to five people, each with a page: what they have run, why they fit this seat, pay expectations, notice period and where they are weak.
After the shortlist
Interviews run at your pace. We handle scheduling, references and the counter-offer conversation, and nothing is payable until your hire starts.
Three clients, quoted as they wrote to us about searches we ran for them. We publish no names or logos without permission.
A content marketing manager runs the program against a pipeline number, a content strategist decides what gets written and why, and a copywriter writes the words that convert. Strategists plan, managers deliver and report, and copywriters are judged on conversion. In a small team one person covers the first two; the copywriter seat is usually the first to split out.
Brief a permanent search when the writing is ongoing and has to learn your product. Freelancers suit one-off projects; a full-time writer suits a weekly calendar, a technical product and content that has to stay accurate. We screen for B2B subject depth and results on published work, then shortlist three to five people within ten working days.
A flat 15% of the hire’s first-year base salary, payable only once they start. On a $100,000 base that is $15,000, and the same 15% applies to writers and editors. There is no retainer, no exclusivity and nothing to pay if the search does not produce a hire. If a placement leaves inside the guarantee period, we rerun the search at no further fee.
Salary.com puts content marketing managers at $106,212 to $128,101 base, while self-reported data on Built In shows a $78,000 median base (October 2026). Copywriters report a $68,000 median base on Built In, and the BLS puts the middle half of technical writers between $70,880 and $115,510 a year (May 2025). Company size and how technical the product is move the number.
Yes. Technical writers sit in this function, and we screen them on documentation they own: help centers, API references and product guides. We check whether they can learn a product from engineers, keep docs current through releases and measure use. Technical writing for a developer audience is briefed with the stack named, so candidates know the tools and languages.
When a founder or product marketer can no longer keep up with what sales and search need. Common triggers are a keyword plan with nobody to execute it, sales asking for case studies that never arrive, or freelancers producing work nobody edits. Start with a manager who can write, then add writers under them.
We ask how they use them, then read the work. Good candidates name where AI saves time, such as research, outlines and first drafts, and where it does not: facts, product detail and voice. We check one published piece against its sources. Generic copy and invented facts are where AI-heavy writers fail, so that is where we look.
Yes. A content lead, writers and an editor hired as one structure is how we run a pod, briefed together so each search builds on the last instead of restarting. The same 15% applies to each hire, payable as each one starts, and the lead is usually hired first so they can shape the rest.
Tell us what you publish, who reads it and which number it should move. We reply within one business day with which of the twelve seats it is and what it pays.
Most of our content searches are filled from people we already know, the week an employer briefs us. Set up a job alert for marketing roles, or send your CV and we will come to you when a seat opens.
Content Marketing sits in our Demand, Search & Content practice, next to search, email and the website it feeds. Product marketing and brand shape what content says, so they are here too.