Senior Editorial Lead

London, England, United Kingdom

6/17/2025

Department: Brand Creative

Location: Head Office, Chelsea House

Description

We’re a much-loved brand with an exciting future. Our Islanders are a diverse bunch of bright, talented people who love working together – and are proud of the work they do. Progression here can take you in all kinds of directions.

This is what a career at River Island is like. And this is where yours starts.


What We Are Looking For...

We’re looking for a creative and strategic Senior Editorial Lead to cover maternity leave, taking the reins of River Island’s editorial direction and tone of voice across all customer touchpoints. This role sits at the intersection of brand storytelling, editorial creativity, and customer insight – ideal for someone who loves fashion and knows how to connect with audiences in innovative, inspiring ways.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintain and evolve the customer sentiment calendar, ensuring timely and relevant storytelling that aligns with seasonal needs and customer behaviour; leverage search trends, customer data, and market insights to inform content themes and timing
• Collaborate with the Head of Creative and Head of Brand Styling to bring brand campaigns and narratives to life
• Develop all editorial and activation straplines, and build and maintain a compelling, inspirational copy library
• Own and embed our brand tone of voice, tailoring it for diverse audience segments while ensuring consistency across all channels
• Partner with the Head of Brand Styling and Design Lead to craft editorial features and styling content that is both expert-led and accessible
• Collaborate with Brand Planning Lead to develop monthly content editions, including serialised features and thematic storytelling
• Manage the Senior Copywriter and Junior Copywriter to deliver campaign and day-to-day communications
• Ensure content across e-commerce and digital platforms is SEO-optimised; manage a strategic keyword glossary and oversee SEO blog content in collaboration with the SEO Manager
• Work with the CRM team to evolve customer personas based on insights and engagement data
• Support internal teams with clear editorial guidelines, consistent tone of voice adoption, and training tools
• Champion a test-and-learn culture across all content channels, continuously optimising based on performance
• Stay up to date with emerging trends and content technologies to improve scale and efficiency

About you:

• 7+ years’ experience in senior editorial, content, or brand storytelling roles, ideally within fashion, lifestyle, or retail
• Proven track record of embedding and evolving a distinctive brand tone of voice across multiple channels, with the ability to ideate and shape creative concepts through copy
• Team leadership and management experience essential
• Strong understanding of customer behaviour, with experience creating content that drives engagement and conversion
• Deep interest in fashion and culture, with a sharp eye for seasonal trends and brand-relevant storytelling
• Strategic thinker with experience aligning content to brand and commercial objectives
• Confident working cross-functionally with creative, styling, CRM, and digital teams
• Exceptional attention to detail, with outstanding grammar, spelling, and editorial judgement
• Solid knowledge of digital content best practices, including SEO, keyword planning, and content performance tools
• Confident communicator and natural collaborator, able to influence stakeholders and guide tone and editorial quality across teams
  
  

This Is For You...

• Discount - Generous 50% staff discount so you can treat yourself & a bargain staff shop, all onsite!
• RI Rewards - Reducing Islanders everyday expenses through discounts, benefits, financial advice, wellbeing solutions and more with Reward Gateway!
• Island culture - We have a free onsite gym, subsidised restaurant & café & various social events throughout the year. We also work closely with the Retail Trust to create dedicated support for all our Islanders!
• Work that stays at work - Flexible working is a given, on top of payday early finishes and Summer Fridays
• Family Hub - Every family is unique, we support Islanders with all different family setups enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption & fertility treatment
• Giver Island - Give as you earn scheme, a ‘Giver Island’ day each year and matched funding
• Training on the job - Support with upskilling skills through on the job training and qualifications
• Pension - A contributory private pension scheme
• Bonus - A generous bonus scheme
• Healthcare - With the choice to opt in for healthcare through our provider AXA
• Car Allowance - Supporting you with your commute to work
• Parking - Free onsite parking
• Holiday - 25 days paid holiday, exclusive of Bank Holidays. With the added option to purchase additional holiday for whatever the need!

We mentioned the discount, right?

Keeping You Safe...

At River Island we are committed to the safeguarding of all of our employees regardless of age or job role. We will fulfil our obligation under the Prevent duty which seeks to stop extremism and extremist views from materialising in our business. We promote and encourage the belief in British Values- including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. To find out more, please visit www.gov.uk

Every Islander Counts

Our Island is made up of a diverse community, where we all belong and feel part of something bigger. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.