Local Buyers Guides, Managing Editor- CONTRACT

ConsumerAffairs publishes local buyers guides that help people choose service providers in their city. We're hiring a CONTRACT Managing Editor to run the program day-to-day, overseeing the production, editing and quality of these guides from research through publication.

This is a structured, high-volume content program, but quality comes first. You'll need the discipline to manage a repeatable production process and the editorial judgment to recognize when a page needs more research, context or refinement. You'll also have the opportunity to improve how the program works and find new ways to make our guides more useful to consumers

How the work gets done

Our local guides are built using a combination of structured research, proprietary data, editorial tools and standardized content workflows. Some projects involve creating new guides from the ground up, while others focus on updating existing pages with new company information, recent review data, fact-checking and additional local context.

You'll learn both types of work and determine what each page needs to remain accurate, current and useful.

Scope of Work

• Coordinate editorial production
• Coordinate the production of new and updated local buyers guides
• Assign articles to editors and track work through publication
• Review editors' work for accuracy, completeness and adherence to editorial standards
• Give clear, actionable feedback and identify recurring quality issues across the program
• Keep production moving across a high volume of assignments and deadlines
• Research and add local companies
• Research, evaluate and add relevant local businesses to buyers guides
• Verify service areas, locations, services offered and business status
• Fact-check local costs, licensing requirements, permitting requirements and regulations
• Evaluate source quality and ensure factual claims are appropriately supported

Own quality

• Catch unsupported claims, inconsistencies, outdated information and factual errors
• Run final QA on links, formatting, company details and local accuracy
• Identify issues with source data, research processes or production workflows
• Document problems clearly so they can be corrected and prevented in future work
• Make the pages better
• Identify opportunities to add value beyond standardized elements, including stronger local insights, better use of consumer review data and useful new sections
• Look for content gaps and areas where additional research would make a guide more helpful
• Help refine documentation, processes and editorial standards as the program grows
• Maintain a strong focus on whether each page genuinely helps consumers make a more informed decision
• Improve the system (as you ramp up)
• Help troubleshoot and refine the tools and workflows that support content production
• Identify opportunities to improve accuracy, consistency and efficiency
• Work with Content, SEO, data and engineering teams when improvements require broader support
• Recommend process changes based on patterns you see across the program

What successful delivery looks like

Success in this engagement means consistently delivering accurate, publication-ready local buyers guides while keeping work moving efficiently through the editorial process. The contractor will be expected to:

• Maintain a consistent flow of completed assignments
• Identify and resolve quality issues before publication
• Deliver thorough, well-sourced research
• Maintain established editorial and QA standards
• Clearly document recurring issues and recommended solutions
• Identify opportunities to improve the efficiency, accuracy and usefulness of the program

Requirements

What we're looking for

• 2+ years of experience in editorial, content operations or a related field, including experience editing or managing writers or editors
• Exceptional attention to detail and an ability to recognize patterns across large volumes of content
• Strong organization and project management skills across multiple assignments, people and deadlines
• Rigorous research, sourcing and fact-checking skills
• Strong editorial judgment and the ability to distinguish reliable information from weak or unsupported claims
• Fluency with spreadsheets and structured data
• Comfort learning and working with modern content, research and automation tools
• The ability to follow a detailed process while also recognizing when that process needs to change
• Clear written communication, particularly when giving editorial feedback
• Curiosity about how structured content can be made more useful to consumers
• Bonus if you have
• Programmatic SEO or local SEO experience
• A background in service journalism or consumer guides
• Experience building or troubleshooting editorial workflows using tools such as AirOps, Airtable or similar platforms
• Experience researching local businesses, licensing or government regulations
• Experience working with company review data or large datasets
• Familiarity with Ahrefs or Google Search Console
• Basic experience with automation, APIs, no-code tools or scripting