How To Become A Senior Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Bradley Shreve

Senior editors can work in a variety of establishments, including publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, and even blogs. They review every piece of writing before it's published, based on the organization's edition guide.

Senior editors usually oversee a team of editors and may be more involved in management than actual editing. As a senior editor, you'll create and review the organization's style guide, train junior editors, and make other content editing decisions. In most organizations, you'll report to the editor-in-chief and the managing editor.

The scale of your responsibility will depend on the size of the organization as well as the number of writers and editors under you. For example, some blogs may employ freelance writers in addition to their internal team.

To become a senior editor, you'll need a bachelor's or master's degree in English, journalism, or something related. You'll also need experience with writing and editing projects.

What general advice would you give to a Senior Editor?

Bradley Shreve

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.

ScoreSenior EditorUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $90,094

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.7

Growth Rate -5%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.24%

Black or African American 3.58%

Hispanic or Latino 8.11%

Unknown 4.59%

White 76.21%

Gender

female 48.28%

male 51.72%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior editor

Explore senior editor education requirements

Most common senior editor degrees

Bachelor's

78.9 %

Master's

12.5 %

Associate

4.2 %

Start to develop specific senior editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Edit Content	10.92%
Video Content	7.41%
SEO	6.69%
Digital Content	5.62%
Project Management	4.16%

Complete relevant senior editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior editor resumes.

Research senior editor duties and responsibilities

Contract and manage editorial freelancers and full-service vendors for successful high school Spanish and Latin textbook and ancillary programs.
Post video to the Fox17 website and youtube.
Complete several robust DVD authoring projects for clients.
Redesign the look and the style of lifestyle magazine.

Get senior editor experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior editor. The most common roles before becoming a senior editor include editor, associate editor team lead and reporter.

Prepare your senior editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Editor Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Senior Editor resume.

Apply for senior editor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior editor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do senior editors rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Senior Editor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

I love hearing stories from other sources.

Cons

people not providing accurate information

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019