Manager, Copy - West Elm

Williams-Sonoma

$100K — $110K *
Retail & Consumer Goods
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree required
  • 5+ years of copywriting experience in an advertising agency role
  • Familiar with Chicago Manual of Style and AP Style
  • Exceptional creative writing and self-editing skills
  • Strong ability to influence and align messaging with business objectives
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
  • Interest in home décor/entertaining preferred

Responsibilities

  • Develop and evolve the brand's voice and tone across all marketing channels
  • Translate brand strategy into actionable voice guidelines
  • Audit and enhance existing content for voice alignment
  • Manage the copywriting process from draft to execution with accuracy and clarity
  • Train and refine AI tools to reflect brand messaging and storytelling
  • Collaborate with teams to optimize messaging based on performance data
  • Mentor junior writers and manage cross-channel timelines

Benefits

  • Generous discount on all WSI brands
  • 401(k) plan and investment opportunities
  • Paid vacations, holidays, and volunteer time off
  • Health benefits including dental and vision insurance
  • Tax-free commuter benefits
  • Wellness program supporting overall health
  • In-person and online learning opportunities through WSI University
  • Career development workshops and resources for self-development
Full Job Description
Job Description

About the Role

The Manager, Copywriter will help create the brand voice across all marketing communications, which include digital, catalog and store collateral. The successful candidate will be a strategic, idea-driven storyteller responsible for developing compelling, insight-led copy across all channels, from brand platforms and campaigns to social, digital, catalog, video and store collateral. They partner closely with cross functional teams to translate business objectives into clear, distinctive creative ideas that build brands and drive results. This role requires the ability to lead concept development, write with a strong point of view, self -edit throughout the process, and elevate the creative work through craft, clarity, and cultural relevance. This position reports to the VP, Integrated Brand Marketing.

Responsibilities

Brand Voice and Tone
  • Serve as the primary steward and evolution lead for the brand's voice and tone across all channels, ensuring consistency while modernizing how the brand communicates.
  • Refine and articulate a clear, differentiated brand voice that reflects current business strategy, customer expectations, and cultural relevance.
  • Translate brand positioning into actionable voice and tone guidelines for all content types, including, editorial content, campaigns, and emerging digital experiences.
  • Embed voice and tone into every customer touchpoint.
  • Audit existing content ecosystems (e.g. catalog, social, site, retail, email, etc.) to identify gaps and opportunities for voice alignment and elevation.
  • Establish scalable frameworks that ensure all copy meets the highest editorial standards and aligns with brand voice guidelines.
  • Own copy from first draft through final execution, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and consistency before stakeholder review.
  • Apply strong editorial judgment to adapt messaging for different audiences, channels, and objectives.
  • Identify and resolve inconsistencies in voice, messaging, and product information proactively.

AI-Enabled Workflow
  • Train and refine AI tools and models to accurately reflect the brand's voice, tone, and storytelling principles.
  • Champion a "human-in-the-loop" approach to ensure AI accelerates copy creation without compromising creativity, authenticity, or editorial integrity.
  • Develop prompt libraries, tone guidelines, and guardrails that enable AI-generated content to remain on-brand.
  • Continuously evaluate AI outputs, creating feedback loops to improve quality, nuance, and brand alignment over time.
  • Partner with cross functional teams to build brand-specific language models and scalable content systems.

Performance & Optimization
  • Partner with marketing, CRM, and performance teams to test, iterate, and optimize messaging across channels.
  • Balance brand storytelling with conversion goals, ensuring copy drives measurable results.
  • Use data insights and AI tools to inform messaging strategy and personalization.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Partnership
  • Work closely with cross functional partners teams to ensure cohesive storytelling.
  • Provide guidance, feedback, and mentorship to junior writers and freelancers.
  • Manage copy timelines, approvals, and cross-channel alignment in a fast-paced environment.

Criteria
  • Bachelor's degree
  • 5+ years writing experience in advertising agency copywriter/copy lead role is required
  • Interest in home décor/entertaining preferred
  • Familiarity with Chicago Manual of Style and AP Style
  • Excellent creative writing ability
  • Demonstrate exceptional self-editing skills, delivering clean, polished, and on-brand copy
  • Ability to think conceptually, ensuring creative tone/voice support the brand voice and key objectives of the season-and are appropriate for all channels
  • Strong ability to influence others to ensure copy and voice align with strategy
  • Have a creative, assertive professional personality and be a competent researcher
  • Self-starter, ability to stay focused in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
  • Excellent organization and prioritization skills, ability to handle multiple projects across several seasons /channels
  • Experience working with all levels of business partners
  • Teamwork, project management skills and creativity a must
  • Possess a creative, positive and flexible attitude
  • This role requires being onsite in the Dumbo Brooklyn office

#LI-LG1

People First

Putting People First means investing in overall well-being and opportunities to grow and advance within the organization. Depending on the position and location, here are a few highlights of what benefits may be available:

Benefits
  • A generous discount on all WSI brands
  • A 401(k) plan and other investment opportunities
  • Paid vacations, holidays, and time off to volunteer
  • Health benefits, dental and vision insurance, including same-sex domestic partner benefits
  • Tax-free commuter benefits
  • A wellness program that supports your physical, financial and emotional health


Continued Learning
  • In-person and online learning opportunities through WSI University
  • Cross-brand and cross-function career opportunities
  • Resources for self-development
  • Advisor (Mentor) program
  • Career development workshops, learning programs, and speaker series


WSI will not now or in the future commence an immigration case or "sponsor" an individual for this position (for example, H-1B or other employment-based immigration).

This role is not eligible for relocation assistance.

The expected starting pay range for this position is $100,000 - $110,000. Applicable pay ranges may differ across markets. Actual pay will be determined based on experience and other job-related factors permitted by law. In addition to competitive pay, compensation may include a variety of other components like benefits, paid time off, merit, and bonus opportunities.

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