Desmond M

Production Editor

Freeview • Freelance

Jul 2025 - Jul 2025 • 0 mos

Freelance Production Editor delivering end-to-end production for 10+ titles across trade books, reference volumes, and digital editions for diverse clients. Collaborated with authors, editors, designers, indexers, and printers to develop budgets, schedules, and risk registers; established freelance networks and reusable templates to streamline layout, styling, and metadata workflows. Managed rights clearances, localization coordination, and variance checks, ensuring accuracy in citations, glossaries, and cross-references. Negotiated rates and terms with vendors, tracked expenditures, and ensured consistency with client style guides. Improved delivery times by 25% through modular workflows and batch processing, achieving high on-time release rates. Tools included InDesign, XML workflows, Word, Markdown, and various CMS for final asset delivery. Skills: End-to-End Production, Budgeting & Scheduling, Vendor Management, Metadata & Tagging, Indexing, Version Control, Freelance Network Management, Quality Assurance, InDesign/InCopy, XML Workflows

Senior Managing Editor

Tech Hub • Freelance

Jun 2025 - Jun 2025 • 0 mos

Directed the Tech hub for a leading technology magazine, overseeing editors, fact-checkers, and freelancers across daily news, features, and product reviews. Defined quarterly content strategy with emphasis on emerging tech, security, and consumer electronics; built a rigorous editorial calendar and beat coverage plan. Implemented a formal mentorship program and house-wide guidelines to ensure consistent voice and accuracy across print and digital. Collaborated with product, marketing, and revenue teams to align content with product launches and sponsorships; managed deadlines and six-figure budgets. Led SEO and UX optimization initiatives to boost readability, mobile engagement, and retention; introduced taxonomy, internal linking, and topic governance to improve evergreen performance. Launched a multi-part series on foundational tech concepts, increasing subscriber engagement and inbound partner opportunities. Adopted quarterly data-driven reviews, headline testing, and KPI dashboards to optimize CTR, time-on-page, and conversion metrics. Skills: Editorial leadership, Budget management, SEO & analytics, Stakeholder engagement, Audience development, Editorial governance, Taxonomy development, Partnership cultivation, Mentorship

Managing Editor

Global Partnership for Education • Freelance

May 2025 - May 2025 • 0 mos

Led a 20-person editorial desk for a fast-paced national news site, shaping daily coverage across breaking news, investigations, and features. Owned the content calendar, assignment flow, and deadline discipline; established scalable editorial SOPs that reduced bottlenecks. Implemented data-informed strategies: daily analytics reviews, SEO optimization, and audience segmentation to align stories with reader interests. Drove newsroom improvements in QA checks, legal review, and ethical standards, ensuring accuracy and brand consistency across text, video, and social. Spearheaded cross-functional collaboration with product, design, and marketing to launch newsletters and homepage experiences; managed annual budget and resource planning. Launched audience-growth initiatives including newsletters, push notifications, and social experiments. As a mentor, built a structured training program for junior editors and reporters, resulting in higher retention and faster promotion paths. Introduced A/B testing for headlines and thumbnails, leading to gains in CTR and dwell time, and standardized performance reporting to executives with weekly dashboards driving strategic pivots based on reader signals. Skills: Editorial leadership, Content strategy, Team management, SEO optimization, Data analytics, Editorial workflows, Quality assurance, Cross-functional collaboration, Audience growth