03 / Build the team and process
The Content OS
A 90-day engagement to build the operation behind your content: the roles you need, the people to fill them, and how work gets briefed, reviewed and published. I design it with you, set it up in your tools, run the first cycles alongside your team, and hand it to someone on your side to own. If you’re starting from scratch, hiring is part of it, and hiring sets the pace.
The difference
What changes afterwards
- You know which roles to hire, in what order, and how to test candidates properly
- Work moves from idea to published through a clear process, not through you
- Quality holds as you produce more, because the standard is written down and someone owns it
- The operation is documented and owned on your side, so it doesn’t depend on me afterwards
Fit
Who this is for
This is for you if
- You’re a creator doing everything yourself and need to hire your first editor, producer or writer
- You’re building a media company from scratch and don’t know who to hire first
- You have two to six people working on content and nobody leading them
- Output is inconsistent because the process lives in people’s heads
- You have a strategy but no reliable way to deliver it every week
This isn’t for you if
- You want someone to lead it permanently rather than build it and hand it over. That’s The Head of Content.
- You only want to know what is going wrong with what you already publish. That’s The Signal Scan.
Scope
Exactly what’s included
- 01Review of how content is made todayHow work actually moves, where it stalls, and where time gets lost. Skipped if you’re starting from scratch.
- 02Team structure and responsibilitiesWho owns what, who decides what, and where unclear ownership is causing rework.
- 03Hiring plan and recruitment supportWhich roles you need and in what order, the spec for each, where to look, a paid test task that tells you more than a portfolio does, and a review of shortlisted candidates with you. You run the process, employ the people and make the final call. I can’t guarantee a hire or how long one takes.
- 04Creative workflowThe path from idea to published, with stages, owners and realistic timings.
- 05Briefing processTemplates so a brief arrives with context, references and a deadline attached, every time.
- 06Quality controlThe standard, written down, and a review step that enforces it without becoming a bottleneck.
- 07ReportingOne weekly summary of what was published, what worked, and what to change.
- 08Set-up and first cyclesI set the process up in your tools and run the first cycles alongside your team, fixing what doesn’t work in practice. This is setting up and coaching, not running your production.
- 09HandoverA named person on your side is trained to own it, with documentation they can actually use.
Boundaries
What this doesn’t include
- Producing content
- Running your recruitment process or employing anyone
- Operating the process after handover
Example
What the work looks like
STAGE 03: Brief approved, in production
Owner: producer. Sign-off: creative director.
Starts with: angle, references, hook options, deadline.
Done when: the first cut exists and is linked on the card.
Written to show the format and level of detail, not taken from a client project. For the experience behind it, see About.
Timing
How it runs
Days 1 to 30
Diagnose and design. Agree the structure, the roles and the hiring plan. Recruitment starts if it’s needed.
Days 31 to 60
Build. Workflow, briefs, quality checks, reporting and the tools they run in. Candidates shortlisted and tested.
Days 61 to 90
Run it with your team, train the internal owner and hand over the documentation.
If hiring runs long
Recruitment rarely keeps to a timetable. If a key role is still open at day 90, the handover is planned around it and any further support is agreed in writing.
Day 91
You run it, keep me on for lighter oversight, or we scope a new 90 days around a new goal.
Your part
What I need from you
- A named internal owner who will run the process after handover, hired during the engagement if you don’t have one yet
- Time to run hiring: posting roles, interviewing and making offers
- Visible backing from you, so the team knows the changes are supported
- Access to your existing tools, documents and team
- Written feedback at the end of each 30-day phase
Questions
Before you buy
We’re starting from nothing. Is this still right?
Yes, this is the service for building it from scratch, but be realistic about pace. Hiring sets the timeline. Much of the first 90 days goes into choosing the right roles and people and setting up how they’ll work, and the operation matures as they arrive. It can’t be handed over without a named owner on your side, so hiring that person is part of the plan.
Do you hire the people, or just advise?
I write the specs, suggest where to look, design the test task, and review shortlisted candidates with you. You run the process, employ the people and make the final call. I can’t guarantee a hire.
Will our team resent an outsider changing how they work?
Sometimes, which is why visible backing from you is a condition. It works when the team understands why I’m there and that the decisions are supported. Without that, a new process tends not to stick.
What happens on day 91?
Your choice of three: run it yourselves, keep me on for lighter oversight, or scope another 90 days against a new goal. The engagement is designed so that running it yourselves is realistic.
How do we work together day to day?
Mostly in writing, through your project tool, with a scheduled working session every two weeks. Calls happen when they help the work.
How buying works
A written price, then you decide
- 01Short scope checkThe form opposite. Five minutes, in writing.
- 02Written price and termsExactly what is covered and what it costs, usually within a working day.
- 03Accept and payIn your own time. Nothing is booked until you do.
- 04Onboarding, then we startOn the date agreed in the terms.
After payment you get a structured onboarding questionnaire that covers access, goals, context and who to speak to. It tells you exactly what happens next and when.
Other services