Howdy, @ctwtn! I think the first content design hire you’d want to make onto a startup product team should be someone who can grow and scale as your startup grows and scales.
So while they’ll be focused on product content in their day-to-day work, you should be looking for someone who:
- Can create principles (see an example) and guidelines (example) for voice, tone, and style for others to follow
- Has experience building and defining terminology (see a template)
- Will later move into team leadership
People like this may call themselves content designers, UX writers, or content strategists. I’d look for someone who has previous experience working in product startups and has been embedded with product teams. Ideally, you’d also look for someone who’s familiar with product and design concepts and practices even if it’s not their main focus.
Rachel McConnell is a content leader with BT who’s written a whole book on this subject called Why you need a content team and how to build one — check it out!