Senior Social Media Specialist

Responsibilities

• Owns development and management of the flagship social media editorial calendar, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities, campaign objectives, audience needs, and content strategies.
• Translates enterprise initiatives, brand campaigns, enrollment priorities, research stories, and key University moments into coordinated, platform-specific content plans.
• Maintains content programming frameworks that balance always-on storytelling, timely and trending content, campaign amplification, audience engagement, and community-building.
• Executes established content pillars, publishing cadence, and narrative arcs to maintain a consistent and strategically aligned social media presence.
• Identifies opportunities to elevate University strengths and differentiators through proactive storytelling and audience-centered content planning.
• Establishes workflows, production processes, content standards, and quality-control measures to ensure efficient and effective content development.
• Produces platform-native social media content across text, photography, graphics, and short-form video to support enterprise priorities and campaigns.
• Captures, edits, and publishes photo and video content using mobile and desktop production tools.
• Creates short-form video content optimized for platforms including Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, and emerging channels.
• Adapts existing creative assets into social-first formats that maximize reach, engagement, and audience relevance.
• Safeguards all content to meet University brand standards, accessibility requirements, and platform specifications before publication.
• Identifies opportunities to produce timely, trend-informed, and culturally relevant content while maintaining institutional credibility.
• Promotes content development partnerships with designers, writers, videographers, photographers, and communicators across the enterprise to coordinate content development and maximize storytelling opportunities.
• Leads social media activation and execution for major institutional campaigns and initiatives.
• Develops platform-specific execution plans that adapt enterprise campaign strategies for social media audiences.
• Partners with brand, advertising, enrollment, communications, content, and digital teams to ensure social media deliverables are executed on time.
• Adapts campaign messaging and creative assets for social platforms while maintaining consistency with enterprise messaging.
• Coordinates organic, paid, creator, and community amplification efforts in partnership with internal stakeholders.
• Supports campaign objectives through effective execution, publishing, and optimization.
• Oversees day-to-day management and publishing across flagship social media channels, ensuring content is optimized for platform-specific formats, behaviors, and audience expectations.
• Maintains channel health, publishing consistency, account governance, and platform best practices.
• Monitors audience conversations, engagement trends, and community sentiment to identify opportunities, risks, and emerging topics.
• Coordinates community management efforts and collaborates on response strategies for high-profile, sensitive, or emerging issues.
• Ensures social media channels remain culturally relevant and responsive to platform trends while maintaining brand integrity and institutional credibility.
• Identifies opportunities to increase audience engagement, participation, and community connection across channels.
• Maintains social media performance and audience behavior across platforms to evaluate content effectiveness and channel health.
• Identifies actionable insights and optimization opportunities related to content strategy, audience engagement, publishing practices, and platform performance.
• Develops recurring performance reports and recommendations for leadership and key stakeholders.
• Maintains key performance metrics and provides recommendations to improve content performance, audience engagement, and channel effectiveness.
• Utilizes social media management, listening, and analytics platforms to inform decision-making and continuously improve performance.
• Stays current on platform updates, algorithm changes, and social media best practices and recommends operational adjustments as appropriate.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or a related field and 5 years of relevant experience in social media strategy, content leadership, or digital marketing required.
• Equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing enterprise-level and flagship social media strategies for a complex organization preferred.
• Strong editorial judgment and storytelling skills preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading integrated social media campaigns across multiple stakeholder groups and business objectives preferred.
• Experience managing social media during high-profile, sensitive, or reputation-impacting situations preferred.
• Experience advising senior leaders and stakeholders on social media opportunities, risks, and best practices preferred.
• Experience using social listening, competitive intelligence and audience research to inform strategic decisions preferred.
• Experience developing content governance frameworks, workflows, and account and/or publishing standards preferred.
• Experience in higher education, health care, research, or mission-driven organizations preferred.
• Familiarity with brand-led, always-on social strategies preferred.
• Understanding of platform best practices and ability to identify and adapt to emerging tools and priorities preferred.
• Proficiency in software and project management tools that include, but are not limited to: Microsoft Office Suite, Marq, Sprout, Dunroe, Basecamp and Google Data Studio preferred.
• Ability to translate organizational priorities into long-term social media plans preferred.
• Ability to evaluate emerging platforms and recommend institutional adoption strategies preferred.
• Ability to present recommendations, performance insights and social media guidance to senior leadership preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in social media analytics, audience segmentation and performance measurement preferred.
• Experience establishing social media policies, procedures, governance standards and publishing workflows preferred.
• Knowledge of social media accessibility, HIPAA compliance and risk management preferred.
• Experience monitoring social sentiment and ability to identify emerging reputational risks and recommend response approaches preferred.
• Strategic thinking with strong execution instincts preferred.
• Editorial leadership and content curation preferred.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and clear communication with senior stakeholders preferred.
• Strong verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills with demonstrated proficiency on writing and editing social content targeted to key audiences preferred.