Senior Social Media Strategist

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a professional and educational organization of surgeons founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for surgical patients. With over 90,000 members, ACS is the largest organization of surgeons in the world, dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery and serving as an important advocate for all surgical patients.

About the role

The Senior Social Media Strategist is responsible for developing and executing social media strategy that advances ACS priorities, engagement, and visibility. This role leads platform strategy, content planning, and performance analysis while also participating directly in content execution, campaign deployment, and community engagement. The strategist balances strategic planning with hands-on delivery, using data, social listening, and platform trends to refine approach and impact. This role is accountable for demonstrating measurable business impact from social media efforts, including lead generation, conversion, and revenue contribution where applicable.

This exempt position reports to the Associate Vice President in the Division of Integrated Communications and is based in the Chicago office as a hybrid role: 3 days per week in the office and 2 days per week remote.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead social media strategies aligned with ACS communications and marketing objectives.
• Define platform-specific approaches, content calendars, and campaign plans.
• Define measurable performance goals aligned with organizational KPIs and establish clear success metrics for both organic and paid initiatives.
• Create, publish, and manage organic and paid social media content across platforms including X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and emerging channels.
• Develop and manage paid social campaigns, including audience targeting, budget allocation, bidding strategy, creative testing, and ongoing optimization.
• Collaborate with content, video, and creative partners to execute integrated campaigns.
• Lead real-time social media coverage for Clinical Congress and other key ACS meetings, including content planning, onsite execution, and post-event performance analysis.
• Monitor performance metrics, engagement trends, and audience growth using analytics and social listening tools to inform strategy adjustments and content optimization.
• Engage with audiences, monitor conversations, and identify emerging issues or opportunities; escalate reputational or policy-related concerns to communications leadership as appropriate.
• Partner with marketing, digital, editorial, and public information teams to align messaging and support integrated communications planning and execution.
• Stay current with platform changes, trends, and best practices; recommend and test new approaches to improve reach, engagement, and effectiveness.
• Supervise the Social Media Coordinator, including goal setting, performance management, and professional development.
• Act as a role model in terms of organizational mission, values, and leadership; foster productivity, competence, inclusion, and positivity.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, digital media, or a related field from an accredited college or university.
• At least 5+ years of experience in social media strategy, content development, or related roles.
• Demonstrated success managing multi-platform social media strategies.
• Experience managing paid social campaigns with measurable business results.
• Demonstrated ability to connect social performance to business outcomes.
• Strong analytical skills and experience with social media analytics tools and performance optimization.
• Excellent writing and editorial judgment for social platforms.
• Experience with cross-functional collaboration, event coverage, and real-time content execution.
• Experience with CRM and analytics integration is preferred.

Pay

The anticipated salary range for this position is $85,000 - $95,000.

Benefits

• Vacation, personal, and sick hours including 13 paid holidays per year.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Medical—comprehensive coverage through BlueCross BlueShield.
• Dental, vision, and prescription drug program.
• 403(b) matching program.
• Pension plan.
• Flexible spending for medical/dependent care.
• Employee assistance program.
• Short-term/long-term disability.
• Life insurance.
• Domestic partner coverage.