Social Media Specialist

Responsibilities

• Lead USA TODAY’s social media strategy, working with USA TODAY leaders and the broader USA TODAY audience team to assess our portfolio and performance, develop audience journeys and drive innovation.
• Help USA TODAY develop a cohesive brand identity/style of our journalism on social media and pair content to meet user needs.
• Develop strategies that encompass the entire audience journey, thinking about every action we want a user to take with us.
• Assist newsroom in troubleshooting social media issues and represent USA TODAY in strategic conversations with industry, influencer and platform partners.
• Monitor performance, identify growth opportunities, and lead experiments in partnership with content strategy.
• Translate data points into actionable insights. The right candidate deeply understands data tools and knows how to apply their analytical mindset to content.
• Adapt platform strategy in real time to deliver timely, relevant experiences during breaking news and major events.
• Partner across divisions to improve social media revenue and consumer retention.
• Collaborate with AI leads to test and implement tools that strengthen workflow efficiency.
• Coach journalists on social media and engagement best practices and lead training for reporters, visuals journalists, and editors.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master's degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years of experience in digital journalism or newsroom leadership, including experience in a digital, print, or television news organization. Journalism experience is mandatory .
• 3-5 years of experience in analytics, with a preference for content analytics.
• A proven passion and experience with storytelling via social media, with expertise in platforms such as Reddit, Discord, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads and more.
• Strong knowledge of the digital media and creator landscape and the role social media plays in audience engagement, discoverability, retention, and revenue.
• Ability to independently manage priorities and execute across competing demands.
• A collaborative spirit, able to lead not only direct reports but peers across the organization and a passion for coaching others.
• Strong business judgment and the ability to align editorial work with audience and organizational goals.
• Technical specifications:
• Experience using AI and automation to enhance journalism, social media or production workflows.