Social Strategy Manager

Responsibilities

• Develop, lead, and continuously evolve KUOW's social media and audience growth strategy across established and emerging platforms.
• Identify opportunities to expand audience reach, deepen engagement, strengthen audience loyalty, and increase visibility of KUOW journalism.
• Serve as KUOW's subject matter expert on social media trends, platform developments, audience behavior, and emerging content formats.
• Recommend and test new approaches, tools, channels, and storytelling methods that support audience growth and engagement goals.
• Use audience insights, industry trends, and performance data to inform strategic direction and resource allocation.
• Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, accountability, and continuous improvement within the social media function.
• Lead KUOW's social publishing strategy, including content prioritization, scheduling, cadence, platform selection, and distribution plans.
• Monitor and maintain KUOW’s continuous presence across all active channels, including managing post automations and a publishing calendar of original content.
• Define platform-specific best practices for content packaging, including captions, headlines, graphics, videos, accessibility, calls to action, and audience engagement tactics.
• Determine the most effective content formats and storytelling approaches for individual stories and broader editorial initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communications, Digital Media, Marketing, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 3+ years of experience leading social media strategy for a business, non-profit, or large organization, digital publishing, audience development, or a related field.
• Proven experience developing and executing enterprise-level social media strategies aligned to organizational goals and brand objectives.
• Experience managing social media operations, including content planning, publishing workflows, editorial calendars, and multi-platform distribution.
• Strong knowledge of major and emerging social media platforms, content formats, audience behaviors, and platform best practices.
• Proven ability to create, package, optimize, and adapt content for platform-specific performance, including graphics, social copy, and light video editing.
• Excellent writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with the ability to create compelling, audience-focused content that aligns with editorial standards and brand voice.
• Experience using audience insights, social analytics, and performance data to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Strong collaboration, communication, and project management skills.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as news coverage requires.

Preferred

• Experience working in news, media, publishing, or mission-driven content organizations.
• Knowledge of and passion for the Puget Sound region and its communities.
• Experience leading, mentoring, or managing content creators, producers, or digital media professionals.
• Understanding of marketing principles, brand strategy, and digital audience acquisition.
• Knowledge of accessibility best practices for digital and social media content.

Benefits

• Benefits: For information about benefits for this position, visit https://www.washington.edu/jobs/benefits-for-uw-staff/