Associate Director, Social Media Marketing

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct a comprehensive audit of existing social media channels across the University; identify underperforming accounts and streamline our social media presence.
• Develop and execute a unified social media strategy that drives engagement, supports institutional goals, and amplifies the University's story.
• Collaborate closely with the communications division, admission teams, and other internal stakeholders to integrate social media into larger brand, enrollment, and reputation marketing strategies.
• Stay ahead of emerging trends, platform innovations, and audience behaviors to ensure our strategy remains relevant and competitive.
• Meet regularly with social media creators across the University to plan content and share ideas.
• Lead the creative development of platform-specific, social-first content that reflects the university's voice, values, and priorities.
• Manage and maintain a strategic, month-to-month content calendar balancing daily storytelling with major campaigns and marketing moments.
• Develop organic social campaigns in collaboration with admission teams, advancement, the schools, and other units to ensure alignment with broader marketing efforts.
• Cultivate and engage vibrant online communities, encouraging dialogue and amplifying voices of students, alumni, and faculty.
• Create interactive social media experiences that inspire pride, participation, and sharing.
• Partner with department leads to elevate program- or event-specific initiatives through social media.
• Attend and promote campus events to capture and share real-time moments and build connection.
• Lead platform strategy and optimization for channels such as Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and emerging networks.
• Implement and maintain a social media management platform for scheduling, listening, engagement, and performance reporting.
• Drive a YouTube strategy to increase awareness of the University, faculty expertise, and academic excellence through video sharing.
• Draft and enforce a university-wide social media policy to ensure best practices and brand integrity.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, testing, and innovation in content formats, platform use, and engagement tactics.
• Establish and analyze performance metrics, leveraging data to inform content planning and campaign refinement.
• Oversee monthly performance reporting, benchmarking, and audience analytics to improve engagement and reach.
• Set measurable goals (KPIs) based on campaign objectives and industry benchmarks to demonstrate value and ROI.
• Research evolving trends and platforms to guide strategy and stay ahead of the curve.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5-7 years proven experience in social media marketing.
• Experience working with higher education portfolios and educational environments is a plus.
• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Excellent storytelling and content creation abilities.
• Proficiency in using social media platforms and management tools.
• Ability to develop and execute strategic marketing campaigns.
• Strong understanding of community building and engagement strategies.
• Innovative mindset with a focus on continuous improvement.

Nice to Have

• Experience in higher education or academic environments.