Social Media Manager Job Description Template

Overview

A Social Media Manager plans, creates, and publishes content across platforms. They engage communities and analyze performance to grow brand awareness, traffic, and conversions.

They align organic and paid social efforts with marketing goals and coordinate with internal teams. They also protect brand reputation through timely monitoring and response.

Use this social media manager job description when you need a clear, inclusive posting you can publish quickly. It helps hiring managers and HR teams move from drafting to interviewing with aligned expectations.

Copy-ready Social Media Manager job description template

Use this copy-ready template to post your role today, then tailor responsibilities and qualifications to your industry, team size, and channels. Keep requirements focused on skills and outcomes to attract a diverse, qualified pool.

1. Lead day-to-day social publishing and community management across priority platforms; plan the editorial calendar and ship on schedule.
2. Develop channel strategies and content that align with campaign goals, brand voice, and audience insights.
3. Monitor conversations, respond to comments/DMs, and escalate issues per established workflows to protect brand reputation.
4. Track and report KPIs (reach, engagement rate, CTR, conversions, sentiment) and translate insights into next steps.
5. Collaborate with content, design, paid media, PR, and CX to deliver integrated campaigns and social customer care.
6. Manage creators/partners and support UGC, influencer activations, and employee advocacy programs as needed.
7. Qualifications: 2–5 years managing brand social channels; platform fluency (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube); strong writing/editing and visual judgment; analytics literacy (UTMs, dashboards, A/B tests); stakeholder communication; familiarity with scheduling, listening, and lightweight creative tools.
8. Compensation: [Insert local base salary range and bonus/benefits].
9. Benefits: [Health, retirement, PTO, learning stipend].
10. EEO: We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome candidates from all backgrounds.

Role summary and scope of impact

If you’re hiring your first or next social lead, clarify how this role drives measurable brand and revenue outcomes. A skilled Social Media Manager turns audience insights into content that earns reach and engagement. They partner with paid, PR, and CX to move people from awareness to action. They also safeguard reputation by catching issues early and responding with empathy and speed.

The business case is clear. More than 5 billion people use social media globally, according to DataReportal’s 2024 Global Overview. Most U.S. adults use at least one platform, per the Pew Research Center. That scale makes social a frontline channel for discovery, service, and community. Tie the role to goals like site traffic, lead quality, retention, and employer brand. Make priorities and KPIs explicit from day one.

Core responsibilities

Define strategic planning, execution, and reporting so the hire can operate with clarity. The Social Media Manager owns the content lifecycle: calendar planning, briefing and creating assets, publishing, moderating, and synthesizing insights into actionable recommendations. They align weekly activity with monthly and quarterly campaign objectives. They also share learnings that improve creative and channel mix.

Community management is part care and part growth. The role should set response-time expectations and escalation paths for sensitive issues. The tone should match your brand. Partnering with paid media and influencer teams ensures organic and paid work together. Think boosting high-performing posts, whitelisting creator content, or coordinating a product launch sequence across channels.

KPIs and outcomes to include

Set outcome-focused measures that match your funnel and brand goals. Keep the list short and clear so candidates know how success is judged.

1. Reach and impressions quality (by audience and platform)
2. Engagement rate and saves/shares
3. Click-through rate (CTR) and traffic quality (bounce, time on site)
4. Conversions or assisted conversions (lead, trial, purchase)
5. Community health: response time, sentiment, CSAT for social care
6. Content efficiency: output on time, asset reuse rate, cost per result

Include a quarterly cadence for reporting progress to marketing leadership. Specify which KPIs are core to the JD versus stretch goals for onboarding to reduce ambiguity.

Duties and responsibilities by company type and size

What a Social Media Manager does in practice varies by business model and team maturity. Calibrate scope, autonomy, and support to avoid over-scoping a single hire or under-leveraging the channel’s potential.

Anchor the JD in what will drive impact for your context. Then list any stretch areas as “nice to have.”

At smaller organizations, the role skews generalist and hands-on, shipping content end to end. At larger companies, responsibilities trend toward orchestration, governance, and cross-functional alignment. Agencies emphasize client-facing skills. Nonprofits prioritize mission storytelling, advocacy, and community mobilization.

Startup or small business

Generalists thrive in lean setups where speed and experimentation matter. Expect your Social Media Manager to plan the calendar, shoot short-form video, write captions, publish daily, and answer comments.

They will test formats and timing to find traction quickly. Give them guardrails—brand voice, goals, and approval rules—but few blockers. A weekly content rhythm, simple dashboards, and a clear test-and-learn plan help a small team punch above its weight without burning out.

Mid-market or enterprise

In larger orgs, the role centers on coordination, stakeholder management, and brand safety. Your Social Media Manager turns strategy into an integrated plan. They work with designers, copywriters, product marketing, PR, paid media, and regional teams to ensure consistency and compliance.

Governance matters. Platform permissions, legal reviews, crisis protocols, and data privacy standards should be explicit. Define collaboration SLAs and approval steps so campaigns move faster without sacrificing quality or risk controls.

Agency environment

Agency-side Social Media Managers juggle multiple clients with distinct goals, voices, and compliance realities. Success depends on crisp client communication and prioritization. On-time delivery of content, community reports, and insights is essential. Those must ladder to campaign KPIs.

Expect rigorous reporting and proactive recommendations. Highlight what to scale, what to sunset, and what to test next. The JD should call out project management, presentation skills, and comfort with diverse industries.

Nonprofit and public sector

Mission-led organizations rely on social to mobilize supporters, drive fundraising, and manage public information. The Social Media Manager translates programs into human stories and coordinates around events. They partner with development, communications, and field teams.

Crisis communication and reputation management can be frequent needs. Build in expectations for accessibility, multilingual audiences, and stakeholder approvals. Preserve agility for time-sensitive updates.

Required skills and qualifications

Keep “must-haves” focused on competencies that predict success. Move niche tasks to “nice-to-have” status to widen your candidate pool.

Emphasize outcomes—growth, engagement, lead quality, and reputation—over years alone. Ask for evidence of impact in context.

Strong writing, platform fluency, and analytics literacy are table stakes. Collaboration and stakeholder management matter as much as creative skills in cross-functional environments. If you require on-call support for social care or events, state it clearly. Define compensation or schedule flexibility.

Must-have competencies

Focus on the capabilities that will drive results in your environment and reduce unnecessary barriers.

1. Channel strategy and editorial planning tied to marketing goals
2. Platform fluency (formats, algorithms, best practices) across core channels
3. Writing/editing and visual judgment aligned to brand voice
4. Community management, moderation, and escalation handling
5. Analytics literacy: UTMs, dashboards, experimentation, and insight translation
6. Stakeholder communication and cross-functional collaboration

Limit “years of experience” to a range appropriate for the role’s complexity. Invite candidates to share portfolio work that demonstrates these competencies.

Nice-to-have specializations

Use these to differentiate senior roles or note areas supported by partners/agencies.

1. Paid social coordination and budget pacing
2. Influencer/creator partnerships and UGC programs
3. Social customer care and service workflows
4. Short-form video production and basic motion editing
5. Social listening and competitive intelligence
6. Employer brand and employee advocacy enablement

Call these preferences—not requirements—so strong generalists and adjacent talent don’t self-select out.

Tools and platforms proficiency

Set expectations for the stack without over-indexing on specific vendors. Tools change and skills transfer. Prioritize the ability to learn new platforms, build efficient workflows, and interpret data across native and third-party systems.

List categories—scheduling, listening, analytics, and lightweight creative—and core practices like UTM tagging, asset management, and approvals. Mention examples only where domain-specific knowledge is essential.

Planning and scheduling

Candidates should be comfortable running an editorial calendar, coordinating asset creation, and scheduling posts at optimal times. Whether you use native schedulers or third-party tools, the underlying skills are planning, prioritization, and quality control.

If you rely on cross-regional or multi-brand calendars, note the need for clear naming conventions, version control, and approval workflows. These keep operations tight.

Listening and community management

Social listening surfaces trends, emerging issues, and competitor signals. Your Social Media Manager should configure queries, tag themes, and translate findings into content or customer insights.

For moderation, define response-time targets, tone, and escalation paths for product, PR, or legal. Community health metrics—sentiment, response time, and CSAT—make service expectations explicit.

Analytics and reporting

Data fluency turns activity into outcomes. Expect comfort with UTM tagging, native insights, and dashboarding to track reach, engagement, CTR, conversions, and sentiment.

A regular experimentation cadence enables continuous improvement. Test hooks, formats, lengths, and CTAs. Reporting should tell a story—what’s working, what to fix, and what to try next.

Creative and collaboration stack

Lightweight design and video tools help social move at the speed of culture. Your Social Media Manager should brief creative partners effectively. They should also make quick edits when needed without sacrificing brand standards.

Asset management, shared folders, and clear feedback norms reduce rework. Define how the role partners with design, copy, and production to hit deadlines.

Reporting lines, team structure, and collaboration

Clarifying where the role sits—and who it partners with—prevents scope creep and accelerates delivery. Social often bridges marketing, communications, and customer experience. Alignment is essential.

State the manager’s level, reporting line, and dotted-line relationships. Then map collaboration points with content, paid media, PR, CX/support, sales, product, and legal. Candidates should understand their day-to-day network.

Where the role sits

Most Social Media Managers report into Marketing or Communications and partner closely with Brand and PR. In product-led or support-heavy contexts, the role may sit near Growth or CX with marketing alignment.

Common ladders: Coordinator/Associate → Social Media Manager → Senior Social Media Manager → Social Lead/Head of Social. Senior roles lean strategic and cross-functional. Junior roles focus on execution and learning.

Cross-functional partners

Define touchpoints and SLAs to keep work flowing. Examples include weekly content standups with creative and monthly KPI reviews with marketing leaders. Set rapid-response channels for PR/legal issues.

If agencies or creators are involved, spell out who briefs, who approves, and who owns performance. Clear roles and handoffs reduce delays and protect brand safety.

Experience, education, and certifications

Right-size expectations so you hire for impact, not pedigree. Ask for demonstrated outcomes and portfolio artifacts over rigid degree requirements.

If you need niche expertise—highly regulated industries, social care at scale, or heavy creator programs—say so. Otherwise, keep the door open to strong adjacent profiles in community, content, or PR who can transfer.

Typical experience ranges

Junior: 0–2 years. Runs publishing and community management with guidance. Learns analytics and reporting basics.

Mid-level: 2–5 years. Owns channels end to end. Partners cross-functionally and presents insights with recommended actions.

Senior: 5+ years. Sets strategy, mentors others, leads campaigns, and coordinates governance and brand safety. Adjust years based on complexity, not as hard gates.

Relevant degrees and certifications

Degrees in marketing, communications, journalism, or related fields can help. They are not mandatory when experience proves the skills. Emphasize outcomes over credentials.

Reputable certifications can signal domain knowledge, such as Meta Blueprint for social advertising and Google Analytics for measurement. Recognized platform/provider courses (e.g., Hootsuite, Sprout) also help. Treat them as “nice to have.”

Portfolio expectations

Ask candidates to share 2–3 case studies that include the brief, audience insight, strategy, creative examples, KPI results, and learnings. Include any social copy, short-form video samples, and reporting snapshots with context.

Encourage candidates to anonymize sensitive data while showing impact. This focuses evaluation on judgment, craft, and business results.

Salary ranges and job outlook

Anchor compensation in role scope, region, and skill depth. Paid social, video, and social care often command premiums. Several U.S. jurisdictions require pay ranges in job postings. Design your bands with location modifiers and internal equity in mind.

For macro context, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics places social-adjacent work within categories like Public Relations Specialists and Advertising/Marketing Managers. Consult these for current outlook and pay trends. Then localize to your market.

US benchmarks and pay transparency notes

Use the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for category-aligned salary and growth data. Look at Public Relations Specialists and Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers. Marketing manager roles typically pay more than PR specialist roles. Your band should reflect scope and ownership.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) maintains an updated overview of U.S. pay transparency laws.

UK/EU benchmarks and location factors

Localize bands with cost-of-living adjustments, such as London weighting in the UK or higher ranges in EU capitals. Skill premiums often apply for paid social, creator management, and short-form video.

If you hire across multiple countries, publish location-specific ranges and note currency. Ensure your wording aligns with local norms and anti-discrimination standards under the UK Equality Act 2010 guidance.

Remote, hybrid, and contractor considerations

Clarify time-zone expectations, on-call windows for social care or live events, and equipment stipends. State whether the role is remote-first, hybrid with in-office days, or on-site for studio or event work.

For contractors, define scope, deliverables, availability, and rate structure—project versus hourly—up front. Note any IP, confidentiality, or platform access requirements in the SOW.

Inclusive, compliant job posting checklist

Make your social media manager job description easy to understand, bias-aware, and compliant. Clear, inclusive wording improves applicant quality and diversity. Pay transparency builds trust and meets emerging regulations.

1. Publish a realistic pay range tailored to location and level.
2. Separate essential requirements from nice-to-haves.
3. Use plain language; avoid jargon and coded terms.
4. Add a neutral EEO/non-discrimination statement.
5. Describe accessibility and flexibility practices where relevant.
6. Specify remote/hybrid expectations and schedule norms.

Pay transparency and EEO language

Model pay-range disclosure: “Compensation: $[low]–$[high] base salary (or local currency), plus [bonus/equity if applicable]. Final offer reflects experience, skills, and location.” Link to your philosophy if public. For U.S. compliance trends, see SHRM’s overview.

Model EEO statement: “We’re an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any protected characteristic.” For U.S. guidance, see the EEOC.

Accessibility and inclusive wording

Use plain, direct language and avoid unnecessary degree requirements or years thresholds. Replace phrases like “digital native,” “aggressive,” or “rockstar” with neutral, outcome-focused wording.

Offer reasonable accommodations and note accessible processes. For example, alternative application formats or interview adjustments. This signals inclusion and widens your talent pool.

Legal pitfalls to avoid

Avoid references to age (“young,” “recent grad”), family status (“must be child-free to travel”), or health-related criteria unless job-critical and lawful. Keep physical requirements only if they are essential and can’t be reasonably accommodated.

Remember jurisdictional differences, such as the UK Equality Act, EU protections, and U.S. federal and state rules. If in doubt, align with local legal counsel. Reference official guidance such as the UK Equality Act overview.

Interview toolkit alignment

Turn the JD into a fair, consistent hiring process by mapping competencies to questions, scorecards, and a practical exercise. Use structured interviews and shared rubrics to reduce bias and improve signal.

Shortlist on evidence: portfolio artifacts, measurable outcomes, and clarity of role ownership. Then validate execution, judgment, and collaboration in interviews and the work sample.

Screening criteria derived from the JD

Probe for strategy-to-execution fluency: “Walk us through a campaign you led—goal, audience insight, content choices, distribution, and results.”

Test analytics literacy: “How do you set UTMs and define success for a launch across Instagram and LinkedIn?”

Assess community care judgment: “Describe a time you handled a sensitive public comment—what did you do and why?”

Validate collaboration: “How do you balance creative feedback from brand, legal, and product when timelines are tight?”

Practical exercises and take-home briefs

Give one focused prompt that takes 60–90 minutes: “Create a two-week social plan for our [product/service] launch across two channels. Include two post examples per channel (copy and rough visual direction), target KPIs, and how you’d measure success (UTMs, dashboard outline).”

Alternatively, use a live 30-minute whiteboard session to review an anonymized post series and discuss how the candidate would iterate. Score on clarity of thinking, relevance to goals, and practicality.

Variations and related roles

Clarifying adjacent roles helps you hire the right scope. Many teams conflate strategy, execution, community care, and paid media. That leads to mismatched expectations and churn.

Use the distinctions below to write precise postings. Set success criteria that reflect true ownership.

Social Media Manager vs Social Media Strategist vs Community Manager

A Social Media Manager executes the strategy. They plan the calendar, ship content, manage community, and report on results.

A Social Media Strategist defines the approach—audience, positioning, channel mix, and measurement—often across products or regions.

A Community Manager focuses on fostering relationships, moderating spaces, and activating advocates. They may manage forums or groups beyond major social networks. They prioritize community health metrics.

Paid Social Manager vs Organic Social Media Manager

A Paid Social Manager runs performance campaigns and budgets across ads platforms. They optimize for CPA/ROAS and attribution. They own media planning, targeting, creative testing, and pacing.

An Organic Social Media Manager grows reach and engagement without media spend. They prioritize content quality, distribution timing, and community. The two roles should collaborate on boosting high performers and aligning creative and offers.

Titles and seniority variations

Common variants include Social Media Specialist (junior), Social Media Lead/Head of Social (senior), and Brand Social Manager (brand focus). Some organizations use Content & Social Manager when the role blends blog/video with social distribution.

As seniority rises, ownership shifts from posting and moderation to strategy, team leadership, governance, and cross-functional influence.

30-60-90 day success profile to add to the JD

Set clear milestones so candidates know how they’ll be evaluated early on. A simple 30-60-90 plan anchors onboarding, accelerates wins, and reduces misalignment.

Tie activities to the KPIs you named in the JD. Define the reporting cadence to keep stakeholders informed.

First 30 days: discovery and audit

Inventory channels, content performance, and workflows. Meet key partners in content, design, PR, paid, CX, and product. Map who approves what and by when.

Capture KPI baselines, audience insights, and brand voice nuances. Identify quick wins such as content refreshes or response-time improvements. Note larger opportunities for month two.

60 days: strategy and pilots

Publish a channel strategy and two-week content rhythm aligned to business goals. Launch small experiments across formats, hooks, and posting times. Set clear success criteria.

Request resources where needed, including tools, creative support, or budget. Share a mid-quarter readout with wins, learnings, and the next test plan.

90 days: scale and reporting cadence

Scale what works and sunset what doesn’t. Formalize dashboards and operating rhythms.

Align OKRs for the next quarter with marketing leadership. Document governance—roles, approvals, and escalation—and a content creation SLA. Present a quarterly strategy update covering KPIs, insights, and roadmap.

FAQs

What does a Social Media Manager do? They plan and publish content, engage communities, and analyze performance to meet marketing goals. They partner across teams to drive awareness, traffic, leads, and customer care.

Is this role different from a Social Media Strategist or Community Manager? Yes. Strategists set direction, Social Media Managers execute the plan, and Community Managers focus on relationships and moderation.

How do remote and hybrid expectations affect the JD? Specify time-zone coverage, on-call windows for events or social care, meeting norms, and any in-office studio or event requirements to avoid surprises.

Which KPIs belong in the JD versus onboarding goals? Put 4–6 core KPIs in the JD—such as engagement rate, CTR, conversions, and sentiment. Reserve aggressive stretch targets and channel-expansion goals for onboarding and quarterly OKRs.

What portfolio materials should candidates submit? Request 2–3 case studies with the brief, sample posts, KPI results, and learnings. Include links or files that show writing, video, and reporting.

How should we localize salary ranges for US and UK/EU? Publish region-specific bands with location modifiers and note currency. Align with U.S. pay transparency rules (see SHRM) and anti-discrimination standards (EEOC, UK Equality Act).

Why invest in social now? Social is where audiences discover, evaluate, and engage. There are more than 5 billion global users (DataReportal, 2024) and a majority of U.S. adults (Pew). A focused Social Media Manager turns that attention into outcomes.

[Authoritative sources referenced: DataReportal 2024 Digital Overview, Pew Research Center Social Media Fact Sheet, BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for PR Specialists and for Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers, SHRM pay transparency overview, UK Equality Act guidance, EEOC prohibited employment policies/practices.]