Senior Social Strategist & Community Manager

Job Summary

As our go-to social expert, your ideas, creativity and insights will help set the direction of our brands. With the support of the Social Media Executive, you’ll lead our social-first strategy and community approach to drive brand awareness, engagement and advocacy across all relevant social platforms.

You’ll have a strong point of view on how we should show up in culture and cut through. You’ll build an always-on engine that delivers show-stopping stories that don’t just follow trends, they set them.

This role owns the strategic direction, operating model, channel plans, and reporting across social and influencers, translating consumer insight into a social presence that grows community, fuels campaigns, and strengthens brand relevance.

What does this role Involve

Strategy & planning
•    Develop and own the social strategy (annual direction + rolling 90-day plans), aligned to marketing priorities, consumer insight and what’s happening in culture.
•    Define channel roles, audience segments, content pillars and tone of voice, ensuring our brands feel consistent but never generic.
•    Set the always-on cadence and the reactive model: what we respond to, how quickly we move, and how we manage risk without losing momentum.

Community leadership
•    Build the community operating model: moderation standards, escalation routes, crisis protocols and response playbooks that protect the brand while keeping us human and engaging.
•    Lead our approach to community growth, engagement and advocacy, creating moments that invite participation (UGC, creator-style content, community spotlights).
•    Partner with relevant teams to ensure escalations are handled quickly and consistently, with clear ownership and decision-making.

Content direction
•    Set the creative standard for platform-native output: short-form video, stories, trend formats, cutdowns, hooks and captions that are designed for attention and interaction.
•    Brief and direct the Social Media Executive and creative support to deliver high-volume content efficiently, consistently and at speed.
•    Ensure the content calendar balances product beats with community relevance, so we’re not just broadcasting, we’re building relationships.

Measurement & optimisation
•    Own the KPI framework and reporting cadence, turning data into clear actions: what to scale, what to stop and what to test next.
•    Run a test-and-learn approach across creative iterations, hooks, formats, posting times and community prompts to continuously improve performance.
•    Track cultural and platform shifts and evolve our approach, so we stay socially relevant rather than playing catch-up.

Stakeholder & partner management
•    Lead cross-functional alignment across Brand/Creative, Product/Commercial and wider marketing stakeholders to ensure social is integrated, not an afterthought.
•    Manage agencies, creators and influencer partners where required, from briefing and creative direction to evaluation and results.

People leadership
•    Line manage, coach and develop the Social Media Executive, raising the bar on content craft, community engagement and pace.
•    Be passionate about developing the next generation of social superstars, creating space for growth, experimentation and confidence.

Success measures (first 3–6 months)
•    Social strategy and channel plans signed off, with a clear operating rhythm and decision-making model in place.
•    Faster turnaround and increased volume of platform-native content, with a noticeable improvement in creative effectiveness.
•    Improved engagement metrics and community growth, supported by consistent response SLAs and stronger community health.
•    A working optimisation cadence: reporting that drives action and measurable performance improvement.

What are we looking for

Essential
•    Demonstrable experience building and executing high-performing social strategies that delivered measurable impact.
•    5+ years’ experience leading social strategy, channel planning and community growth.
•    Strong content creation capability across static and video, with a sharp eye for platform-native execution.
•    Strong editorial judgement and the ability to translate consumer insight into content direction and creative standards.
•    Confident decision-maker in fast-paced, reactive environments.
•    Strong analytical capability, able to turn data into clear recommendations and priorities.
•    Excellent stakeholder management and the ability to guide creative execution across teams and partners.

Desirable
•    Experience managing agencies, creators and influencer programmes.
•    Experience in entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, or other passion-led communities.