The Washington College Office of Marketing and Communications is seeking a creative, entrepreneurial, and accomplished social media expert to help elevate the College's brand, grow audiences and engagement, and advance Washington's institutional priorities through rich and engaging content, creative strategies, and innovative ideas. Our goal is to build broad awareness and engagement among our primary audience, prospective students and their families, and secondary audiences-current students, current parents, faculty and staff, alumni and donors, and friends of the College.

The Social Media Specialist will be part of a dynamic Marketing and Communications team working to build awareness of and support for Washington College in alignment with its strategic plan and institutional objectives. The in-person position manages central College social media efforts, which includes developing a measurable social media strategy in collaboration with others in the marketing and communications team, managing key social media channels, creating (and co-creating) social media content, and providing leadership and support across campus to continually improve the level of social media practice at Washington. The Social Media Specialist will operate in a highly collaborative environment but retain primary responsibility for the College's social presence.

Washington College is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment that builds community as an essential foundation to the success of our students. Members of the Washington community benefit from a welcoming, energetic culture that empowers students and generates impact well beyond our beautiful campus. Staff and faculty enjoy outstanding benefits and the unique opportunity to work in a setting dedicated to personal and intellectual growth. We strongly encourage qualified professionals from all backgrounds to apply.

Key Responsibilities - The Social Media Specialist has two core responsibility areas:

Area One: Strategy

• Develop a measurable strategy for using social media channels to support Washington's communications and marketing goals by engaging with multiple audiences, including prospective students, current students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, volunteers, funding agencies, and others. Plans should include content calendar and appropriate use of paid campaigns.
• Create and maintain an annual social media plan aligned with College goals that include priorities for improvement of channel reach and engagement.
• Develop tactical campaigns and content aligned with the annual social media plan and editorial calendar.
• Research and evaluate emerging (and current) platforms and make recommendations on whether and how we might adopt.
• Stay abreast of current research on how various audiences derive knowledge from social media to ensure Washington is taking full advantage of all its social media opportunities.
• Conduct analysis of data to gain in-depth knowledge of social audiences per channel.
• Play a key role during critical times to monitor social media discussions, disseminate information, correct misinformation, and undertake other duties as assigned to help protect the community and the institution's reputation.
• Create and maintain a social media performance dashboard with appropriate KPIs. Monitor the effectiveness of social media strategies through a variety of quantitative and qualitative measures, troubleshooting and pivoting when necessary.

Area Two: Implementation

• Generate-individually and in collaboration with colleagues-edit, publish and share content daily that is customized to be engaging and useful for audiences on individual social media platforms, that furthers Washington's communications and marketing goals, builds brand awareness and engages key stakeholders.
• Curate content from other channels that can be repurposed to meet those goals.
• Design and implement social media campaigns (e.g., brand awareness, influencer engagement, alumni spotlights)
• Engage with multiple audiences, respond to queries in a timely manner, and work closely with the communications team to elevate relevant inquiries as necessary.
• Cultivate social relationships with important influencers.
• Monitor online mentions of Washington on various social platforms and report out. Alert media relations and other essential colleagues as needed.
• Maintain internal paid social media advertising campaigns.
• Uphold appropriate social media and video accessibility best practices.
• Develop relationships with internal and external stakeholders to stay abreast of content creation and messaging opportunities.
• Advise other departments on social media strategy and best practices and work collaboratively to leverage content across all accounts and ensure content strategy in units is aligned with institutional goals.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by the incumbent; they do not purport to describe all functions. Incumbent may be assigned other duties, and the essential functions may change from time to time as necessary.

Required Job Qualifications:

• 3+ years of experience in social media strategy, management, execution, and engagement, working across Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X
• Knowledge of best practices
• Expertise in multiple social media channels, performance analytics, and channel optimization.
• Experience in creating social media strategies
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Organized, detail oriented, meets deadlines, and able to multitask
• Works well independently and as a member of a team
• Strategic thinker with strong execution skills
• A bachelor's degree is required, preferably in marketing or communications. An equivalent combination of education and experience considered.
• Proven track record of growing engagement
• Strong and proven background in creative content development and design (images, campaigns, video, etc.) and ability to tailor for specific channels
• Data-driven approach and proficiency in social media metrics
  

Preferred Job Qualifications:

• Experience working in higher education
• Knowledge of social media listening tools and reputation management practices
• Strong understanding of visual storytelling, branding
• Ability to think strategically about the College's brand identity and marketing strategies

Finalists for this position will be asked to submit a case study of a past social media campaign they have run. The case study should explain initial campaign goals and the strategy behind the campaign including timeline, execution of the strategy, and an evaluation of the campaign's results. Writing, photography, and video samples will also be considered.

About Washington College

Founded in 1782, Washington College is the nation's first liberal arts institution and the tenth oldest college in the nation. Enrolling approximately 1,000 undergraduates from more than 35 states and a dozen nations, Washington is known for outstanding academics emphasizing hands-on, experiential learning across more than 40 multidisciplinary areas of study. The College is home to nationally recognized academic centers in the environment, history, and writing, and has a 5,000-acre river and field campus that provides unique positioning for the College. Learn more at washcoll.edu.

To apply, upload your letter of interest, resume, a digital portfolio that includes examples of written, photographic, and video content you created for social media, and names/contact information for three references, preferably as one PDF, through the Careers at Washington College portal. Applicants are also encouraged to submit writing, photography, and video samples. Application review begins immediately and will continue until the position has been filled.

EEO Statement & Title IX

Washington College values diversity within its campus community and is committed to recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty and staff from racial and ethnic groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education. The College does not discriminate in hiring based on race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. For information on Washington College's Title IX compliance, please visit www.washcoll.edu/title-ix/ .

Other Information

Employment is contingent upon completion of a successful background check and establishment of identity and verification of employment eligibility as required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

It is the policy of Washington College to provide reasonable accommodation. If you require any accommodations to participate in any part of the hiring process, please contact hr@washcoll.edu.