Social Media Associate Manager - Community

JOB OVERVIEW

The Social Media Associate Manager, Community position is responsible for leading the Community Engagement teams supporting 8 iconic, casual dining brands. This person will lead a high performing team with the shared goal of building our brands stronger through meaningful connections on social media.

The Associate Manager, Community will partner with the brand Social Media Managers to understand the holistic strategy, bringing it to life in creative and innovative ways within the area of Engagement and Community on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.

A strong passion for social media and creativity is imperative to the Associate Manager, Community role. This person must be detail-oriented, have high personal standards, and proven experience in people leadership to manage a medium-sized, fast-paced team (6-10 people).

The Associate Manager, Community will also be responsible for ownership and operations of the Darden Social Media Command Center inclusive of maintaining the technology and developing compelling storytelling on the digital screens to showcase results to the organization.

We expect the Associate Manager, Community to maintain an engaged relationship with our Social Media vendor - Khoros, attending weekly meetings, offering feedback on tool performance, troubleshooting back-end issues for the Darden Community Engagement Team, maintaining an organized and efficient labelings structure, and participating the annual tool renewal process including RFPs, as needed.

This role requires night and weekend accessibility, as the Darden Community Engagement teams work Monday - Sunday until 11pm ET. It’s also imperative to be a working leader, who is always willing to step-in and help when the team needs a hand.

Challenges faced may be difficult, but not complex and the Associate Manager, Community will be responsible to supervise professional level employees at the entry to early middle level ranges.

Extreme collaboration, especially with the brand Social Media Managers, Guest Relations, Crisis Communications and PR & Internal/External Communications is required for this position.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

-This role is also expected to deliver brand building, strategic ideas to the Social Media Managers as well as improve team efficiency and effectiveness.

-Maintain and update, as needed, social media playbooks, engagement standards and processes.

-Proactively generates strategic plans for community-based initiatives to support brand programs/campaigns including, but not limited the areas of engagement, social listening, guest recovery, opportunistic content, surprise and delights and influencer engagement.

-Fully understand and execute brand standards and guidelines for all Darden brands.

-Ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the engagement team, inclusive of workflows/processes, standards of response time, crisis escalation, etc.

-Lead the community engagement team members professional development and growth through goal-setting, setting clear expectations and standards, rewarding/recognizing consistently as earned and ongoing feedback/coaching as needed.

-Monitors community engagement techniques/best-practices, and stays up-to-date of growing platforms and software changes/enhancements.

-Lead the future innovation and development of the community function, including partnering with Darden teams to implement automation/bot programs.

-Participates in Community Engagement when needed, potentially filling shifts from time to time on nights/weekends/holidays (determined in advance).

-Keep up to date and provide recommendation on cultural events, news stories, social trends that may impact audience interaction with our clients’ brands

REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS:

-In-depth knowledge and understanding of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.) and social engagement tools (Khoros - preferred, Sprinklr, Hootsuite, Sprout Social).

-6+ years of experience in social media with a focus in community engagement activities including guest recovery and crisis communications. Minimum 2 years in a people leadership position.

-Superior communication, organizational and time management skills with a proven ability to independently manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

-Ability to work efficiently, effectively, proactively, and seamlessly amongst an integrated in-house agency team.

-Must have strong analytic skills (quantitative and qualitative), and the ability to story tell with data that offers meaningful insights

-Knowledge of using tools/software for administrative work (Microsoft Office/iWork), social media management (Khoros/Hootsuite/Sprinkr), visual design (Canva/Adobe Creative Suite) and file sharing (Box/DropBox/Google Docs).

REQUIRED EDUCATION:

-Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field.

OTHER KEY QUALIFICATIONS:

-Ability to drive ideas and gain credibility and rapport with all types of internal and external stakeholders in a team environment

-Socially and culturally 'in the know'; considered an early adopter and willing to take risks

-Make decisions in-the-moment, and take accountability for the results

-Passion for food and hospitality, social media, PR, marketing, emerging technologies, digital marketing, and exuding an “of service” mentality

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

-1-2 years of restaurant experience, preferably in full-service, casual dining restaurant, or demonstrated extensive knowledge of full-service restaurant operations gained in a support position

-Agency experience a plus