Social Media Associate Manager - Community

JOB OVERVIEW:

The Social Media Associate Manager - Community position plays a crucial role in building our brands stronger through meaningful connections on social media. This person must be detail-oriented, have high personal standards, and proven experience in people leadership to manage a fast-paced team of 6-10 people varying in experience from 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 to successfully implement engagement and community strategies on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok.

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.

-Manage 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.

-Manage community-focused vendor relationships, which includes providing feedback, troubleshooting, attending status calls and leading annual tool renewals.

-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. This includes potentially filling shifts from time to time on nights/weekends/holidays. These shifts include ones that are determined in advance, as well as ones that are unplanned due to a crisis or emergency.

-Ad-hoc support via Microsoft Teams chats during nights and weekends is expected, as the Darden Community Engagement teams work Monday - Sunday until 10pm ET.

-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:

-5+ 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.

-Previous customer service experience a plus.