Social Lead

Social Lead

Job description

THE ROLE:

The Social Media Lead is responsible for elevating, expanding, and innovating EBONY’s digital presence across all social platforms. This individual owns strategy, execution, team leadership, and audience performance, and will play a critical role in shaping how EBONY shows up in culture every day.

The ideal candidate is digitally native, deeply fluent in multicultural storytelling, and has a proven track record of building high-engagement communities on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and emerging platforms. They understand cultural currency, audience behavior, and what it takes to scale reach and impact through intentional, authentic, and highly shareable content.

This role also requires strong video expertise, especially vertical formats, along with creative direction and on-site capture experience at events, red carpets, and cultural moments. The Social Media Lead will manage mid-level Social Media Managers and guide early-career team members.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

Audience Growth and Content Strategy

• Build a growth plan that increases reach, engagement, and meaningful community

• Develop daily and weekly social content that aligns with EBONY’s POV, brand identity, and cultural impact.

• Identify cultural moments, trending conversations, and opportunities to elevate EBONY’s voice.

• Collaborate across editorial, creative, and video to develop social-first franchises, series, and recurring content formats.

Video and Creative Production

• Produce and direct vertical content at events, red carpets, photo/video shoots, and live moments.

• Review and approve social concepts, captions, and final output

• Develop with internal creative team on brand visual formats that strengthen the digital presence across platforms

Team Leadership

• Manage and support mid level Social Media Managers

• Set standards for creative excellence, platform performance, and workflow.

• Lead daily stand-ups, content reviews, and weekly planning processes.

• Maintain a high bar for communication, collaboration, and accountability.

Platform Management and Daily Execution

• Oversees daily posting and engagement across all social platforms, including X, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIN, and Meta, ensuring consistent brand voice and performance.

• Use tools such as Sprout Social for scheduling, reporting, and publishing

• Maintain a comprehensive content calendar including planned and reactive content

• Manage comments, audience responses, and community guidelines

• Ensure content is optimized for each platform’s best practices

Paid Social and Analytics

• Support paid social campaigns when needed

• Review analytics weekly and monthly to guide content decisions

• Identify patterns and shifts in audience behavior to strengthen performance

• Present insights and recommendations to leadership

Cross Functional Collaboration

• Work with teams across EBONY as needed to support brand activations, cover rollouts, partnerships, and major moments

• Bring digital insights into creative development and campaign planning

Required Experience

• Proven success scaling social presence for multicultural or culturally rooted brands, with measurable growth in followers, reach, and engagement.

• Deep fluency with major platforms (TikTok, YouTube, Meta, X, LinkedIn) and their distinct cultures, algorithms, and best practices.

• Strong experience in social video planning and execution—vertical formats, on-site capture, and creative direction.

• Demonstrated experience managing mid-level talent and supporting early-career creatives.

• Background in digital-first, creator-led, and community-centric organizations.

• Strong analytical skills with comfort using scheduling, reporting, and insights tools.

• Excellent captioning and creative storytelling skills tailored to platform and audience.

Preferred Experience

• Experience authentically supporting Black audiences or diverse communities.

• Experience covering high-profile events, red carpets, or talent activations.

• Expertise in developing creator partnerships, influencer strategy, and platform relationship building.

• Ability to build digital franchises and recurring content formats.

Key Competencies

• Creative vision and digital intuition.

• Leadership presence and cultural fluency.

• Strong communication and organizational skills.

• Ability to work efficiently and deliver high-quality work.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in social media management, digital content creation, and platform strategy (with at least 3 years in a managerial role).

• Deep expertise in major platforms and emerging social technologies.

• Demonstrated expertise with CMS platforms (WordPress and others) and a deep understanding of how SEO, metadata, and accessibility standards drive cross-platform discovery, engagement, and audience growth. Brings a social-first mindset and the ability to translate EBONY’s storytelling into high-impact digital experiences that lead the marketplace.

• Demonstrated experience in leading teams and building high-performing social media operations.

• Exceptional attention to detail, brand alignment, and cultural relevance in storytelling and design.

• Outstanding communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence and align cross-functional teams.New York, NYHybridFull TimeMaximum amount $120,000.00 per yearAbout EBONY Company LLCSince 1945, EBONY has celebrated and chronicled Black excellence and leadership worldwide. In January 2021, the iconic brand was relaunched under new ownership as EBONY Media Group, a diversified multi-platform media company. This is an exciting chapter for the beloved brand, and we are looking for talented, enthusiastic candidates to join our close-knit, highly collaborative team. We are calling all innovators and creators who are ready to join the legacy by helping shape EBONY Media from the ground up!

✅ IMS Archive Intelligence — Powered by CREATORVERSED 10 years of creator economy hiring data. 22,000+ opportunity signals. zero ghost jobs. IMS Archive Intelligence Social Lead at EBONY Media, archived March 2026. This opportunity represents a strategic social media leadership role at one of America's most iconic Black media brands during a pivotal moment in digital transformation. Era Intelligence Posted in March 2026, this role emerged during a significant period for legacy media brands adapting to creator-first social strategies. EBONY's hiring timing aligns with the industry's shift toward authentic cultural storytelling and community-driven content, as traditional media companies recognized that social leadership requires deep cultural fluency alongside platform expertise. The first quarter of 2026 marked a competitive hiring season for social leads as brands prepared for major platform algorithm changes and the continued rise of video-first content strategies. Opportunity Signal Social Lead is one of the more established roles in the creator economy — IMS has tracked 10 signals for this specific title, with 1,000+ signals across the broader social media function family since 2016. The role represents a senior-level position that bridges strategic thinking with hands-on execution, typically involving team leadership and cross-functional collaboration. Salary Intelligence Social Lead roles in the IMS archive command $111,000 — $179,000 based on verified signals spanning 2020-2026. This represents a significant premium over general social media management roles, reflecting the strategic and leadership components of the position. Media companies like EBONY typically align with the middle-to-upper range of this spectrum, particularly for candidates who bring cultural expertise and community-building experience. Salary range reflects data from established media brands and cultural organizations, with recent signals showing upward movement as companies compete for authentic social leadership talent. Repost Signal IMS has tracked 2025 creator economy opportunity signals from EBONY Media in the archive spanning 2025 to 2026. Each signal represents a moment in this company's creator economy hiring journey — preserved in the IMS archive as permanent market intelligence. IMS actively tracks and reposts verified opportunities in real time, making this archive the most complete record of creator economy hiring activity in the industry. Career Path Context Social Lead roles typically attract candidates from Social Media Manager or Content Marketing Manager positions with 4-6 years of experience and demonstrated team leadership. The role commonly serves as a stepping stone to Head of Social, Director of Digital Marketing, or VP of Content Strategy positions. For media brands specifically, this path often includes cross-training in editorial strategy and brand partnerships, making it valuable preparation for broader marketing leadership roles in entertainment and publishing. Skills Intelligence 1. Community Building — Growing Demand: Essential for media brands maintaining authentic audience relationships in an increasingly crowded content landscape, particularly for culturally-focused brands like EBONY. 2. Video-First Strategy — Growing Demand: Critical as platforms prioritize video content; Social Leads must orchestrate multi-format video production and performance optimization across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. 3. Cultural Authenticity — Stable Demand: For brands with specific cultural positioning, the ability to maintain voice consistency while adapting to platform trends remains essential and non-automatable. 4. Cross-Platform Analytics — Growing Demand: Social Leads increasingly need to synthesize performance data across platforms to inform content strategy and demonstrate ROI to executive leadership. 5. Influencer Partnership Strategy — Growing Demand: As organic reach declines, Social Leads must build and maintain creator partnership programs that feel authentic to brand identity while driving engagement metrics. Employer Intelligence Competitive context. Companies hiring for Social Lead roles are actively investing in creator economy talent — a signal of commitment to building or scaling creator marketing capabilities. Hiring recommendation. To attract top Social Lead candidates, position the role around creative ownership and strategic impact. The strongest candidates have options — they choose companies that give them meaningful scope and direct access to leadership. Need help building your creator economy team? Visit creatorrecruiting.com ✅ IMS x CREATORVERSED Verified This opportunity has been hand-curated and verified by Influencer Marketing Society (IMS) and CREATORVERSED as a legitimate role in the creator economy. IMS has maintained the industry's most complete creator economy career archive since 2016 — 22,000+ opportunity signals tracked, zero ghost jobs, always. Explore more verified creator economy opportunities at influencermarketingsociety.com