THE COMPANY:

Since 1945, EBONY has celebrated 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’re calling all innovators and creators who want to be part of the legacy by helping shape EBONY’s future

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 Manager
• 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, 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.