Social Media Strategist

The Social Media Strategist exists to inspire Northwestern constituents to engage with the university’s programs and offerings through various social media channels, supporting institutional marketing efforts with key day-to-day tactics from a B2C perspective.

Essential job responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Create, implement, and execute social media strategies to achieve Northwestern marketing goals. 
• Manage social media advertising budget and measure variables (e.g., link clicks, engagement rate, impressions) to achieve optimal effectiveness.
• In collaboration with creative and digital team members, manage, create, and publish original, high quality content on social platforms. 
• Administer all university-specific social media accounts housed in Marketing to ensure relevant content. Facilitate communication with on- and off-campus constituents, including responding to inquiries, soliciting reviews, organizing chats, etc. 
• Develop story ideas, digital content marketing strategies, and produce various messages and materials for various platforms. 
• In partnership with Digital Marketing Manager, monitor and assist with SEO strategy and execution. 
• Prepare and regularly present reports on impressions, interaction, and engagement and their relationship to key performance indicators. 
• Monitor social media trends in higher education and other relevant industries. 
• Continually audit various campus department-owned accounts to ensure compliance with university brand standards. 
• Hire, supervise, and develop student employee(s). 
• Assist with miscellaneous duties as requested by the Enrollment Marketing Manager. 
• Because our community is a significant part of our mission and the development of our students, all employees act as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ by actively partnering with the University to disciple students in growing intellectually and spiritually, and with Northwestern Media to lead people to Christ and nurture believers to mature in their faith.

Minimum Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; degree in marketing, analytics, digital media, communication, or journalism preferred 
• Experience with an integrated marketing team and/or higher education preferred 
• Maintain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; is a consistent witness for Jesus Christ; maintain a kind, Christ-like attitude in dealing with and ministering to people within and outside of Northwestern; and faithfully uphold and embrace Northwestern’s mission, doctrinal statement and Declaration of Christian Community.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• A strong knowledge and capability to manage all types of social media channels including, but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, ZeeMee, Spotify, and YouTube 
• Knowledge of Sprout Social or a similar social media management tool 
• Ability to interact with a variety of individuals in a professional, courteous, and tactful manner 
• Ability to prioritize projects, completing tasks accurately and within deadlines 
• Knowledge and demonstrated skill in creative, journalistic, content marketing and/or business writing including writing for web, print, and other media 
• Intermediate skill with Microsoft Office, especially Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint 
• Working knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint is a plus 
• Exemplary knowledge of grammar, editing, and proofreading 
• Excellent writing ability and verbal communication skills 
• Some Adobe Creative Cloud experience preferred 
• Ability to pass a background check upon hire and periodically throughout the course of employment

Work Environment:

The work environment involves working for a suburban, Christian university alongside those with a demonstrated commitment and personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a commitment to the mission and values of the University and an agreement to abide by all University policies.

In addition to being part of a compelling, meaningful mission, we have benefits we believe set us apart from other employers. For example we have:

• Generous health, dental and other insurance benefits 
• Generous Paid Time Off plan 
• Twelve paid holidays per year 
• Tuition benefits for employees and their families 
• Company retirement contributions 
• Complimentary access to campus athletic, music, and theatre events