Social Innovation & Strategy Lead

Channel 4; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 78,000; Full time

Job description

Job Title: Social Innovation & Strategy Lead

Reports to: Head of Social Department

Department: 4Studio

Location: Manchester or Leeds

Job Grade: L2

Department Description
4Studio is the engine room for Channel 4’s digital acceleration strategy, with the mission to create, adapt and distribute brilliant content across the key social media channels. We work very closely with key people and departments across Channel 4 to make this a success.

Job Purpose
Channel 4 is a world class entertainment brand. The Social Team within 4Studio is responsible for further building our world class social media presence. We are looking for an industry-leading Social Innovation & Strategy Lead to drive innovation in our collective strategies across all social platforms. This is a Senior role within 4Studio that is responsible for creating audience growth opportunities across all platforms with a specific focus on YouTube, where we’re looking to grow Channel 4’s footprint in the coming years.

You will work hand-in-hand with our Analytics Team to understand our current audiences and identify new ones (whether through existing channels, or through exploring emerging platforms), as well as the Social Channels Lead running our Channel teams, who are responsible for day-to-day management, content creation and audience engagement.

This role will lead the strategic charge on how we grow our entire Channel 4 portfolio, including brands like Channel 4, E4, and ‘Genre Channels’ like Channel 4 Sports, Channel 4 Documentaries, Channel 4.0 and many more. You’ll be accountable for defining and executing data-informed growth strategies for all our platforms, spotting new trends, new products and new commercial opportunities.

As well as ensuring there’s clear, collective Platform-focused Best Practices across our entire outfit, you’ll also be constantly pushing us forward, as a department and a business, to ensure Channel 4 is consistently leading the charge rather than following the pack. Disruptive and Macro thinking comes as standard, along with the ability to condense big ideas into digestible, actionable strategy.

You’ll have a proven track record embracing new thinking to drive innovation across the board, and will feed that future-facing strategic mindset through to everything we do, a trusted voice in how the Social team and 4Studio as a whole interacts with the wider business (including Marketing, Commissioning, Sales, Distribution & Platform Partnerships and beyond). Excellent communication and persuasion skills are essential.

Key Responsibilities

• With support from a Senior Strategist, you will be responsible for 4Studio’s platform strategies across all social platforms (including, but not limited to, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, X and Threads) but with a specific focus on YouTube.
• You will have responsibility for driving forward innovation in how we approach social platforms; from leading on responding to new platform products and functionalities, and monitoring ongoing performance to evaluate how the algorithmic landscape is shifting, through to communicating findings to the wider social team to inform strategies at both a macro and micro level.
• You won’t wait for the Platform to tell you what the algorithm change is – you’ll be so close to our own data and competitor performance that you’ll be ahead of the curve, and leading on experimenting with new approaches before ‘official’ word drops. You’ll be obsessed with data in all its forms, and learning and developing new ways to analyse or interrogate it will be a core part of the role.
• You will support the Head of Social with target tracking, being completely on top of our current performance across the whole portfolio and ensuring that where necessary strategies pivot to facilitate wider department KPIs.
• You’ll be expected to operate with confidence and autonomy, but ensure steady, consistent communication with the Head of Social around new ideas, platform developments, and opportunities for strategic pivots. You’ll offer input and guidance on how best to co-ordinate paid activity, third party relationships (inc. specific production companies and talent, and occasionally where required, Ofcom and PACT).
• You are an expert at utilising platforms’ own CMS and insights tools, and have a healthy knowledge of leading tools in the market to further understand audiences and growth opportunities; you’ll work closely with the Analytics Team and other parts of 4Studio and Channel 4 to ideate and develop new ways to innovate our tooling to drive efficiencies or derive new insights from performance.
• You have a robust understanding of every social platform, but have a particular focus and specialism when it comes to all things YouTube. You’ll be an expert on Creator culture, Digital-first Publishers, and Legacy Media Brands growing in this space, and understand how complex the landscape is, and where opportunities lie for Channel 4 as a brand (whether via Archive content, current programming, Digital Original content, or otherwise).
• Working closely with the Analytics Team to realise departmental KPIs and to set individual Account KPIs for the Channel Management Teams, you’ll use data and editorial insight to shape platform strategies that best deliver against all 4Studio departmental KPIs, leading on communication out to the wider department about what we’re doing and why, while keeping 4Studio Leadership abreast of key strategic thinking and decision-making.
• You will communicate Platform Developments and Platform Strategies to a wide range of Stakeholders – from Channel Manager Teams to the Exec Board and beyond, and be an expert at knowing how to take incredibly complicated topics and condense them down into slides or a narrative that can quickly and easily convince, influence, and translate data-heavy insights into clear strategic direction.
• As a trusted peer in the Social industry; vocal, visible, and with strong connections into other Digital-first Publishers and media companies, you will actively network and build bridges to ensure we’re plugged into the wider industry, and lead on Competitor Analysis where needed to help us define a cutting edge.
• Working closely with the Social Channels Lead, the Platform Partnership team and external Platform Partners you will drive agility in our strategic decision-making, and ensure there’s focus in the implementation, to ensure individual Account Strategies and Content Strategies ladder into to the overarching Platform Strategies.
• You will also work closely with the Commercial Teams (Sales, Branded, Platform Partnerships etc) and Digital Commissioners to ensure they fully understand Platform Opportunities, both creatively and commercially.
• Constant thinking about how we can improve our publishing, growth and content strategies will be part of your day-to-day, along with how best to take other less-Social-savvy departments and stakeholders within the business on a journey that articulates the benefits and opportunity of a rapidly moving media landscape.
• You will manage a small team of Audience Development Specialists to determine how paid campaigns can help with account and platform objectives. Know when and where to deploy paid spend to enhance Platform Objectives.
• Working closely with Channel Management Lead you’ll ensure all CM teams are following best practice and Platform Strategy guidelines.

Essential Experience And Skills

• Demonstrate significant experience of building YouTube channels/business at scale – not only in audience, but commercially too.
• Demonstrate excellent experience of driving organisational and strategic change through original ‘out of the box’ thinking that has changed the trajectory of a team/department.
• Demonstrate experience of presenting to (and ideally convincing) senior, preferably Exec/Board stakeholders of your ideas.
• Demonstrate experience of leading strategic initiatives on social media, managing other team members and different stakeholders (and often competing agendas) to deliver against KPIs.
• Demonstrate excellent experience of using insights (both data-driven and editorial) to manipulate performance and revenue success with video content across social platforms.
• Demonstrate excellent experience in utilising social measurement, reporting and competitor analysis tools to identify and super-serve audiences.
• Demonstrate multiple times you have convinced key and senior stakeholders to embrace content innovation, adapt content/publishing strategies, and seen tangible success as a result.
• Demonstrate strong experience working across a broad content spectrum – Channel 4 and E4 have diversity of content and audiences at its heart.

Salary Basic salary starting at £77,219.00

Application questions to complete
Please remember to complete the additional application questions by uploading a Word or PDF attachment. These questions really help us get to know you better and we won’t be able to consider your application without them.

• Please outline how you meet the ‘Essential Experience & Skills’ outlined in the Job Description (Max 500 words)

Benefits There are a million reasons why it’s great to work at Channel 4, here are just a few of the perks for you;

• Private medical insurance
• Free Virtual GP access for employees
• Free Female Health hormone test each year
• Free Tastecard membership
• Financial guidance 1-2-1’s available each quarter
• Discounted Gym memberships
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Holiday Purchase

Hybrid working
From September 2023, C4 has operated a 60/40 working pattern, equating to three office days per week. Having everyone in the office three days a week gives us more opportunity to build our high performing, inclusive culture; to collaborate and to learn and share with each other, as well as helping to coordinate a regular pattern of home and office working days. Employees then have the flexibility to decide where they spend the rest of the working week. All our offices are open five days a week.

Applications Close Date 24 Apr 2025

Equal Opportunities Channel 4’s purpose is to create change through entertainment; by representing unheard voices, challenging with purpose and delivering content which reflects the diversity of different communities across the UK. We are only able to deliver on this remit by having a workforce rich in diversity of thought, background and lived experience. As an employer we encourage applications from candidates from all backgrounds and do not discriminate based on disability, age, gender reassignment, gender expression, criminal history, length of time spent unemployed, marriage or civil partnership status, national origin, pregnancy and maternity status, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.

Disability Confident Scheme
Channel 4 is a member of the Business Disability Forum (BDF) and has also maintained the highest level of the Department of Work and Pension's Disability Confident scheme - Level 3: Leader. Under the Disability Confident Scheme, we aim to offer an interview to all candidates who have a neurodiverse condition, impairment or long-term condition and who meet the essential criteria for an advertised job. If you wish your application to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, please select yes when completing the application questions. For more information, please visit the Disability Confident Campaign website.

Care Leaver Friendly Employer
Channel 4 is a Care Leaver Friendly Employer. By signing the Care Leaver Friendly Employer Charter and adopting its principles, we are supporting an immensely talented yet often under-served and under-represented community of young people/ adults. We commit to offering an interview (and constructive feedback) to applicants who identify as care experienced and meet the essential criteria for the role as outlined on the job description. Applicants should indicate if they wish to apply under our Care Leaver Scheme by selecting the option on the application form.

Workplace Adjustments
We are committed to providing disabled applicants a level playing field when applying for a job and support whilst employed to perform to the best of their ability and develop their careers. If you have a neurodiverse condition, impairment or long-term condition and require any adjustments, additional support or alternative arrangements during the recruitment and wish to discuss this confidentially, please let us know via the following e-mail [e-mail]

Seniority level Mid-Senior level

Employment type Full-time

Job function Product Management and Marketing

Industries Broadcast Media Production and Distribution, Online Audio and Video Media, and Entertainment Providers