Social Media & Digital Content Manager

Carleton College; Northfield (MN); On-site; USD 77,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

403(b) retirement plan with employer 2

Medical, dental, vision, life and disa

Paid time-off including 25 leave days

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Dependent tuition program after six + 

Job summary

Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, seeks a Social & Digital Content Manager to raise the college’s visibility, enhance the Carleton brand, and foster community through social media. The ideal candidate is a skilled storyteller who can create authentic digital spaces and advise campus partners on best practices.

The role requires leading social listening, copy editing, and overseeing student content creators while aligning with institutional voice and style guidelines.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or public relations or related field with experience.
• 5+ years of full-time professional experience in social media and content production.
• Experience creating short-form videos for social media channels.
• Exceptional judgment and strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Deadline-driven, highly organized, able to work independently while handling multiple tasks.

Responsibilities

• Develop and administer a college-wide social media strategy and content plan engaging key audiences.
• Manage day-to-day operations of official social channels (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, YouTube, LinkedIn).
• Conceptualize and produce content for official channels and engage with users.
• Create short-form video content (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) aligned with the brand.
• Monitor social and traditional media, produce weekly listening reports for the President’s Cabinet.
• Analyze channel performance, report insights, and advise staff and students on best practices.
• Advise offices on social media strategies and campaigns; oversee related work.
• Maintain the Carleton Editorial Style Guide and ensure up-to-date terminology.
• Serve as copy editor for major materials and write marketing copy for priority pages.
• Co-manage student content producers and mentor them in professional development.

Skills

Social media management

Video content production

Written communication

Deadline-driven

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or public relations

Tools

WordPress

Canva

Job description

Job Title: Social & Digital Content Manager

Department: Communications

Classification: Exempt

Grade: 12

FTE/Working Schedule: 1.0 FTE (40 hours/ week)

Position Overview

The Social & Digital Content Manager works to raise the college’s visibility, enhance the Carleton brand, and foster community through social media. The ideal candidate is a skilled communicator and creative content producer with exceptional judgment, an innate ability to connect across audiences, and a true love of short-form storytelling. This position is responsible for establishing authentic digital spaces and producing compelling content that tells the Carleton story, and for establishing college-wide guidelines and advising campus partners on how to do the same.

As a primary digital steward of the College’s mission and institutional voice, the Social & Digital Content Manager represents the College to an audience of hundreds of thousands, including prospective and current students, parents, alumni, donors, faculty and staff, media, and community members. Operating at the intersection of public relations, crisis management, and creative storytelling, this role requires exceptional ethical integrity, rapid situational awareness, and the independent judgment needed to safeguard the College’s reputation in a highly visible, real-time environment.

The Social & Digital Content Manager serves a critical role in issues management for the College by identifying and elevating issues of importance to Carleton’s constituents. They lead social listening for the College and provide insights to the President’s Cabinet.

In addition to these core responsibilities, the Social & Digital Content Manager serves as an in-house copy editor for the college’s primary marketing and communications materials, serves as a copywriter for key marketing pages on carleton.edu and select recruitment and fundraising projects, and has oversight of the Carleton Editorial Style Guide.

Compensation

The expected starting salary range for this position is between $77,300 and $79,900. Actual pay will be adjusted based on job-related factors permitted by law, such as experience and training; licensure and certifications; market factors; departmental budgets; and responsibility.

Essential Job Functions/Responsibilities

• Develop and administer a college-wide social media strategy and content plan that engages key audiences and supports the College’s priorities.
• Manage the day-to-day functions of Carleton’s official social media channels, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Blue Sky, YouTube and LinkedIn.
• Conceptualize and produce content for the College’s official social media channels, and engage with and respond to users.
• Produce engaging short-form video content (including vertical video on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts) that aligns with the College’s brand and messaging.
• Actively monitor social, traditional, and student media mentions related to Carleton, and produce and distribute a weekly listening report for the President’s Cabinet. Work directly with the VP for Communications on timely issues to ensure college leaders are informed and prepared to respond.
• Follow trends in content creation and social media, analyze and report on the performance of owned channels, and experiment with and learn from new tools and technologies. Advise staff, faculty, and students across the College in these areas.
• Advise College offices and departments on the development of social media strategies and campaigns in support of important initiatives and events, and oversee the work of others tasked with carrying out these strategies.
• Maintain the Carleton Editorial Style Guide, reviewing the language on at least an annual basis to ensure terminology is current.
• Serve as copy editor for the college’s major communications and marketing materials.
• Write marketing copy for priority pages on carleton.edu, as well as key recruitment and fundraising materials.
• Co-manage a staff of student social media content producers. Train, supervise, mentor, and provide regular feedback to these student employees in support of their professional development.
• Engage with the higher education social media community to stay on top of industry best practices and emerging platforms. Make recommendations for their use at Carleton when appropriate.

This role occasionally requires work to be completed during the evening and on weekends.

Supervision Received And Exercised

The Social & Digital Content Manager is expected to take initiative and be successful working independently and as part of a collaborative team. This position is supervised by the Director of Marketing Strategy and works closely with the Vice President for Communications on social listening and issues management. This position hires and manages student workers.

Education/Experience/Skills

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or public relations; or other BA with relevant experience.
• 5 or more years of directly related full-time professional experience in social media and content production, with a proven ability to adopt an institutional voice.
• Experience creating short-form videos for social media channels.
• Must demonstrate exceptional judgment and attention to detail, with outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
• Must be deadline-driven, highly organized, and able to work independently while handling multiple tasks.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information, and collaborate with a diverse campus community.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to developing relationships across an organization.

Preferred

• Experience working in higher education.
• Experience working with WordPress.
• Experience working with Canva.
• Knowledge of Chicago Style.

Must have the ability to understand and follow written and oral work instructions, operations, safety procedures, and hazardous labels.

Note: This position description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

A Cover Letter Is Required With Your Application.

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the hire is complete. We accept only online applications.

Carleton College is an AA/EEO Employer: We are committed to developing our staff to better reflect the diversity of our student body and American society. Members of underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Benefits

• A generous 403(b) retirement plan with a 10% employer contribution and 2% employee contribution.
• Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance.
• Paid time-off, including 25 annual leave days, 8 paid holidays, and extra days at the end of the calendar year to make a continuous week off before New Year’s.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for all employees.
• A dependent tuition program after six years of service.

Founded in 1866, Carleton College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college of roughly 2,000 students located in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota. Carleton College occupies more than 1,000 scenic acres of campus, arboretum, over 100 campus buildings, and athletic fields. Located 40 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Carleton offers access to the cultural advantages of a major metropolitan area.