Social Media Manager

University of Wisconsin; Madison (WI); Hybrid; USD 67,500 - 82,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Wisconsin Retirement System

Job summary

The UW-Madison College of Engineering Marketing and Communications team is looking for an energetic Social Media Manager to lead strategy and operations for official college accounts across Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.

You will develop and govern the college’s multi-platform social media presence, ensure a cohesive voice, comply with university guidelines, and engage prospective students, alumni, faculty, and industry partners. The role reports to the Director of Marketing.

Qualifications

• 4+ years’ experience in communications/marketing focusing on social media strategy and analytics.

Responsibilities

• Plan and direct unit programs to meet deadlines and budgets.
• Identify and implement new or revised policies and procedures.
• Write and edit content for diverse stakeholders.
• Develop and deliver communications materials through various mediums.
• Manage day-to-day operational plans aligned with strategic initiatives.

Skills

Social media strategy

Analytics for strategy

Communications

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Job Category:

Academic Staff

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Profile:

Communications Manager

Job Summary:

The UW-Madison College of Engineering Marketing and Communications team is looking for an energetic Social Media Manager to manage strategy and operations for a wide range of official college social media platforms.

This is a strategic and collaborative role responsible for developing, executing, and governing the College’s multi-platform social media presence. The manager will lead the digital storytelling effort across the five central accounts (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X).

They will serve as the College's social media expert, ensuring a cohesive brand voice, compliance with university guidelines, and effective engagement with key audiences like prospective and current students, alumni, faculty, and industry partners. This position is critical for amplifying the College's reputation in engineering education, innovation, and research, while also establishing consistent social media standards across all internal departments.

This role reports directly to the Director of Marketing. The Social Media Manager will work in close collaboration with the Creative Manager, the Director of Communications, and a team of science writers to develop and execute the overall social content strategy.

Hybrid-Remote Work: Hybrid remote work is any remote work arrangement where the employee is expected to work on a regularly scheduled basis at a location owned or leased by the university, in addition to regularly scheduled work at an alternate work site. Most remote work agreements that are less than 100 percent remote will qualify as Hybrid Remote work. An RWA requires successful candidates to possess their own high-speed internet and phone to perform the work on a university provided computer. Per University policy, transportation between home and assigned work location is not payable/reimbursable and will be at the expense of the employee.

Responsibilities:

Develops and supervises the execution of communication programs and may supervise personnel and/or other resources of institutional or unit communication goals.

• Strategy, Planning, and Governance (25%): Develop and maintain a cohesive, platform-specific social media strategy and content calendar that aligns with the College’s marketing and communications goals. Establish and maintain College-level social media guidelines (including best practices for branding, tone, security, and accessibility) based on the campus-wide guidelines from the Office of Strategic Communication. Serve as the primary liaison and consultant for departmental communicators within the College of Engineering, ensuring a unified brand voice and compliance across all affiliated social media accounts.
• Content Management (50%): Coordinate compelling, high-quality content—including photography, short-form video (Reels, Shorts), long-form video, graphics, and engaging text—tailored for each platform to maximize reach and impact. Manage daily publishing and community engagement for all central UWMadEngr social media accounts and oversight of the Dean of the College’s social media accounts.
• Compliance and Analysis (25%): Ensure all communications adhere to UW-Madison policies, federal regulations (e.g., FERPA/HIPAA), accessibility standards, and the College's own guidelines. Monitor, track, and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of social media campaigns and provide data‑driven recommendations for content optimization and strategic adjustments.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Plans and directs unit programs and/or projects to ensure adherence to deadlines and budgets.
• Identifies, proposes, and implements new or revised unit operational policies and procedures.
• Plans, writes, and edits content for various internal and external stakeholders.
• Develops, implements, and delivers communication materials through various mediums to designated audiences.
• Manages the day-to-day operational unit plans to align with strategic initiatives and to meet established objectives.

Department:

College of Engineering, Marketing

Compensation:

The starting salary for the position is $75,000 (but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications).

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System pension fund.

Required Qualifications:

• 4+ years’ experience in communications and/or marketing, with a primary focus on social media strategy and channel management and a proven track record of using social media analytics to inform strategy and report on performance.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 2+ years' experience running social media accounts (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X) for an organization.
• Proven writing and editing skills, with the capability to adapt tone, style, and messaging for diverse audience segments across multiple digital channels.
• Experience supervising professionals and/or students and interns.
• The willingness to create and post content and monitor multiple accounts during business and off hours.
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite or shown ability to work with graphic designers, to create or edit short videos and photographs.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Microsoft Teams for project management and team communication.
• Ability to work with communicators, academics, and administrators to share or amplify their messages through various mediums, while optimizing content for various social media platforms.
• A willingness to learn new skills and work collaboratively with varied and diverse professionals.
• Familiarity with crisis communications and issues management.

Education:

Bachelor’s degree required. Candidates with a background in public relations, marketing, strategic communications and journalism, and/or communications preferred.

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background – people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy‑related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre‑employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on‑campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW‑Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.