Social Media Manager

KQED; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 89,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

KQED in San Francisco seeks a Social Media Manager (Temporary) to publish, package, and optimize original video content across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and KQED’s owned platforms. You will craft platform-tailored titles, thumbnails, captions, and social copy to maximize reach and engagement.

The ideal candidate combines strong platform expertise with analytics, creative storytelling, and a passion for audiences.

Qualifications

• Minimum of three years of professional experience in social media management.
• Experience publishing, packaging, and optimizing video content across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
• Strong understanding of platform-specific packaging, timing, formats, and audience behaviors.
• Experience using social and digital analytics to evaluate performance and create reports.
• Excellent writing, editing, and communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Publish original video content across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms.
• Maintain a publishing calendar and develop repeatable workflows.
• Package content with titles, thumbnails, descriptions, metadata, captions, and social copy.
• Develop social copy and platform-specific promotional content.
• Design thumbnails in Canva that align with branding.
• Monitor content performance and translate data into actionable recommendations.
• Create regular performance reports for production teams and stakeholders.
• Manage audience engagement and community moderation.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to promote content.
• Stay updated on platform features and best practices.

Skills

Social media management

Video publishing & optimization

Audience analysis

Content writing

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

YouTube Studio

Canva

Adobe Creative Cloud

Airtable

Job description

Title: Social Media Manager (Temporary)

Schedule Format - Location: Hybrid - San Francisco

Pay Information: $89,156 - $100,000

Position Summary

The Social Media Manager is responsible for publishing, packaging, optimizing, and reporting on KQED’s original video content across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and KQED’s owned platforms. This role uses platform expertise, audience insights, and performance data to strengthen content strategy, reach, engagement, and discoverability.

The ideal candidate combines strong platform knowledge and analytical skills with creative storytelling instincts and an interest in understanding what drives audience behavior.

This position will support KQED’s growing portfolio of midform YouTube content and vertical video supporting the Food, Guides, and Technology content verticals. The Social Media Manager will help establish consistent, effective publishing practices across platforms while adapting strategies to the unique audiences, formats, and capabilities of each platform.

This is a full-time, contract position reporting into Audience Development.

KQED envisions a public media organization with a culture that centers on human dignity, equity, and belonging. This will enable us to better serve and reflect the Bay Area through diverse and inclusive storytelling.

We value the contributions of marginalized people in society — including Black, Indigenous, and all people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ people — and we believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do, and we strongly encourage members of these communities to apply.

KQED Code of Ethics https://www.kqed.org/about/code-ethics

The Mission That Drives Us

KQED provide citizens of Northern California with a community-supported alternative to commercial media. We provide citizens with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions; convene community dialogue; bring the arts to everyone and engage audiences to share their stories. We help students and teachers thrive in 21st-century classrooms, and take people of all ages on journeys of exploration- exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

This role will work hybrid between working in KQED's newly renovated headquarters and working remotely.

Essential Functions

• Manage the publishing of original KQED video content across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other relevant digital platforms
• Maintain a publishing calendar and help establish repeatable publishing workflows and standards for KQED’s growing digital video portfolio.
• Strategically package video content for each platform, including titles, thumbnails, descriptions, metadata, captions, and social copy to maximize reach, engagement, and discoverability
• Develop social copy and other audience-facing content to promote KQED video, including YouTube Community Tab posts, captions, and platform-specific promotional content.
• Design compelling, on-brand thumbnails in Canva that optimize video packaging
• Monitor content performance across platforms, identify trends and opportunities, and translate audience and engagement data into actionable recommendations for stakeholders
• Leverage YouTube Studio and other social analytic tools to create regular performance reports that break down content performance and provide data-informed insights and recommendations to production teams and stakeholders
• Manage audience engagement and community moderation across active channels by responding to comments, encouraging conversation, and elevating user insights and feedback to relevant teams
• Develop and execute strategies for testing and optimizing different approaches to titles, thumbnails, copy, publishing times, and other content variables.
• Stay current on platform features, formats, audience behaviors, and best practices, and identify platform-specific strategies for reaching wider audiences
• Collaborate with Audience, Brand, Content, and Digital Video teams to promote and distribute video content

Knowledge/Experience Required

• Minimum of three years of professional experience in social media management
• Demonstrated experience publishing, packaging, and optimizing video content across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok
• Strong understanding of how platform-specific packaging, timing, formats, tools, and audience behaviors affect performance
• Experience using social and digital analytics to evaluate performance, create reports, identify trends, and develop actionable recommendations
• Excellent writing, editing, and communication skills, with the ability to create concise, engaging copy for different platforms and audiences
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple schedules, deadlines, and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with producers, editors, and cross-functional partners
• Strong attention to detail and ability to resolve publishing, metadata, and packaging issues quickly
• Bachelor’s degree preferred

Knowledge/Experience Desired

• Experience with YouTube Studio and social media management / analytics tools
• Experience designing social assets in Canva; familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud is a plus.
• Experience with content management systems, databases, or project management tools such as Airtable
• Experience developing A/B tests or other structured approaches to content testing and optimization
• Familiarity with digital video production workflows from production through publication
• Experience creating platform-native social content, including Community Tab posts and short-form video