Social Media Manager

Publicis Groupe Holdings B.V; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 350,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Publicis Groupe Africa is seeking a Social Media Manager to lead day-to-day social delivery for assigned brands, translating business priorities into engaging content, community activity and measurable performance. You will connect strategy, creative development, publishing and reporting while guiding junior teammates.

Collaborate with Creative, Strategy and Client Leadership to adapt campaigns to platform behavior, supervise workflow, and ensure AI augmentation is used with human oversight and

Qualifications

• Degree in marketing or communications with relevant social-platform certifications.
• Minimum four years of agency social-media management experience.
• Experience with listening and analytics tools such as Brandwatch, Sprinklr, Sprout Social or Meltwater.
• Practical AI experience in social planning with human oversight.

Responsibilities

• Define social strategy and craft platform-specific ideas that support campaigns.
• Develop content calendars and coordinate reviews and approvals.
• Oversee community management and monitor sentiment, escalating issues as needed.
• Analyze campaign results and report insights to clients and partner with Media on learnings.
• Use approved AI for listening, content exploration and reporting with human editorial control.

Skills

Social media management

Digital marketing

Analytics & insights

Education

Marketing/Communications degree

Tools

Brandwatch

Sprinklr

Sprout Social

Meltwater

Job description

Company description

Publicis Groupe Africa is a leading marketing, communications, and business transformation network operating across 36 African countries, combining creativity, technology, and local insight to deliver integrated client solutions.

Publicis Groupe Africa is part of Publicis Groupe, the second-largest communications group globally, founded in 1926. The African network operates as a partnership of 44 communications agencies with offices spanning 36 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, and many others.

Its headquarters are in Johannesburg and Cape Town, providing a central hub for continental operations.

Overview

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Social Strategy | Content Planning | Community | Performance

THE OPPORTUNITY

Telecommunications is one of the most dynamic categories in the market, sitting at the intersection of technology, culture, connectivity, customer experience and everyday life. This role offers the opportunity to work with a leading telecommunications client and help shape the next generation of its agency partnership.

We are building a connected, future-fit model that brings together creativity, intelligence, data, technology, AI and world-class execution around the customer. It is an opportunity to influence the work and the capabilities we build, creating a partnership designed for today’s challenges and what comes next.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Social Media Manager owns day-to-day social delivery for assigned brands, translating business and brand priorities into relevant content, community activity and measurable channel performance. The role connects social strategy, creative development, publishing and reporting.

Working with Creative, Strategy, Media and Client Leadership, the manager develops local insight, adapts campaigns to platform behaviour and guides community management. The role combines hands‑on delivery with team oversight where direct reports are assigned, and uses AI with clear human editorial control.

SOCIAL STRATEGY AND CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Interrogate client needs, audience behaviour and brand priorities to define social opportunities and channel roles.
• Use listening, research and cultural insight to develop social strategies, concepts and locally relevant adaptations of global campaigns.
• Collaborate with Creative and Media on platform-appropriate ideas that support the wider campaign and paid social approach.

CONTENT PLANNING AND PUBLISHING

• Build content calendars aligned to objectives, budgets and delivery capacity; brief creative assets and coordinate reviews and approvals.
• Schedule and publish approved content, checking copy, links, formats, account selection and timing before release.
• Maintain platform and brand standards, monitor live activity and coordinate timely optimisation or corrections with the relevant teams.

COMMUNITY AND REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

• Implement community‑management plans and approved response guidance, escalating sensitive issues to the designated client and agency leads.
• Monitor conversations and sentiment, identify recurring customer questions and share actionable feedback with the account team.
• Guide direct reports where assigned and coordinate coverage for agreed out-of-hours, weekend or public-holiday activity.

PERFORMANCE AND CLIENT COLLABORATION

• Analyse campaign and channel results against agreed objectives, explaining what changed, why it matters and what should happen next.
• Present clear reports and recommendations to clients and partner with Media on paid and organic performance learning.
• Share platform developments and useful practices across the team, and use evidence to improve creative and community activity.

AI CAPABILITY AND FUTURE WAYS OF WORKING

• Use approved AI for listening synthesis, content exploration, draft adaptations and reporting; verify source data and language, and retain human approval for publishing and sensitive community responses.
• Demonstrate effective prompting, iteration and critical evaluation. Use only approved tools and data, protect client information and intellectual property, and retain human accountability for final work.
• Share practical learning, recognise tool limitations and measure improvements in quality, speed or effectiveness; elevate uncertain or inappropriate outputs.

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

• Consistent, relevant social content delivered accurately and on schedule.
• Effective community handling and timely escalation of reputational concerns.
• Actionable reporting and improvement against agreed channel and campaign outcomes.
• AI use that improves insight or efficiency while preserving brand voice and community trust.

CRITICAL CAPABILITIES

• Social strategy, platform craft and community judgement.
• Research interpretation, performance analysis and client presentation.
• AI‑assisted social workflows, prompting and editorial quality control.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Relevant marketing or communications diploma or degree, including relevant social-platform certifications.
• At least four years of agency social‑media management experience.
• Experience with listening, research and analytics tools such as Brandwatch, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, Meltwater or comparable platforms.
• Practical AI experience in social planning, analysis or content workflows, with examples of validation and human oversight.

Additional information

Publicis Groupe Africa is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits any forms of Discrimination or Harassment. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees in line with our Employment Equity Plan.

All appointments will be based on qualifications, experience and best fit but preference will be given to candidates from designated groups.

PUBLICIS VALUES

Trust through respect, transparency and accountability. Talent through collaboration, development and high standards. Transformation through curiosity, continuous learning and improvements that create value for clients.