Job Title: Director of Social Media
Department: Communications
Location: Washington, DC; Oakland, CA; or remote
Supervises: Up to 6 employees
Context: At the Sierra Club, we believe in the power of interdependence. Together, we remain committed to the fight for a healthy climate built on a foundation of environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice – a future where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet and a direct connection to nature. As the climate crisis and deeply entrenched systemic racism all fuel injustice, we will continue to fight for a bold, transformational agenda that recognizes the interconnectedness between our planet, our humanity, and our future. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we continue to name that all things are fundamentally connected, and the overlap between ecology, race, gender, and representative government will move to either advance our collective humanity or to oppress it. Sierra Club has close to 700 staff across the country and a network of 64 local chapters that are led and fueled by thousands of volunteers. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with three labor unions representing more than half of our employees.
Scope: The Director of Social Media is a strategic, creative leader who shapes how Sierra Club shows up on social media. They do this by leveraging data and audience segmentation and combining an understanding of the latest social trends and creative content to tell a cohesive public narrative, generate concrete campaign wins, and foster meaningful engagement. This position requires a proven track-record of managing people, projects, and platforms to achieve successful outcomes around list growth and retention, campaigning and organizing, culture change, fundraising, and brand objectives.
This person must be comfortable working in a fast-paced, multi-tasking environment and managing a small team within a much larger group of stakeholders. The Director of Social Media will advocate for the strategies and build and manage the systems, processes, and standards that enable effective social media collaboration across the organization. They will serve as a strategic partner and educator to a variety of internal stakeholders, helping our colleagues understand how to work effectively with the Social Media team and support them in translating their expertise and priorities into compelling content for our social media audiences.
To be successful, the Director of Social Media will be on the leading edge of understanding social media trends, platforms, technologies, and marketing techniques; with a track record of using metrics to adapt these strategies and improve results. The ideal candidate will have an understanding of climate and environmental issues, tracking movement in narratives and cultural trends that can help the movement do the vital work of protecting people and planet while advancing solutions.
Job activities include but are not limited to:
Social Media Identity Development: Leads on the creative development and delivery of Sierra Club’s social media identity – including voice, visual style, creative content, and innovative platform strategies – in close partnerships with key cross-departmental stakeholders. They will also coach and advise regarding social strategy for key organizational leaders and stakeholders.
Creative and Reflexive Content Strategy: Stays nimble and on top of latest industry trends, breakthrough creative campaigns, pop culture, and current events – taking advantage of moments and trends in real-time. Balances multiple issues and shifting priorities to unify and strategically use our organizational voice(s) to respond to the world in real time. Diversifies content and leverages different social media platforms to develop visual and story-based content and market the organization, including its campaigns. Drives content strategies that foster meaningful engagement and a sense of community for both existing and expansion audiences.
Developing and Advancing the Team: Develops a team of strategists, creatives, and content developers, managing individuals to contribute at their highest level. Fosters a team culture of innovation, collaboration and accountability alongside concrete near-term and long-term strategic planning. Works to create professional development and project management opportunities for staff.
Programming: Sets and achieves programmatic goals through the integration of marketing functions, fundraising, storytelling, list growth, crisis response, influencer engagement and organizing tactics. Supports the development of data-informed strategies, tracking and reporting insights from audience segments, content and platform engagement, with monthly and quarterly social media reporting.
Process and Governance: Develops, adapts, and supports a governance structure for our social program; including social media processes for internal and external Sierra Club audiences and key stakeholders. Establishes and enforces content intake, scheduling and review processes. Trains internal staff, chapters, and volunteers on social media best practices and brand standards. Manages contracts and projects with external vendors.
This position directly relates to the 24-hour news cycle which will sometimes require weeknight and weekend hours.
A successful candidate must have the following skills and experiences:
A Do-er and a Director. You have experience doing top-to-bottom of what is required of a Social Media team; and have a demonstrated track record of both directing a team to successful outcomes, and rolling up your sleeves to do the work alongside of your team as needed.
Creative. Your social media and change-making strategies have been driven through innovative and story-based content. You’ve worked with organizations to develop their tone and identity to successfully carve out their niche in the world. And you have the technical skill and creative tool proficiencies to bring these stories to life.
Building a Program. You have the ability to build a social media program from top-to-bottom: A proven history of developing the processes and infrastructure needed to establish and grow a program; experience with developing and executing qualitative and quantitative data-informed strategies; success navigating competing priorities with internal and external stakeholders; and managing a team through the creation and execution of effective story-based content.
Leadership. You’ve had significant management experience with a demonstrated ability to effectively communicate, coach, and support teams in working effectively together. You’ve navigated complex organizational structures to facilitate collaborative partnerships between stakeholders to keep workflow consistent and shared goals attainable. You are familiar with creating governance structures for social programming and strategies for training and educating content creators on best practices and brand standards.
Social Technology. You have deep expertise with social media platforms e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Substack; with a history of adapting technology, tactics, metrics, and innovation in line with social trends. In addition, you have robust knowledge of social media scheduling, monitoring, analytics and reporting software.
Equity. You model effective equity analysis and practice and demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of how group dynamics impact supervisory relationships, organizational culture, partnerships, campaigns and coalition work. Your decision-making is consistent, intentional, and committed to creating equitable outcomes at all levels. You have led high-performing and leaderful teams across group identities. You intervene when challenging group dynamics play out, in ways that build understanding, trust, and deeper self-awareness of team members.
The strongest candidates will also demonstrate the following experience, skills and competencies:
Knows Our Work. You have experience in the environmental movement or social justice advocacy space: Campaigning, creating public demand for a policy, training volunteers, holding the decision makers accountable, and/or taking delivery on campaign goals. You are in tune with the communities we work with; able to leverage cultural trends to generate enthusiasm, growth, and real power; and be able to convey this information through various digital media platforms.
Influencer Partnerships. Influencer cultivation and partnership have been a core part of your past social media strategy and programmatic development. You come to this work with existing influencer partnerships, are in tune with the communities we work with, and will be able to leverage these collaborations and cultural trends to generate enthusiasm, growth, and real power.
Top-Notch Organization Skills. There’s a lot to keep track of in this role, and things cannot fall through the cracks. Managing multiple priorities, timeliness, and attention to detail is key, as is knowing when to ask for support.
To Apply
The Sierra Club provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all staff members. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, lived experience and skills. The Sierra Club does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, immigration status, socioeconomic status, ancestry, age, size, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, familial status, veteran status, disability, AIDS/HIV status, medical condition, prior conviction, arrest history, traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The Sierra Club values applicants who are people that identify as Black, Indigenous, and other minoritized groups; women; queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender fluid people.
Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.
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