Social Media Manager

We're looking for a Social Media and Campaign Strategist to own the social media and campaign strategy and can deliver out-of-the-box ideas for Hike Messenger and Hike Cinema. You'll set the campaign direction, content strategies, build and lead a small team of creators/freelancers, own the calendar end-to-end, and be the person who decides what ships, what doesn't, and why. This is a senior, largely independent role for someone who's spent 5-8 years running social for real brands, someone who can set strategy as comfortably as they can shoot and edit a reel themselves.

Responsibilities:

• Own the social media strategy and monthly content calendar for Hike Messenger and Hike Cinema across Instagram, X, YouTube Shorts/Reels, and emerging platforms.
• Set the creative direction and quality bar for short-form video and static content, and personally shoot/edit hero content when needed, from feature explainers and app updates to movie-culture and trending-format content.
• Build, brief, and lead a small team of creators, freelancers, and editors, set the standard for output, review work, and keep quality and turnaround consistent.
• Own publishing, community management, and escalation end-to-end, and set the playbook others on the team follow for tone, response time, and crisis handling.
• Spot platform trends, memes, and formats early and turn them into fast, on-brand posts for both apps, while knowing when to sit a trend out.
• You will be looking and tapping on social media moments/trends, and handling community management as well.
• Own reporting - define the metrics that matter, track performance across both brands, and turn insight into a clear point of view on what to do next.
• Lead influencer and creator partnerships end-to-end: identification, negotiation support, briefing, and measuring ROI.
• Manage a working budget for boosts, creator collaborations, and tools; make the case for where extra investment would pay off.
• Track competitor and category moves across messaging and entertainment/streaming brands and use them to sharpen Hike's own positioning.

Requirements:

• 5-8 years of experience managing social media for a consumer app, D2C brand, media/entertainment brand, or agency handling similar accounts, including time spent owning strategy, not just execution.
• A track record of building a brand's social presence from the ground up or taking it to a clearly higher level, with measurable growth in reach, engagement, or community you can speak to in detail.
• Proven experience managing freelancers, creators, or a small team, with the judgment to brief well and give useful feedback.
• A strong personal sense of what makes content work on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and X; you can spot a trend before it peaks and know when to say no to one.
• Comfortable with video editing and design tools; working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite is a plus.
• Excellent written communication and a distinct, adaptable voice; you can write for a messaging app and a movie/entertainment app without them sounding the same.
• Strong command of social analytics and scheduling tools (Meta Business Suite, native platform insights, Sprout/Hootsuite, etc. ), and can translate data into a recommendation, not just a report.
• A genuine interest in pop culture, movies, and internet culture; Hike Cinema content leans heavily on this.
• Comfortable operating independently with minimal oversight, owning a calendar and a point of view across two brands at once.

Good to Have:

• Experience working on creative and viral digital campaigns.
• Prior experience delivering creative ideas at product-based companies.
• Experience mentoring junior social media hires or interns.
• A portfolio or account you can point to where your content strategy visibly moved the needle.