Social Media Specialist II

ESPN is seeking a Social Media Specialist II to discover, develop, and distribute content across ESPN social media platforms. An ideal candidate must have a passion and knowledge of professional sports and have extensive experience writing social copy, working in a fast-paced environment, finding, sourcing and aggregating engaging moments from linear television. The Social Media Specialist II will also be responsible for supporting the team during the live window shift to cover a variety of sports across social media platforms.

Sports happen on nights, weekends, and holidays and the candidate will have to be comfortable with potentially working all three. This role requires the person to be based in our Los Angeles office, with majority of the work taking place during live window coverage (2-10pm PST).

Departmental Summary:

Working in social media at ESPN is unlike anything else. Each day you’ll be challenged to blend creativity, sports knowledge, and journalistic instincts to produce industry-leading content seen by millions of sports fans. Collaboration, innovation, effort, and fun are at the core of this team and every day is game day. 

Responsibilities:

• Creates content (visual, video, text) that is optimized for social platforms, specifically Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and X.
• Edits and approves social posts across the Social Team for journalistic accuracy, audience relevance, and tone, including real-time decision-making at various stages of content development.
• Possess leadership and teamwork skills to assist with real-time decisions during breaking news and hard news stories.
• Analyzes metrics performance of social content and incorporates insights into future content decisions.
• Leads brainstorms and ideation sessions on various topics important to the team.
• Follows ESPN Social standards of practice including an adherence to news and reporting guidelines.
• Needs to be comfortable with quick-turn content in the busy live window.
• Generates new ideas for building account engagement and growth.
• Supports colleagues to make social content and copy compelling and platform-appropriate.
• Regularly uses social data to inform content decisions.
• The potential to eventually manage one employee.

Qualifications:

• A minimum of 2 years of experience working in a fast-paced social media environment with content creation responsibilities or relevant experience.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience using video editing software (e.g. Final Cut, Adobe Premiere).
• A minimum of 2 years of experience using photo editing software (e.g. Photoshop, InDesign).
• Skilled in social media comprehension and execution across multiple social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and X.
• Possess excellent news judgement and verbal/written communication skills.
• Strong understanding of journalistic standards.
• Ability to work quickly and juggle multiple tasks during a typical workday.
• Ability to analyze and apply data to decision-making.
• Appreciation and understanding of popular culture that contributes to an understanding of the tastes of ESPN’s social media followers. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated news judgement 
• Experience using video editing software (e.g. Final Cut, Premiere)
• Experience using photo editing software (e.g. Photoshop, InDesign)

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Journalism, Communications, Media or related field

Additional Information:

• This position will be based in Los Angeles, CA (hybrid work is a possibility with a mix of in-office work and remote work)
• This position will primarily work during the live window, that usually consists of a shift between the times of 2-10pm PT

#ESPNMedia

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA is $63,386 - $85,030 per year based on a 40-hour work week. The amount of hours scheduled per week may vary based on business needs. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.