Head of Social

About the Role

Audience Growth Strategy

Own and drive audience growth goals across YouTube, podcasting, and social media platforms — with clear KPIs for follower growth, reach, views, and engagement.
Develop and execute platform-specific growth strategies that capitalize on algorithmic opportunities, cultural moments, and creator trends.
Identify whitespace opportunities in the sports media landscape and build plans to exploit them before the competition does.
Monitor audience analytics and platform signals to continuously refine strategy and stay ahead of shifts in social consumption behavior.
Lead a creator strategy, identifying the talent we work with, and the ideal models for partnership that works for the talent and The Athletic.

Creative Innovation & Social Voice

Champion a distinct, ownable off-platform voice for The Athletic — one that is authoritative, entertaining, and recognizable across platforms.
Push creative boundaries to develop content formats that set us apart from legacy sports media and digital-native competitors.
Partner with the Head Of Video to develop social video content strategies designed to scale audiences while reinforcing The Athletic brand.
Partner with the Head Of Series and Specials to develop strategies to grow audiences on YouTube and podcasting channels.
Stay obsessively current on platform trends, creator strategies, and cultural conversations to inform content ideation.

Creator & Platform Partnerships

Build and grow The Athletic's creator ecosystem — identifying, developing, and managing relationships with external creators.
Develop programming strategies that create pathways to The Athletic's owned platforms.

P&L & Business Ownership

Own the P&L associated with The Athletic's social handles and creator channels — managing budgets, revenue opportunities, and ROI across platforms.
Work with marketing, editorial, and product to develop social-to-platform conversion strategies that drive subscriber acquisition and retention.
Report regularly to senior leadership on performance, strategy, and resource needs with clear accountability for growth targets.

Team Leadership

Lead, mentor, and develop a team of two Growth Leads, with potential to expand into Social Media Managers as the function scales.
Build a high-performance team culture grounded in creative ambition, analytical rigor, and a bias toward experimentation.
Define clear roles, workflows, and success metrics across the team to drive accountability and output quality.

Requirements

• 7–12 years of experience in digital media.
• Proven track record of scaling social media audiences and YouTube channels at significant scale — ideally within sports, entertainment, or news media.
• Deep platform fluency across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter), and podcast platforms, with a strong understanding of how algorithms, formats, and monetization work on each.
• Experience managing or overseeing creator relationships and talent-driven social content.
• Comfort owning a P&L and making budget decisions in a growth context.
• Strong analytical skills — you use data to make decisions but also know when instinct and creative judgment matter more.
• Exceptional communicator who can align stakeholders, inspire a team, and present clearly to leadership.
• A genuine passion for sports, sports media, and the creator economy.