Social Media Manager - 12 Month FTC

Location

Hybrid: 1-2 days at our Support Centre in Coleshill, Birmingham.

12 Month FTC - Maternity Cover

Why The Works?

We don’t just sell products.

We inspire reading, learning, creativity and play.

The Works. It literally means everything. And whatever your story or background, we’re all about unlocking imagination and making creativity accessible to everyone. Whether you’re engaging with customers on the frontline or supporting our colleagues behind the scenes, your impact can be profound and far-reaching.

This is more than toys and books and art supplies. This is about inspiring people to read, learn, create and play. So, with the right passion, it all starts with you.

Become a Social Media Manager

As a commercially minded, insight-driven Social Media & Affiliates Manager, you will shape how our brand shows up in the world - building meaningful connections, sparking conversations, and driving the fame our brand deserves. You’ll take the lead across our organic, paid and influencer channels, while accelerating growth through a high-performing affiliates programme that blends creativity with commercial impact.

In this role, you’ll bring our brand to life across every platform, growing engaged communities and delivering content and campaigns that not only inspire but also move the needle on performance. You’ll translate audience insight into action, champion bold ideas that elevate our storytelling, and deliver measurable results that support both brand visibility and trading priorities.

You’ll collaborate closely with our Brand Campaign, Creative, Digital Marketing and Buying teams, and nurture strong relationships with agencies, creators and influencers. Leading a talented team, you’ll create the momentum, energy and innovation that helps take our brand from well-loved, to truly unmissable.

Your Mission

Organic Social Strategy & Execution

• Evolve and deliver our organic social strategy with a clear focus on building brand fame, driving customer engagement and accelerating community growth.
• Develop weekly and monthly content plans shaped by audience insights, product launches, cultural moments and priority campaigns.
• Oversee day-to-day management of all social channels, particularly Instagram, TikTok and Facebook - ensuring consistent growth across reach, engagement and channel KPIs.
• Partner with the Brand Campaign team to bring our brand evolution to life through creative storytelling and innovative formats.
• Ensure all organic social activity is aligned with our brand campaigns, trading priorities and the wider marketing calendar.
• Collaborate with retail colleagues to shape local social media initiatives that bring our stores closer to their communities.

Paid Social Strategy & Performance

• Build and execute paid social strategies across Meta, TikTok and Pinterest, balancing brand fame with commercial performance.
• Lead campaign planning, audience targeting, creative briefing (with both UGC creators and the internal design studio) and budget allocation.
• Identify top-performing organic content and scale it through paid boosting strategies.
• Optimise campaigns continuously to improve ROAS, CPA, media efficiency and brand metrics including reach, awareness and engagement.
• Lead A/B testing across creative, copy, placements and audience segments to drive growth and improve efficiency.
• Monitor and report on performance using Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads Manager and GA4.
• Stay ahead of platform updates, algorithm shifts and emerging best practices, while managing relationships with platform representatives.
• Troubleshoot feed and technical issues, working collaboratively with development teams to drive digital performance forward.
• Provide insights and recommendations that influence broader channel strategy and support campaign execution across the full marketing mix.

Affiliates & Influencers

• Support the development of a high-impact influencer and brand ambassador strategy to increase reach and attract new audiences.
• Own and optimise the affiliates programme, driving traffic, conversions and new customer acquisition through best-in-class partnerships and quarterly activity plans.
• Ensure the commercial effectiveness of the programme by monitoring commission structures, validating transactions and improving key performance metrics such as clicks, ROI and CVR.
• Partner closely with the Affiliate agency team to grow the channel and unlock new opportunities.
• Integrate affiliates, influencers and creators into key brand and trading moments throughout the year.

Content Creation & Creative Collaboration

• Collaborate with the Creative Studio and external agencies to develop high-performing, social-first content.
• Oversee paid social content production, ensuring UGC creators deliver best-in-class, performance-driven assets that drive consideration and conversion.
• Ensure all creative is insight-led, platform-relevant and aligned with brand direction.

Insights, Reporting & Competitor Analysis

• Lead analytics, reporting and KPI setting across organic social, paid social, influencers and affiliates.
• Deliver actionable insights and performance updates to key stakeholders across the business.
• Conduct ongoing competitor and market analysis to spot opportunities and inform future strategy.
• Proactively identify emerging social trends and work collaboratively across teams to activate timely and culturally relevant content.

Skills/Behaviours That Will Set You Apart

Essential Experience

• 3+ years’ experience in Paid Social, Organic Social and/or Affiliate Marketing, with hands-on execution, performance optimisation and budget ownership.
• Proven success managing paid social campaigns across multiple platforms, ideally including Meta, TikTok and Pinterest.
• Strong understanding of audience segmentation, targeting strategies and full-funnel campaign planning.
• Confident using Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads Manager, Pinterest Ads Manager and their associated Business Suites.
• Experience working with affiliate platforms and managing relationships with agency Account Management teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and grow organic social channels through content strategy, community building and engagement initiatives.
• Experience managing influencers, creators or affiliate programmes, with an understanding of how each drives reach, consideration and conversion.
• Working knowledge of pixel implementation, server-side tracking and attribution models.
• Experience building yearly budgets, forecasting performance and managing spend against targets.

Technical & Analytical Strengths

• Strong analytical mindset, with experience using GA4, Looker or similar tools to evaluate performance and identify opportunities.
• Ability to translate data into clear insights and actionable recommendations for both brand and performance channels.
• Experience with conversion APIs, offline events or server-side tracking is beneficial.
• Comfortable developing and testing creative variations to understand what drives engagement and conversion across platforms.

Behavioural Strengths

• A creative storyteller who understands what resonates with audiences and how to express a brand in compelling, social-first ways.
• Highly collaborative, working seamlessly with brand, creative, digital, buying and retail teams to deliver integrated activity.
• Passionate about social culture, platform innovation and emerging trends, with a natural instinct to spot opportunities early.
• A clear, confident communicator with strong organisational and project-management skills.
• A motivating and positive leader who inspires trust, encourages experimentation and brings out the best in others.

Being a great leader

As a great leader with wonderful people skills, you'll create an environment that's more than just co-workers — it's a team.

• Align Goals with Values: Ensure that your team’s goals are clearly connected to the company’s values and purpose. This helps colleagues see the bigger picture and understand how their work contributes to the overall mission.
• Clear Communication: Ensure that your team understands the goals, expectations, and their roles. Regularly share updates, encourage open dialogue and have regular check-ins.
• Role Model: Lead by example. Demonstrate the behaviours and attitudes you expect from your team, such as punctuality, responsibility, and being a brand ambassador.
• Provide Feedback: Offer constructive feedback regularly. Recognise achievements and address areas for improvement in a supportive and continuous growth manner.
• Empower Your Team: Delegate tasks and trust your team to handle them. This builds confidence and promotes professional growth.
• Conflict Resolution: Address conflicts promptly and fairly. Foster an environment where issues can be discussed openly and resolved amicably.

• Empathy: Understand and consider the feelings and perspectives of your team members. This helps in building strong, supportive relationships

And let's not forget about the most important part… your team's well-being and aspirations. You'll be their biggest supporter, cheering them on. You'll have amazing everyday conversations with your team, discussing everything from their performance to their wildest career aspirations.

Our PERKS really are ‘The Works’

• 💪 25% Colleague Discount! - Plus, exclusive Double Discount days!
• 😎 MyWorks - Access exclusive online discounts across hundreds of retailers, holidays, utilities deals, tech and more
• 🏡 Family Friendly Leave - Enjoy some time well spent with enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay.
• 🚀 Holiday – 33 days including bank holidays.
• 💃 Holiday Purchase - Purchase an additional 5 days
• 🎓 Can-Do Academy - Grow your skills and career with instant access to further training and development in areas that interest you.
• 💸 Stream - Claim early access to 50% of your wages as you earn them – for when ‘life’ happens!
• 🏬 Share Scheme - Unleash your inner Monopoly mogul and own a piece of The Works!
• 💛 24/7 support for you and your family - Through our partnership with the Retail Trust who provide an Employee Assistance Programme and so much more!
• 🩺 Healthcare Cash Plan – To support your everyday healthcare costs
• 🥳 And loads more! – Long Service Awards, pension, life assurance, Cycle to Work and optional charity giving.

Our Purpose

To inspire reading, learning, creativity and play 💛💙

Our Values

We are Crafty 🎨 | Smart with what we've got.

We are Caring 💛 | Heart in every action.

We are Can-do 🚀| Energy that gets it done.

We Listen. We Care

Each year, we run an anonymous colleague engagement survey. This is so important for us to hear your feedback and suggestions. We want to know what’s going great, and what needs a couple of tweaks to help make The Works the best place you’ve ever worked! You’ll have opportunity to help give us that direction.

Promoting Diversity, Inclusion, and Applying Reasonable Adjustments

At The Works, we are proud to have an inclusive culture where everyone truly feels able to be themselves. Our roles are open to all, including under-represented groups such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, carers & members of the LGBTQ+ community (including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, non-binary, or use another term).

We are open to discussions around working hours and flexible working. And, where possible, we'll try to support this. If you need reasonable adjustments for an interview you might attend with us, let us know in your application and we’ll be happy to help!