Athletics Social Media Manager

Full-time

Southern Virginia University’s Office of Marketing is seeking a talented, energetic, and motivated Athletics Social Media Manager to lead and grow the university’s athletics social media presence. This position will develop platform-specific strategies, create and distribute engaging content, and provide timely coverage of Southern Virginia’s athletic programs, teams, student-athletes, and events. The ideal candidate understands sports culture, thrives in a fast-paced environment, and is comfortable working both behind and in front of the camera. This position requires regular evening and weekend availability to provide on-site coverage of athletic competitions and events.

Responsibilities
  • Manage the official social media accounts of Southern Virginia Athletics across all major platforms
  • Develop and execute a cohesive social media strategy that strengthens the Southern Virginia Athletics brand and supports the university’s broader marketing goals
  • Provide on-site social media coverage of home games, competitions, media days, special events, and other athletics-related activities
  • Create and publish timely content, including game-day graphics, photos, short-form videos, interviews, behind-the-scenes features, score updates, highlights, and promotional campaigns
  • Serve as an on-camera host or personality for selected videos, interviews, recurring content series, and other social media initiatives
  • Identify compelling stories involving Southern Virginia’s teams, coaches, and student-athletes
  • Collaborate with coaches, athletics administrators, student-athletes, and creative team members to plan and produce engaging content
  • Lead, mentor, and coordinate interns and student workers, providing clear direction, constructive feedback, and support in meeting content and coverage goals.
  • Maintain a consistent and appropriate brand voice across Southern Virginia Athletics social media platforms
  • Monitor comments, messages, tags, and community conversations while encouraging positive interaction with fans, students, alumni, and prospective student-athletes
  • Track analytics and performance data through in-app and third-party tools; use those insights to refine content and improve key performance indicators such as reach, engagement, followers, views, and shares
  • Stay current on emerging social media trends, platform updates, sports-content formats, and audience behaviors
  • Maintain an organized content calendar that accounts for team schedules, major competitions, institutional priorities, and seasonal campaigns
  • Perform other athletics marketing and social media duties as assigned
Minimum Qualifications
  • Demonstrated experience using major social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, and YouTube
  • Working knowledge of social media best practices, platform-specific content strategies, and evolving digital trends
  • Ability to create timely, engaging content in a fast-paced live-event environment
  • Availability to work evenings and weekends to cover home games, competitions, and other athletic events
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple teams, schedules, and content priorities
  • Willingness and confidence to appear on camera and serve as a recognizable personality across Southern Virginia Athletics social media accounts
  • Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with coaches, student-athletes, athletics staff, and members of the Marketing and Creative team
Preferred Qualifications
  • Previous experience managing social media accounts for an athletic department, sports organization, team, or consumer-facing brand
  • Experience producing live or real-time social media coverage of games and events
  • Previous experience managing others, especially interns and student workers
  • Basic photography, videography, and mobile content-production skills
  • Basic proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, or similar creative tools
  • Familiarity with social media scheduling, analytics, and account-management platforms
  • Knowledge of collegiate athletics, sports storytelling, and fan-engagement strategies

Applications

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and three professional references to Human Resources at hr@svu.edu. Application reviews will begin immediately.

About Southern Virginia University

Southern Virginia University is a private, faith-based institution of higher education aligned with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a university, we gather faithful Latter-day Saints and those who share our values, lift intellectually, socially, and spiritually, and launch into successful lives and careers. Applicants are invited to learn more about the university at svu.edu/mission.