Manager, Social & Brand Reputation Strategy

Manager, Social and Brand Reputation Strategy At Penn Foster Group, our purpose is to open doors to brighter futures by helping learners gain the skills they need to grow their careers. Our Manager, Social & Brand Reputation Strategy will lead the strategy, execution, and evolution of our social media and brand reputation efforts across Penn Foster Group’s portfolio of brands. Reporting to the Sr. Director of Communications, this role will be responsible for expanding our reach to new audiences, strengthening our brand presence across both owned and emerging platforms, and ensuring we are actively shaping how our brand is represented in the broader digital conversation, especially with LLMs and social search. This role will oversee the social media function, lead a team, and integrate these functions into a cohesive strategy that spans owned channels, social platforms, and third-party environments such as Reddit and social search. The ideal candidate brings a balance of strategic leadership, hands-on execution, and a deep understanding of how content, community, and emerging technologies (including LLMs) influence brand perception and growth. Key Responsibilities Social Strategy & Growth: Lead the development and execution of a comprehensive social media strategy across all Penn Foster Group brands, with a focus on expanding reach beyond existing audiences, increasing engagement, and driving measurable growth across priority platforms. LLM & Social Search Strategy: Develop and implement strategies to increase Penn Foster Group’s visibility and sentiment within LLMs and social search environments (like TikTok). Partner cross-functionally to ensure content is optimized for discoverability and accuracy across emerging platforms. Brand Reputation Management: Own and evolve Penn Foster Group’s approach to brand reputation across social and digital environments, including proactive and reactive engagement in third-party spaces (e.g., Reddit, forums, and social search). Ensure alignment between owned content, community engagement, and broader brand perception. Content & Creative Leadership: Guide the development of engaging, high-performing content strategies on social media beyond graduation-focused storytelling, with a strong emphasis on short-form video and platform-native content. Partner closely with Brand, Content, and Creative teams to ensure consistency, quality, and innovation.  Creator Strategy & Management: Scale the creator and influencer strategy, working with our PR agency to find and nurture creators to extend reach, improve performance, and connect with new audiences. Optimize creator partnerships for efficiency and impact. Team Leadership & Development: Manage and develop a team responsible for social media execution and community engagement. Provide clear direction, coaching, and performance management while fostering a culture of creativity, accountability, and continuous improvement. Multi-Brand Strategy: Develop and execute distinct, effective social strategies for non-core brands, ensuring appropriate resource allocation while driving growth and visibility across the full portfolio. Insights & Stakeholder Alignment: Establish a robust approach to performance tracking, social listening, and insight generation. Regularly share actionable insights with Marketing, PR, Partnerships, and senior leadership to inform strategy, improve alignment, and strengthen brand positioning. Execution & Optimization: Maintain a hands-on role in execution, testing, and optimization of content and campaigns. Continuously evaluate performance data to refine strategies, improve efficiency, and scale what works. Skills and Qualifications You Will Need   7+ years of progressive experience in social media, digital marketing, or brand strategy, with experience leading teams.  Proven track record of developing and scaling social media strategies that drive audience growth, engagement, and brand visibility.  Experience managing and developing high-performing teams, with the ability to balance strategic leadership and hands-on execution.  Strong understanding of social listening, brand reputation management, and community engagement best practices.  Experience with creator/influencer strategy and partnership management.  Familiarity with emerging trends in LLMs, social search, and digital discoverability, and the ability to translate these into actionable strategies.  Strong analytical skills, with experience using data to inform decisions and communicate performance to stakeholders.  Excellent cross-functional collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and partners.  Experience managing multiple brands or business lines is preferred.  High level of attention to detail, adaptability, and problem-solving skills.  Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving digital landscape with a test-and-learn mindset.  Location Virtual, with ability to travel regularly as needed. Teams are primarily remote, with hubs in Chandler, AZ; Boston, MA; and Scranton, PA. Working Conditions & Hiring Process U.S. Work Location Requirement: All employees must reside in and perform work within the United States. We do not support international remote work arrangements for this role. Travel Expectations: While this is a remote position, occasional travel may be required for team meetings, company events, conferences, summits, and similar activities. Candidates must be willing and able to travel as needed. On-Camera Work Environment: We operate in a highly collaborative, remote, on-camera culture. Employees are expected to be on camera during meetings unless extenuating circumstances apply. Recorded Video Interviews: All video interviews conducted during the hiring process will be recorded to support internal hiring consistency and process improvement. Background Checks: Employment with Penn Foster Group is contingent upon successfully completing applicable pre-employment screening requirements, which may include verification of employment history, education, and criminal background, where permitted by law. Identity Verification (Form I-9): As part of our onboarding process, all hires must complete employment eligibility verification in compliance with federal law. This includes remote Form I-9 verification, which may require an in-person identity verification step with an authorized representative. About Us At Penn Foster Group, we are transforming online learning to help learners by uniting Penn Foster, CareerStep, Ashworth College, James Madison High School, the New York Institute of Photography, the New York Institute of Art and Design, and other education platforms. Together, we create an accelerated path to greater economic mobility through real-world skills and knowledge that enable learners to achieve long-term success in the workplaces of the future. Our history dates back to 1890, when our founder, Thomas Foster, pioneered distance education by offering training by mail for coal miners to develop the skills necessary for safer jobs. Today, with the partners who use our education and training programs, we continue that mission by providing accessible training and education for in-demand skills and building a workforce prepared for the future job market. Equal Employment Opportunity At Penn Foster Group we are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We are committed to creating a work environment that embraces and celebrates diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other status protected under federal, state, or local law What We Offer We offer a competitive base salary and incentive compensation, plus a robust benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, flexible spending, generous paid time off, sponsored volunteer opportunities, a 401K with a company match, plus free access to all our online programs.