Director, Content & Social Media

The Director, Content & Social Media, is a creative‑strategist hybrid who shapes how Build‑A‑Bear shows up in culture through social‑first storytelling. This role requires deep cultural fluency, the ability to build recognizable, repeatable content formats that multi‑generational audiences love, and hands‑on experience planning, creating, publishing, and optimizing content across today’s most relevant platforms.

The Director, Content & Social Media, is passionate about advocating for social as a brand and business driver, but is also comfortable jumping into the work, shaping creative in real time, making bold calls, and guiding ideas from concept to execution.

• Own and evolve our content and social strategy across Tik Tok, Instagram, You Tube, Facebook, and emerging platforms, ensuring everything we create feels native, timely, and culturally relevant.
• Lead hands‑on creative concepting for social‑first storytelling, from episodic formats and creator collaborations to reactive moments and platform experiments.
• Set a clear creative bar for what “great” looks like on each platform, balancing brand consistency with the flexibility social demands.
• Champion brave, culturally relevant ideas.
• Stay fluent in platform mechanics, algorithms, formats, and trends, and translate that knowledge into actionable creative direction for the team.
• Build content that is designed for how people consume social: fast, emotional, participatory, and shareable.
• Oversee and evolve our social listening and community management strategies.
• Partner closely with our performance, media, and PR teams to ensure organic, paid, and earned social work together as one connected ecosystem.
• Use performance, engagement, and earned signals to iterate, refine, and scale ideas that resonate both culturally and commercially.
• Confidently advocate for social‑first ideas in cross‑functional settings.
• Lead and grow a high‑performing team of social strategists, creators, and community managers.
• Foster a team culture that values creative courage while providing clear creative direction, actionable feedback, and strong mentorship.
• Manage agency partners as extensions of the team.
• Define success metrics across platforms.
• Translate performance data into clear insights and strategic rationales for senior leadership.
• Continuously test, learn, and evolve how Build‑A‑Bear shows up in social spaces.

• 10+ years of experience in social, content, or digital storytelling, with a strong emphasis on consumer‑facing, culturally relevant brands.
• A clear track record of hands‑on social media leadership, including content planning, creation, publishing, and optimization.
• Demonstrated success growing followers, engagement, reach, and/or conversions through strong creative and platform fluency.
• Experience working with creators and influencers.
• Ability to think holistically about content ecosystems while still sweating the creative details.
• Comfort using analytics, social listening, and insights to guide decisions and improve performance.
• A genuine curiosity about internet culture, creators, fandoms, and emerging platforms.

• Background in toys, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, or youth culture.
• Experience scaling social for a brand in a period of growth or transformation.

• Driven to achieve results that align with the strategic goals of the organization
• Initiative, sense of urgency, and the ability to stay focused on results despite changing conditions
• Decision‑making is focused on implementing practical and timely solutions
• A natural leadership style that trains and engages others in an enthusiastic way
• Learns quickly and thoroughly while continually recognizing and adapting to change
• Innovative and creative problem solver
• Action‑oriented
• Influences and stimulates others to action
• Typical office environment with climate control and sufficient lighting, ergonomic desk/chairs
• Corporate office located in St. Louis, MO

Your performance will be measured by your ability to achieve annual department objectives and corporate goals which include but are not limited to the following:

• Decision‑making, judgment, and execution
• A bold, distinctive social presence that feels unmistakably Build‑A‑Bear, and undeniably of the moment
• Consistent growth in engagement, reach, and community relevance
• A confident, creatively energized team that’s pushing the brand forward every day

Equal Opportunity Employer
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