Social Media Specialist; Communications Specialist III

King County Metro, the largest transit agency in the northwestern U.S., seeks to hire a Social Media Specialist. The ideal candidate will have deep experience in social media marketing and communications, including running paid advertising campaigns. This position will guide the agency’s numerous social media accounts with more than 170K followers.

Serving a county with a population larger than 15 U.S. states, Metro provides bus, paratransit, vanpool, water taxi, and on-demand services, and operates the Seattle Streetcar, Sound Transit Link light rail and Sound Transit Express bus service. The agency’s national honors include Best Large Transit Agency in North America (American Public Transportation Association, three times–most recently in 2018) and Most Equitable Agency in Tackling Climate Change (Federal Transit Administration, 2022).

Position Info: This recruitment will be used to fill one (1) Term-Limited Temporary (TLT) or Special Duty Assignment (SDA) position in the Communications Specialist III Classification vacancy. This position is expected to last through December 31, 2027, with the possibility of extension. Additionally, the selection process may be used to generate an eligibility pool for future Career Service, TLT, and SDA positions that may occur within this classification within this workgroup.

The eligibility pool will be retained for 12 months from the date of posting and may be used at the discretion of the hiring authority. Applying our ACTIVATE values: being Accountable, Collaborative, Timely, and Impactful; how we Value Employees; staying Accessible; building what’s Trusted; and acting Equitably, is a daily responsibility and a foundational expectation for all King County employees.

As a Communication Specialist III you will:

• Own the storytelling process: finding stories, capturing content in the field and producing engaging social content.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on social strategy.
• Plan and manage organic and paid social campaigns.
• Monitor performance metrics and adjust strategy to optimize results.
• Engage with followers, respond to messages/comments and grow engagement.
• Coordinate social media calendar.

We are looking for candidates who have:

• Three or more years managing social media for a brand, company, or public agency.
• Experience with crisis management within rapidly changing social media engagement
• Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills.
• Design and video skills for content creation (which might include Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, Capcut, etc.).
• Clear, engaging, and adaptable writing skills.
• Familiarity with social media tools (which might include Sprout Social, Hootsuite, Meltwater, Buffer, etc.).
• Ability to analyze metrics and translate into strategy.
• Knowledge of current social trends, platforms and best practices.

Preferred qualifications. (Please apply even if you do not have these.)

• Experience using Sprout Social.
• Experience using Asana.
• Proficient in a language in addition to English.

Required Application Materials

• A completed Job Application (go back at least 10years if you have l0 years of employment (more to include all relevant). Resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed job application.
• Resume
• Complete the supplemental questions
• 3-5 samples of social media content that you created. Include a description of the project. Please submit work as Word or PDF document.

Selection Process

Applications that do not include all of the required materials listed above will not be considered. Only the materials explicitly requested will be reviewed—additional documents or information will not be evaluated. Application materials will be screened for completeness and competitiveness. The most competitive candidates may be invited to participate in one…