Social Media Associate Director

Contract: Fixed term maternity cover, expected to run until approximately August 2027
Start date: October 2026
Location: Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Working pattern: Full time or four days per week
Salary: Up to £70,000 full time or £56,000 for four days per week
Hybrid working: Three days per week in the Marlow office, with some flexibility for the right person

The opportunity

An established integrated marketing agency is looking for an experienced and strategically minded Social Media Associate Director to join its senior leadership team on a fixed term maternity cover contract.

Working closely with the Head of Social, you will help shape the strategic, creative, commercial and operational direction of the social offering across a varied portfolio of consumer clients.

You will act as a trusted senior partner to clients, provide leadership and mentorship to the social team and play an important role in developing the agency's wider social proposition.

Key responsibilities

* Take senior responsibility for the strategic direction, commercial performance, client relationships and quality of work across a portfolio of social media accounts

* Build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, ensuring social media activity supports their wider brand, marketing and commercial objectives

* Oversee social strategy across key accounts, championing insight led, audience focused and platform specific thinking

* Guide the development of engaging content, community experiences and campaigns that build loyalty, generate conversation, drive traffic and deliver measurable results

* Collaborate with teams across Strategy, Creative, Paid Media, PR, Studio, Client Services and Experiential to deliver integrated campaigns

* Work alongside the Head of Social to improve processes, standards and ways of working across the department

* Identify opportunities to grow existing client relationships through new ideas, services and projects

* Manage, mentor and develop Account Directors and other members of the social team

* Support departmental forecasting, budgeting, resourcing, profitability and account growth

* Play a senior role in new business pitches, proposals, workshops and strategy presentations

* Keep the agency and its clients ahead of emerging platforms, technologies, creator behaviours and cultural trends

About you

You will already be operating at a senior level within social media, digital, content or an integrated marketing environment, with strong experience leading both clients and teams.

The ideal candidate will have:

* Approximately 10 years of relevant experience across social media, digital, content or integrated marketing

* Strong agency experience or experience gained within another fast paced marketing environment

* Experience within retail, destinations or consumer brands would be particularly valuable

* Deep knowledge of organic and paid social media, community management and content performance, particularly across Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn

* The strategic ability to connect social media activity with wider brand, marketing and commercial objectives

* Excellent creative judgement and a strong understanding of what makes content engaging, distinctive and effective

* Experience building influential relationships with senior client stakeholders

* Strong commercial acumen, including experience managing budgets, scopes, forecasting, resourcing and profitability

* A proven track record of growing client accounts and identifying new commercial opportunities

* Experience managing, mentoring and developing both senior and junior team members

* Confidence leading pitches, workshops, strategy sessions and senior client conversations

* A collaborative approach and a strong understanding of how social media works alongside PR, creative, experiential, paid media and the wider marketing mix

* The ability to balance strategic thinking with a practical, hands on approach when required

Above all, you will be able to step into an established senior role, build relationships quickly and provide continuity, confidence and leadership throughout the maternity cover period.

The culture

The agency is guided by four key values:

Brave: Prepared to challenge conventions, ask questions and introduce original thinking

Human: Leads with empathy, kindness and clarity while building positive relationships

Passionate: Brings energy and genuine enthusiasm to clients, colleagues and the work

Impactful: Focuses on outcomes and continually looks for ways to strengthen the work, team and agency

Important information

This role is being recruited specifically to provide maternity cover and is therefore a fixed term position. The anticipated end date is approximately August 2027, although this may change depending on the return date of the substantive employee and wider business requirements.

There is no guarantee or expectation of continued employment beyond the maternity cover period.

We Are Aspire Ltd are a Disability Confident Committed employer