Social Media Strategy Consultant (TikTok/Instagram)

We're looking for a social media strategist with experience in news/media to join us for an initial two-month engagement covering a maternity leave. You'd be joining our fast-growing Services division — the arm of Underknown that advises media companies on social and audience strategy — with the potential for additional work beyond the initial engagement. You would step mid-stream into an established engagement with a publisher client whose social presence is moving from portfolio-level strategy into a focused, test-and-learn phase across specific channel groupings, and carry it through its next phase. This is a strategic advisory role, not a production one: working with the client's social and growth team, you design the tests, review the data, and make the recommendations that validate content and format bets against real performance data, in support of subscriber growth and revenue goals. The client's team applies and executes. The role requires a deep understanding of Instagram and TikTok as platforms — Reels, Stories and feed distribution logic, TikTok's discovery mechanics, and format-specific benchmarks. You must balance rigour and judgment: structuring experiments with defined hypotheses and success metrics, then translating results into clear go/no-go recommendations. Day-to-day, you will act as the strategic hub for the engagement: owning the channel strategy documents, running weekly performance reviews across 3 Instagram and 3 TikTok accounts, and presenting and defending recommendations in weekly client meetings alongside the Underknown lead. NOTE: This is a fixed-term contractor engagement covering a maternity leave: September to October 2026, approximately 64 hours total (~7–8 hours per week). It is remote, with weekly client meetings, weekly internal Underknown syncs, and daily availability on Slack for questions or urgent flags. Application Deadline: August 23, 2026 ESSENTIAL CRITERIA Social Strategist: You have 4+ years in social media strategy and growth, ideally including at least one publisher or media brand, not purely D2C or e-commerce social. You've covered an engagement mid-stream before and know how to ramp fast on someone else's context. Experiment Designer: You have a track record of running structured content experiments on Instagram and TikTok, defined hypotheses, controlled variables, and success metrics, not just posting and seeing what works. Platform Native: You have a strong grasp of platform-specific performance mechanics: IG Reels, Stories and feed distribution logic, TikTok's discovery and FYP mechanics, and the benchmarks that separate a working format from a dead one. Funnel Thinker: You've used social as a top-of-funnel for paid subscriptions or conversions, not just reach. You understand what a subscriber-oriented social strategy measures that a reach-oriented one doesn't. Client-Ready Communicator: You're comfortable writing client-ready strategic documents, TAM assessments, competitive analyses, KPI frameworks, and comfortable presenting and defending a point of view in client meetings under pushback. Strongly preferred: Prior experience in the media and publishing landscape, especially news, finance, or lifestyle content verticals Experience with paid social amplification tied to organic testing (retargeting, content boosting) Experience in subscription-media or membership-driven publishers WHAT YOU’LL DO Own the channel/cluster strategy document(s) for the selected content grouping(s): strategic role of the channels, audience analysis, competitive landscape, TAM assessment, format recommendations, publishing and distribution guidance, revenue/subscription opportunities, and KPIs Design the test-and-learn framework: define the hypotheses to validate, structure specific experiments (format, cadence, publishing approach), and set clear performance benchmarks Support the client team's execution of test cycles in an advisory and oversight capacity Monitor and analyze test data, translating results into clear go/no-go recommendations Run weekly performance reviews and optimization recommendations across the 3 Instagram and 3 TikTok accounts Present findings, defend recommendations, and manage expectations in weekly client meetings, supporting the Underknown lead Attend weekly internal Underknown syncs to stay aligned with the broader account Flag paid social opportunities where organic testing surfaces content worth amplifying WHAT SUCCESS LOOK LIKE A validated, data-backed content and format strategy for at least one channel cluster by end of October A clean handoff: a clear data trail on what was tested and why, plus a next-phase roadmap Underknown can pick up The client relationship maintained — no regression in trust or perceived value during the coverage window