Social Media Manager

About SANS

Founded in 1989, SANS Institute (SANS) began as a cooperative research and education organization. Over the next 25 years, it grew to become the most trusted and widely recognized provider of information security training and certification in the world. Today, SANS has served more than 300,000 cybersecurity professionals around the world, with more than 60,000 earning Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) security certifications—the leading certification that provides assurance to employers that their people and prospective hires can do the job.

At the heart of SANS is a community of practitioners, from auditors and network administrators to CISOs, who share their lessons learned and collaborate on solutions to the challenges they face. These experts, working across corporations, government agencies, and universities, come together to support and strengthen the global information security community.

Why SANS?

At SANS, our culture is defined by three pillars: Mission, Brand, and People.

Our Mission is to hire people who understand the importance fighting against cybersecurity threats.

Our Brand reflects a commitment to delivering the highest quality training.

Our People are grounded in a culture of fairness, honesty, customer focus, and a pragmatic approach.

What You'll Achieve at SANS

We are seeking a Social Media Manager to join our Marketing - Brand & Communication team. This role plays a key part in owning the day-to-day execution of organic social content and channels, with community management, social listening, and crisis escalation at the center of the role, alongside digital copywriting, staying ahead of platform algorithm changes to protect organic reach, employee advocacy, regional and affiliated channel support, and discoverability and reporting work, all aimed at growing brand awareness, expanding qualified reach, and supporting course and certification demand. It's a chance to help shape SANS's presence with the cybersecurity community it trains, owning the day-to-day work of community engagement and channel execution.

As a Social Media Manager , you will:

Create, test, and monitor organic social media content across all current and emerging SANS channels and formats, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Reddit, and spanning short-form video (Reels, Shorts, TikTok), carousels/document posts, polls, and other formats as they emerge, to support marketing promotions, increase awareness of our courses and certifications, and grow our follower base

Apply SANS content and brand voice standards consistently across all managed channels.

Own community management across all SANS social channels, including responding to inquiries, moderating conversations, and building relationships with the community

Conduct social listening to deepen engagement and trust with our target audience and the broader security community.

Optimize and measure channel performance using social analytics and reporting, identifying what content is most effective at growing our list, driving qualified visitors to our course pages, and driving revenue attainment, and using this data to guide content decisions and demonstrate impact to stakeholders

Manage the day-to-day posting cadence on SANS social media channels.

Produce and manage employee advocacy content through Sociabble, including first-person post copy, content calendars, and faculty / employee adoption efforts.

Work closely with our B2C and B2B Campaign and Field Marketing managers to deploy and manage social media campaigns per region/sub-region

Support global and regional affiliated brand channel management in coordination with relevant business unit and geo.

Support dedicated country / regional channel launches and ongoing management, including content calendar coordination with field marketing and campaign managers.

Keeping abreast of new social media technologies, digital marketing trends and implementing these new technologies into our activities

Support content discoverability efforts (SEO / AEO / GEO) as they relate to organic social content

Working with Content, Creative Services and Product Marketing Manager teams to develop engaging social media content and analyzing content success

Perform other related duties as assigned.

What We're Looking For

Every SANS employee brings something unique. For this role, we’re looking for candidates with:

Bachelor’s degree (B.A.), with an emphasis in Marketing discipline preferred

3 - 5 years of proven experience in organic social media marketing and content development and campaign management, including experience developing strategic community engagement (social listening)

Strong understanding of native content formats across platforms (polls, document/carousel posts, Reels, Shorts) and how format choice affects reach and engagement

An aptitude for customer care, corporate communications, collaboration and community building

Ability to translate social listening insights into actionable recommendations for content, campaigns, or crisis response

Experience reporting on social media KPIs and communicating performance insights to senior stakeholders

Demonstrated success developing and executing communications strategies and messaging across various social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, YouTube, and Reddit

Unrestricted authorization to work in the USA; visa sponsorship is not available.

Preferred qualifications include:

Excellent understanding of social trends, community, reporting and organic tactics

Experience building, executing and scaling social-first marketing programs

Experience distilling social data and insights into actionable strategies that inform business goals

Strong presentation and interpersonal skills

Direct experience using social media management tools such as Sprout Social, and Buffer

Experience with Asana or similar project management tools for content calendar and task tracking

Familiarity with employee advocacy platforms, i.e., Sociabble or similar

Familiarity with AI tools to streamline content creation, scheduling, and reporting workflows

Experience using web analytics tools, in particular, Google Analytics, Tableau

Excellent verbal and written communications skills

Preference for specific experience in B2B and cybersecurity products/services

A creative problem solver that is comfortable initiating new ideas, strategies

A start-up mentality, high sense of urgency as well as an ability to interface with multiple team members to ensure goals are met/aligned

A pro-active forward-thinking team player – collaborative and cross-functional team member, able to multitask and get input from multiple other professionals

Benefits and Perks of Working at SANS

We’re committed to fair and equitable compensation. The expected salary range for this position is $80,000 - $90,000 , depending on geographic location, skills, and experience. At SANS, pay equity and transparency are priorities.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that supports your total well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:

Financial Benefits : Competitive base salary, bonus opportunities, and a 401(k) plan with company match.

Health & Wellness : Robust medical, dental, and vision plans; company-provided short term disability; optional long-term disability, supplemental life and AD&D insurance for employees and dependents; voluntary benefits including accident insurance and identity theft protection; fitness and wellness programs; and a company paid employee assistance program (EAP).

Time Off & Flexibility : Generous paid time off, including volunteer time.

Learning & Development : Access t