Senior Social Media Specialist (12-Month Contract)

Company Description

About O&B
Oliver & Bonacini is recognized as one of Canada’s leading hospitality companies, operating a collection of unique and innovative restaurants, event venues, and catering businesses across Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. O&B credits its success to a strong corporate culture, where excellence in food, service, and experience is at the core of everything we do.

The Team
The Marketing & Communications team at O&B is a collaborative group of creative and strategic thinkers across digital marketing, public relations, social media, graphic design, photography, and guest engagement. Together, we bring campaigns to life across a diverse portfolio of restaurants and experiences, always looking for new ways to stand out in a competitive hospitality landscape.

What we offer:

• Paid vacation, sick, and personal day.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits, including enhanced mental health coverage
• Discounted gym membership 
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program for confidential support
• Group life and disability insurance
• 50% dining discount at all O&B restaurants for you and up to three guests
• Employee Referral Program
• Professional Development Fund
• Join one of Canada’s leading hospitality companies, where a wide range of exciting internal career opportunities await!

Job Description

Reporting to the Digital Marketing Manager, the Senior Social Media Specialist will work closely with the marketing team to execute and evolve O&B’s social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn. This highly hands-on role combines mobile-first content creation, day-to-day account and community management, execution of paid social campaigns, and influencer relations across a diverse portfolio of restaurant and hospitality brands.

The ideal candidate is a creative, highly organized social media marketer with a strong understanding of platform trends, digital storytelling and brand voice. They are comfortable independently moving from concept to execution and thoughtfully using AI and emerging technologies to work more efficiently, strengthen creative output and improve performance without compromising originality, accuracy or brand integrity.

This position is based in our midtown Toronto office and requires regular on-site presence at restaurant venues.

This is a full-time, 12-month contract position supporting the marketing team during a parental leave.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Account & Community Management

• Take ownership of content calendars, scheduling, publishing and day-to-day account management across an assigned portfolio of restaurant brands.
• Actively monitor comments, direct messages, tags and mentions, responding in a timely, thoughtful and brand-appropriate manner.
• Monitor brand sentiment and social conversations, escalating guest concerns appropriately and identifying opportunities for engagement.
• Coordinate with restaurant teams to gather timely information, identify content opportunities, and ensure social channels accurately reflect current programming and priorities.
• Plan and execute paid social campaigns in support of restaurant promotions, events and broader marketing priorities. 
• Track performance and translate results into clear recommendations that improve content, engagement, reach and audience growth.

Content Creation

• Plan, capture, edit and publish engaging, mobile-first content, with a particular focus on Instagram Reels, Stories and short-form video. 
• Develop shot lists and mood boards, and coordinate production schedules in collaboration with the restaurant operations team and marketing team.
• Collaborate with O&B’s Lead Photographer and Videographer during photoshoots while independently capturing supplementary social-first content. 
• Conduct regular content days at O&B restaurants, independently capturing food, beverage, people, atmosphere and behind-the-scenes moments. 
• Write compelling, brand-appropriate social copy, adapting tone and messaging across O&B’s diverse portfolio of brands. 
• Use tools such as Canva and CapCut to produce polished, on-brand assets efficiently. 
• Thoughtfully use AI-powered and emerging tools to support content ideation, copy development, workflow efficiency and performance analysis, while applying strong editorial judgment and maintaining O&B’s distinct brand voices. 
• Proactively identify timely trends, cultural moments and restaurant stories that can be translated into relevant content.
• Maintain organized content libraries and ensure a consistent pipeline of usable assets across assigned brands.

Influencer Relations

• Identify and cultivate relationships with relevant food, lifestyle, hospitality and local creators.
• Lead proactive influencer outreach and manage hosted visits, campaign activations and paid partnerships from invitation through follow-up.
• Develop thoughtful briefing materials that clearly communicate campaign objectives, key messages and content expectations.
• Monitor influencer coverage and track campaign performance.

Cross-functional Support

• Collaborate with marketing, creative and operations teams to support campaigns and business priorities.
• Attend occasional evening or weekend activations and content shoots as required.
• Follow onsite shoot and content-capture best practices, including coordinating with restaurant teams, maintaining an organized set and minimizing disruption to service.
• Contribute ideas and social-first thinking to broader marketing campaigns.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of professional experience in social media, content creation or a related role, ideally within hospitality, food, lifestyle or a multi-brand environment.
• A portfolio demonstrating content personally conceived, captured, edited and written for social media, including short-form video.
• Strong photography and mobile video-capture skills, with proficiency in tools such as Canva and CapCut.
• Excellent copywriting and editing skills, with the ability to adapt voice and tone across multiple distinct brands.
• Demonstrated experience managing social media accounts and engaging with online communities on behalf of a brand.
• Experience with Meta platforms and paid social advertising 
• Experience with content schedulers such as Sprout Social
• Experience coordinating influencer relationships, hosted visits or creator campaigns.
• Strong knowledge of social media platforms, trends, performance metrics and publishing tools.
• Comfort using AI-powered tools to enhance day-to-day workflows, paired with sound judgment around accuracy, originality and brand integrity.
• Strong collaboration and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively with restaurant operations, cross-functional teams and external partners.
• Resourceful, proactive and solutions-oriented, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities in a fast-paced environment. 
• Available to attend occasional evening and weekend shoots, events and activations.

Please include a link to your portfolio or examples of relevant social media, photo, video, and/or written content with your application. Applications without a portfolio or content samples will not be considered.

Additional Information

This is a full-time, 12-month contract position supporting the marketing team during a parental leave.

AI Disclosure
To ensure a fair and efficient recruitment process, some aspects of candidate screening may be conducted using AI software. All assessments and outcomes are reviewed by our hiring team to provide thoughtful, personalized consideration. We are committed to transparency and respect, ensuring a welcoming experience for every candidate.

Accessibility & Accommodation
Oliver & Bonacini is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. If you require accommodation or support during any stage of the hiring process, please let us know. We will work with you to ensure your needs are met in a respectful and timely manner.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

We value and embrace diversity in all forms and encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply. Our recruitment practices are designed to ensure fairness, equity, and opportunity for every candidate.