Senior Social Media Manager (Toronto)

Senior Manager, Social Media

Social is a critical growth lever for Upwork. This Senior Manager, Social Media role represents a step-change opportunity to define Upwork’s social vision, elevate how the brand participates in culture, and drive measurable discovery and engagement with new audiences. The role blends bold creative judgment with strong operational leadership, balancing social‑first storytelling with performance accountability.

This is a people‑manager role overseeing a team of social media managers, contractors, and agency partners. You will own social strategy end‑to‑end, from annual planning through day‑to‑day execution, with accountability for brand impact, audience growth, and downstream business outcomes. The position requires close involvement in shaping narratives and creative quality while enabling the team to operate with clarity, confidence, and sustainable pace.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve Upwork’s social media strategy, translating brand positioning and business priorities into clear annual and quarterly plans with defined success metrics.
• Define how social drives discovery, relevance, and credibility with non‑followers by setting a robust point of view on platforms, formats, and cultural moments that matter most.
• Lead, coach and develop an established team of social media managers and hybrid contributors, raising the bar on strategic thinking, creative standards, and operating rigor.
• Establish clear goals, performance expectations, and development plans, using consistent feedback loops to support growth and accountability.
• Build a test-and‑learn culture where experimentation across content, formats, messaging, and distribution is expected, documented, and shared to improve outcomes over time.
• Ensure social content is creatively strong, culturally relevant, platform‑native, and performance‑minded, with clear measurement tied to reach, engagement, and downstream impact.
• Partner closely with Brand, Content, Communications, SEO, Influencer Marketing, and Paid Media teams to amplify social programs and maximize cross‑channel impact.

What it takes to catch our eye

• 8+ years leading organic social at scale (brand or agency), owning always‑on strategy and execution for at least one primary channel, with a proven ability to drive discovery, engagement, and cultural relevance through social‑first work.
• Strong creative and editorial judgment with a performance mindset, translating insights, trends, and data into platform‑native storytelling through testing, experimentation, and continuous optimization.
• Deep understanding of social platforms and formats, with particular strength on LinkedIn and YouTube, and experience speaking to both B2B and B2C audiences, including small business owners, independent professionals, or creators.
• Proven senior‑level ownership and execution, able to drive work end‑to‑end with sound judgment, minimal oversight, and a balance of strategic thinking and hands‑on delivery.
• Exceptional written communication skills, moving fluidly between social copy, strategic narratives, and clear, executive‑ready documentation.
• People‑leadership experience, including setting goals, coaching performance, developing managers, and building trust within established teams.
• Experience managing budgets and external partners (agencies, creators, vendors) with clear briefs, feedback, accountability, and thoughtful stewardship.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and using modern tools, including AI‑powered tools for planning, drafting, analysis, and optimization, paired with strong judgment, curiosity, and a team‑oriented learning mindset.

Benefits and Conditions

Upwork is establishing an operational hub in Toronto, Canada. The new office is expected to be fully operational by Q42026; the role will require 3days in office once the hub opens. This position will initially be employed through a partner to facilitate hiring while the hub is built. Once the hub is established, there may be opportunities to transition to direct employment with Upwork, depending on business needs and other requirements. The partner will offer competitive benefits. When Upwork’s hub is established, employment and benefits will be offered directly as business needs require.

Upwork is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.