What are the responsibilities and job description for the Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative position at Vanderbilt University?
Job Description
The Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative Content plays a leading role on Vanderbilt University’s Athletics Communications team, part of the larger Communications and Marketing division. This position drives social media and digital storytelling for one of Vanderbilt’s flagship varsity programs, crafting compelling, high-impact content that elevates the team’s visibility and connects with audiences in authentic and meaningful ways. Working in close partnership with coaches, communications colleagues, and university stakeholders, this role blends creative vision with strategic insight to advance Vanderbilt’s Athletics brand across platforms.
With a deep understanding of digital media trends, platform-specific strategy, and analytics, the Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative Content leads the planning, creation, and performance analysis of team-focused content. This work is central to raising the program’s profile, showcasing team culture, and elevating the visibility of individual student-athletes—supporting both recruiting and NIL opportunities. The role is also instrumental in engaging fans, students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and the broader Nashville community. Through bold, consistent storytelling, the Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative Content brings the energy of the program to life while highlighting Vanderbilt’s unique value proposition: a rare combination of elite academics, competitive excellence, strong values, and a deep sense of purpose. Innovation, adaptability, and collaboration are essential, as is the ability to balance day-to-day execution with long-term brand- building.
While reporting lines may evolve during ongoing departmental reorganization, the position will be a member of the Athletics Communications content and creative team and will initially report to the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Athletic Communications. The role requires in-person presence on the Vanderbilt campus, frequent evening and weekend work, and travel to both home and away games, as well as special events throughout the year.
Vanderbilt’s Communications and Marketing team is a fast-paced, highly collaborative group that serves as the central hub for strategic messaging and storytelling across the university. The division partners with leaders and departments across campus to design integrated campaigns and innovative communications solutions that advance Vanderbilt’s academic mission, research goals, and community impact. The Athletics Communications unit plays a vital role in this work—amplifying the university’s story through the lens of sport, student-athlete achievement, and team success.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Lead and execute the assigned team’s digital content and social media strategy, ensuring a consistent, compelling voice and visual identity across platforms.
- Produce high-quality, engaging content—including video, photography, graphics, and copy—for real-time coverage and planned campaigns.
- Develop storytelling that highlights team culture, showcases student-athletes, and supports the program’s recruiting and NIL visibility.
- Collaborate with marketing, creative, video, and design teams to align content with university brand standards and broader fan engagement, sponsorship, and advertising efforts.
- Monitor performance across social platforms using the latest analytics tools; use data to optimize content strategy and report on impact.
- Proactively track social media trends, platform updates, and audience behavior to inform creative direction and innovation.
- Provide timely issue monitoring and risk assessment on social channels, exercisingsound judgment and discretion.
- Coordinate 24/7/365 monitoring and response plans as needed, especially around high-visibility moments or events.
- Work closely with coaches to plan content needs and develop strong relationships with theteam, attending practices whenever possible to capture content.
- Communicate effectively across a wide range of audiences—including student-athletes, staff, fans, and external partners—bringing both creativity and professionalism to everyinteraction.
- Manage complex, fast-moving projects with tight turnarounds and multiple stakeholders.
- Adhere to confidentiality and business ethics, demonstrating outstanding judgment and discretion.
- Travel regularly with the team throughout the competitive season, including conferenceand postseason play.
- Contribute to content and social media efforts for other sports as needed.
- Provide overall support as needed and assigned for department priorities, and perform other relevant duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or a related field is necessary.
- A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in social media management,digital storytelling, or content creation is necessary.
- Strong skills in videography and photography are necessary.
- Demonstrated ability to develop platform-specific content strategies informed by analytics and audience engagement data is necessary.
- Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite(particularly Photoshop, Premiere, and After Effects) is strongly preferred.
- Graphic design experience is preferred.
- Familiarity with Sony equipment is preferred.
- Prior experience in collegiate or professional athletics is preferred.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills are necessary.
- Strong project management abilities and proven capacity to meet deadlines in afast-paced environment are strongly preferred.
- A collaborative spirit and flexibility to adapt to changing needs and priorities is necessary.
- Passion for innovation and creativity in digital media is necessary.
The Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative Content plays a leading role on Vanderbilt University’s Athletics Communications team, part of the larger Communications and Marketing division. This position drives social media and digital storytelling for one of Vanderbilt’s flagship varsity programs, crafting compelling, high-impact content that elevates the team’s visibility and connects with audiences in authentic and meaningful ways. Working in close partnership with coaches, communications colleagues, and university stakeholders, this role blends creative vision with strategic insight to advance Vanderbilt’s Athletics brand across platforms.
With a deep understanding of digital media trends, platform-specific strategy, and analytics, the Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative Content leads the planning, creation, and performance analysis of team-focused content. This work is central to raising the program’s profile, showcasing team culture, and elevating the visibility of individual student-athletes—supporting both recruiting and NIL opportunities. The role is also instrumental in engaging fans, students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and the broader Nashville community. Through bold, consistent storytelling, the Associate Director, Athletics Social Media and Creative Content brings the energy of the program to life while highlighting Vanderbilt’s unique value proposition: a rare combination of elite academics, competitive excellence, strong values, and a deep sense of purpose. Innovation, adaptability, and collaboration are essential, as is the ability to balance day-to-day execution with long-term brand- building.
While reporting lines may evolve during ongoing departmental reorganization, the position will be a member of the Athletics Communications content and creative team and will initially report to the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Athletic Communications. The role requires in-person presence on the Vanderbilt campus, frequent evening and weekend work, and travel to both home and away games, as well as special events throughout the year.
Vanderbilt’s Communications and Marketing team is a fast-paced, highly collaborative group that serves as the central hub for strategic messaging and storytelling across the university. The division partners with leaders and departments across campus to design integrated campaigns and innovative communications solutions that advance Vanderbilt’s academic mission, research goals, and community impact. The Athletics Communications unit plays a vital role in this work—amplifying the university’s story through the lens of sport, student-athlete achievement, and team success.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Lead and execute the assigned team’s digital content and social media strategy, ensuring a consistent, compelling voice and visual identity across platforms.
- Produce high-quality, engaging content—including video, photography, graphics, and copy—for real-time coverage and planned campaigns.
- Develop storytelling that highlights team culture, showcases student-athletes, and supports the program’s recruiting and NIL visibility.
- Collaborate with marketing, creative, video, and design teams to align content with university brand standards and broader fan engagement, sponsorship, and advertising efforts.
- Monitor performance across social platforms using the latest analytics tools; use data to optimize content strategy and report on impact.
- Proactively track social media trends, platform updates, and audience behavior to inform creative direction and innovation.
- Provide timely issue monitoring and risk assessment on social channels, exercisingsound judgment and discretion.
- Coordinate 24/7/365 monitoring and response plans as needed, especially around high-visibility moments or events.
- Work closely with coaches to plan content needs and develop strong relationships with theteam, attending practices whenever possible to capture content.
- Communicate effectively across a wide range of audiences—including student-athletes, staff, fans, and external partners—bringing both creativity and professionalism to everyinteraction.
- Manage complex, fast-moving projects with tight turnarounds and multiple stakeholders.
- Adhere to confidentiality and business ethics, demonstrating outstanding judgment and discretion.
- Travel regularly with the team throughout the competitive season, including conferenceand postseason play.
- Contribute to content and social media efforts for other sports as needed.
- Provide overall support as needed and assigned for department priorities, and perform other relevant duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or a related field is necessary.
- A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in social media management,digital storytelling, or content creation is necessary.
- Strong skills in videography and photography are necessary.
- Demonstrated ability to develop platform-specific content strategies informed by analytics and audience engagement data is necessary.
- Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite(particularly Photoshop, Premiere, and After Effects) is strongly preferred.
- Graphic design experience is preferred.
- Familiarity with Sony equipment is preferred.
- Prior experience in collegiate or professional athletics is preferred.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills are necessary.
- Strong project management abilities and proven capacity to meet deadlines in afast-paced environment are strongly preferred.
- A collaborative spirit and flexibility to adapt to changing needs and priorities is necessary.
- Passion for innovation and creativity in digital media is necessary.