Campus Storytelling & Social Media Specialist

The University of Southern Maine (USM) invites applications for our new Campus Storytelling & Social Media Specialist within the Office of Marketing and Strategic Communications. There has never been a more exciting time to join USM. As a university committed to innovation, student success, and community engagement, USM is experiencing a period of significant momentum and transformation, including the recent completion of the Crewe Center for the Arts, the McGoldrick Center for Career and Student Success, and other major investments across our campuses. USM also recently launched the groundbreaking Dirigo Partnership with the Portland Hearts of Pine, as their exclusive education partner.

The Campus Storytelling & Social Media Specialist drives USM's real-time storytelling efforts across the university's primary social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and partially on LinkedIn (in partnership with the USM Foundation department). Embedded within the USM community, this role maintains a visible presence across our campuses and beyond, capturing authentic moments that showcase student success, academic excellence, campus life, and community impact. As one of the university's primary storytellers, the specialist identifies and elevates compelling stories that strengthen USM's brand and reflect our commitment to being Student Focused Every Day.

A skilled multimedia storyteller and social media strategist, the specialist creates engaging content across a variety of formats, including short-form video, photography, written stories, and digital campaigns. Working closely with colleagues across Marketing and Strategic Communications, the role helps shape and execute USM's social media strategy, leveraging audience insights, platform analytics, emerging trends, and best practices to increase engagement, expand reach, and support institutional priorities. The specialist collaborates with stakeholders throughout the university to ensure timely, relevant, and impactful storytelling that resonates with prospective students, current students, alumni, and community partners.

This position also serves as a mentor and leader for USM's student content creator team, recruiting, training, and developing students while expanding the university's capacity for authentic, peer-driven storytelling. Through relationship-building, collaboration, and hands-on content creation, the specialist fosters a culture of storytelling across the institution, empowering students, faculty, staff, and campus partners to share the experiences that make USM a vibrant and dynamic university community.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong interpersonal and networking skills with the ability to build relationships across a diverse university community and inspire students, faculty, staff, and campus partners to share their stories.
• Experience collaborating with creative, communications, and marketing teams. Able to integrate multimedia content (photo, video, written storytelling) into cohesive social media plans and coordinate effectively with communications storytellers and Senior Multimedia Producer.
• Strong visual storytelling skills and aesthetic judgment, with the ability to produce and guide content that aligns with brand standards while flexing tone appropriately across platforms (e.g., formal/academic, energetic, or playful depending on channel and objective).
• Deep fluency in social media platforms and emerging digital trends, with the ability to tailor content to platform-specific audiences while maintaining consistent institutional voice and brand identity.
• Ability and enthusiasm to recruit, train, and mentor a student team, including assigning work, providing feedback, and managing content quality and workflow.
• Highly creative thinker who actively generates ideas, contributes to brainstorming sessions, and brings innovative approaches to storytelling, audience engagement, and campaign development.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and content streams in a fast-paced, real-time communications environment.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to draft clear, engaging copy and use shared task management and content planning systems to coordinate workflows across teams and student contributors.
• Open, receptive, and growth-oriented mindset-able to incorporate feedback quickly and constructively from multiple stakeholders and apply it to improve content and campaigns.
• Ability to provide constructive and clear feedback, inspiration, and guidance to contributors across the university's broader social media ecosystem, helping to ensure brand alignment and effective storytelling even on decentralized channels.
• Ability to learn-on-the go and be self-taught, take initiative, and work autonomously while working in a strong team environment.
• Self-directed and proactive learner who can independently develop new skills, experiment with tools and platforms, and take initiative while remaining highly collaborative within a team environment.
• You enjoy the world of academia and campus culture. You are passionate about working with students and being an active member of a university community and campus - we are Student Focused Every Day and are committed to upholding our values of Respect & Care, Integrity, Equity, and Responsiveness.

Pay and Benefits

This in person position offers an annual salary of $56,000, along with a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off (13 holidays, vacation, and sick leave), health, dental, and vision insurance, life and disability coverage, tuition benefits for employees and eligible dependents, and a 403(b) retirement plan with 10% employer contribution. See the Benefits Information Summary for details.

Work Schedule and Location

Primarily based on the Portland campus, with regular travel to the Gorham campus. Additionally, occasional travel to the Lewiston cultural and community hub and external sites. Other in-state travel will be required. This is a full-time, 40 hour-per-week position. This position requires flexibility to support university events, programs, and storytelling opportunities that occur during evenings and occasional weekends. The employee will be expected to modify their schedule as needed, in discussion with their supervisor, to avoid working additional hours - for example, coming in later on a day with an evening event, or adjusting hours on another day to offset the extra time worked. Potential to work from home 1 day per week after probation period.

The University of Southern Maine is a vibrant academic community located in the greater Portland, Maine area, including campuses in Portland, Gorham, Lewiston, and online. USM is part of the University of Maine System and offers a comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs, emphasizing hands-on learning, community engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration. With a highly engaged student-centered learning environment, USM is a steward of higher education, helping drive the economic, cultural, and civic life in the communities where our campuses are located and beyond. USM is committed to providing expanded access to high-quality education that elevates economic opportunity and contributes significantly to the vitality of a diverse society. To learn more about USM, visit About Our University.

The University of Southern Maine fosters a welcoming and supportive campus environment that respects and appreciates varied perspectives, enhancing teaching, learning, personal growth, and overall institutional achievement. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds who share our dedication to academic excellence and the enrichment of our community.

We are dedicated to our Service Promise, Student Focused Every Day and seek a team member who embraces this commitment and upholds our core values of Respect & Care, Integrity, Equity, and Responsiveness.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in media production, marketing, or communications or equivalent combination of education and experience (portfolio required).
• Proven experience in managing social media accounts across a variety of channels as well as multimedia production experience (specific to social media).
• Native user of key social media channels - Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok.
• Experience in creating social media content for a brand and building content strategy for events and/or campaigns, to map out moments with content needs, and presenting for stakeholder buy-in.
• Confident shooting and editing high quality content using a phone. Note that DSLRs will also be available for use, but this position will often be posting in real-time so they should be confident shooting content with a phone and editing using in-phone tools.

To apply, click on the 'Apply Now' button below or visit our USM Careers Page and submit the following:

• Cover letter
• Resume/Curriculum Vitae
• Portfolio of past work samples
• Finalist candidates will be asked to provide a list of names and contact information for three references.

For full consideration please submit all required materials by July 23, 2026.

We are not able to consider applicants who require Visa sponsorship support.

Appropriate background screening will be conducted for the successful candidate.

The University of Maine System (the System) is an equal opportunity institution committed to fostering a nondiscriminatory environment and complying with all applicable nondiscrimination laws. Consistent with State and Federal law, the System does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship status, familial status, ancestry, age, disability (physical or mental), genetic information, pregnancy, or veteran or military status in any aspect of its education, programs and activities, and employment. The System provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. If you believe you have experienced discrimination or harassment, you are encouraged to contact the System Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Services at 5713 Chadbourne Hall, Room 412, Orono, ME 04469-5713, by calling 207.581.1226, or via TTY at 711 (Maine Relay System). For more information about Title IX or to file a complaint, please contact the UMS Title IX Coordinator.

Clery Act:

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, mandates that all Title IV institutions, such as the University, prepare, publish, and distribute an Annual Security Report (ASR), and provide notice of the availability of the ASR to all prospective employees. This report consists of two basic parts: disclosure of the University's crime statistics for the past three calendar years; and disclosures regarding the University's current campus security policies. View the University's Annual Security Report (PDF). If you wish to have a paper copy of the ASR or need to have a copy of the ASR in an accessible format, the University will provide such a copy upon request. Please contact our Public Safety Office at 207.780.5211.