Social Media Strategist (Project-Based)

About BuzzFeed, Inc.

BuzzFeed, Inc. (Ticker: BZFD) is home to the best of the internet. Across food, news, pop culture, and commerce, our brands drive conversation and inspire what audiences watch, read, buy, and obsess over next. Born on the internet in 2006, BuzzFeed, Inc. is committed to improving it: providing trusted, quality, brand-safe news and entertainment to hundreds of millions of people; making content on the internet more inclusive, empathetic, and creative; and inspiring our audience to live better lives. We'll continue to recruit the best founders and creators to join us in this mission, with more additions like HuffPost to come.

Business Area: Content
Job Category: Publishing

Hourly: $25.00- $28.00 an hour USD

Union Status: Non-Union 

BuzzFeed Inc. is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We reserve the ability to adjust the final compensation for this role based on the final candidate's experience, skillset, certifications, and geography.

The Role

BuzzFeed is looking for a full-time, freelance Social Media Strategist to help shape how our content is distributed across social platforms, drive engagement, and experiment with new storytelling formats. This person will not just post links—they will repackage BuzzFeed’s best content in smart, creative ways that resonate with online audiences. The ideal candidate has a deep understanding of internet culture, platform trends, and digital storytelling across Facebook, Instagram, and emerging platforms like Threads and TikTok. This is a three-month contract with an option to extend. The ideal candidate would be located in New York City and able to commute to our New York City office twice a week at minimum.

The role is strategic and hands-on, requiring someone who can write killer social copy, edit short-form video lightly, and design engaging visual posts (memes, carousels, graphics, etc.) using tools like Canva or Photoshop.

You Will

• Plan, package, and publish content across multiple BuzzFeed social media platforms, with a focus on engagement and brand storytelling.
• Repackage content for social-first formats, including memes, carousels, text-based images, and short-form videos (e.g., Instagram Reels or TikTok snippets).
• Write attention-grabbing captions and headlines that maximize engagement while maintaining BuzzFeed’s signature voice.
• Identify viral trends and cultural moments that BuzzFeed should tap into and help shape how we participate in them.
• Monitor and engage with the BuzzFeed audience in comments and discussions to increase visibility and interaction.
• Analyze and optimize post performance, tracking both engagement metrics (shares, saves, comments) and referral traffic.

You Have

• Experience managing brand social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, etc.).
• A strong understanding of internet culture, memes, trends, and what makes people click/share.
• Copywriting skills that adapt to different tones and formats, from snappy tweets to engaging Instagram captions.
• Light design and video editing skills (Canva, Photoshop, CapCut, Premiere, or similar tools).
• An experimental mindset—you love A/B testing different formats, headlines, and packaging styles.
• Proven ability to work fast and independently while staying creative and strategic.
• A sense of humor — you have unhinged taste in memes

Bonus Points For:

• Experience running A/B tests for social engagement.
• Past experience in entertainment, lifestyle, or pop culture media.
• Experience using AI in your workflow.

To Apply:

• What’s the last post on social media that made you laugh out loud, and why? 
• What’s a recent viral trend that BuzzFeed should have jumped on?

Life at BuzzFeed, Inc.

We celebrate inclusion and are committed to equal-opportunity employment. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category.

You can expect:

• A supportive, inclusive atmosphere on a team that values your contributions
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth through work experience, offerings from our in-house Learning @ BuzzFeed team, our Employee Resource Groups, and more