Social Media Specialist - Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria at HSRC

CeSTII wishes to appoint a Social Media Specialist: R&D and Innovation Surveys to provide social media services to the Centre as part of its communication, visibility, dissemination and advocacy (CVDA) strategy, in particular supporting the Centre in its multi-modal campaigns to recognise “20 Years of Measuring South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators”, and the release of results from four key surveys in the first quarter of 2024. Reporting to the CVDA strategy lead, and working in collaboration with the Centre’s Executive Head, Project Leaders and Researchers, and CVDA team, the freelancer will deliver work of the highest quality, on time, and within budget, on all reports and virtual outputs.

Minimum Requirements    

• Master’s degree in the sciences or social sciences/humanities, including but not limited to fine art and mult-media, English literature, media and communication studies, marketing, science writing or science communication;
• Demonstrable track record of a) previous social media writing; b) social media account development; c) social media strategy and risk mitigation within the private and/or public sector, including and especially Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, d) some experience of facilitating or running social media training—in-depth training expertise would be an advantage.
• Excellent understanding of corporate branding requirements, workflows, brand positioning, and working to message.
• An understanding of the research dissemination cycle would be an advantage;
• Flexibility, independence, creativity, and an aptitude for innovation;
• Ability to work under pressure and deliver to tight deadlines;
• Ability to work well as part of a fast-paced, small production team and to communicate clearly and

Duties & Responsibilities    
Key Responsibilities:
Key deliverables will include the following:

• Using an ‘always on’ approach, attend weekly CVDA meetings, develop a weekly content roster, work collaboratively with strategy lead, project leaders, editor, graphic designer, interns to ideate, improve, quality assure and post relevant content that builds relevant audience and fosters engagement, including text-based, photographic and/or data infographics via social media Posts should:
• showcase the audiences across sectors
• use social media posts to raise awareness among survey respondent audiences on social media about R&D and innovation surveys
• promote CeSTII and by extension value of CeSTII data sets and analytical products for policy audiences and apex body
• the HSRC’s work across the African continent and globally through strategic content posts
• Innovative project: Develop a comprehensive social media strategy for recognition of “20 Years of Measuring South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators” and the release of four CeSTII reports in Q4 of 2022/23, including strategy design and presentation to project leaders, improvement steps, and finalisation, and then implementation
• Monthly reporting, including analytics research, populate and present monthly indicator reports CeSTII
• Train HSRC DSI intern on social media post development, monitoring and analytical report development, through co-creation of a training plan, on-the-job assignments and coaching, as well as mid-way and final report
• Train CeSTII team including co-creating a social media training design, preparing relevant materials and exercises, and implementing 3 workshops (1 in-person, 2 virtual)