Social Media Manager Job Description for eCommerce
Job Descriptions
Social Media Manager Job Description for eCommerce
In an eCommerce brand, social media is a growth channel, not a hobby, and the Social Media Manager owns brand, community and often revenue. This guide gives HR managers and Heads of Marketing a free, copy-paste Social Media Manager job description template, the responsibilities and skills to specify, current UK salary ranges, and a clear picture of what great looks like in an eCommerce brand.
£35-50k
Typical UK Social Media Manager
Robert Half, 2026
Typical UK Social Media Manager
Robert Half, 2026
£77k
London top end
Robert Half, 2026
London top end
Robert Half, 2026
Free
Copy-paste JD template below
Ready to post
Copy-paste JD template below
Ready to post
10-25%
London pay premium
Market standard
London pay premium
Market standard
Quick Answer
A strong Social Media Manager job description defines the person who owns an eCommerce brand’s presence across social: content and creative, community, paid social, and the reporting that ties it to growth. It should set out the role purpose, responsibilities, required skills and tools, KPIs, reporting line and salary. In the UK a Social Media Manager typically earns £35,000 to £50,000, rising higher in London. The free template below is ready to copy, edit and post.
Section 01
What a Social Media Manager Does
A Social Media Manager owns an eCommerce brand’s presence across platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest and increasingly YouTube. That spans content strategy and creative, day-to-day publishing, community management and engagement, paid social campaigns, influencer and creator partnerships, and reporting on what is working. In most brands the role reports into the Head of Marketing or Head of eCommerce, and works closely with the creative, CRM and paid teams.
Social has moved from awareness to a full-funnel channel: it builds the brand, grows an owned community, and, through social commerce and paid, drives sales directly. A strong manager balances all of that; a weak one posts for the sake of posting and cannot connect activity to results. The job description has to screen for someone commercial and creative, not just fluent in the latest trend.
Section 02 · Free Template
Free Social Media Manager Job Description Template
Copy the template below, replace the bracketed placeholders with your own detail, and trim any responsibilities that do not apply. It is written for eCommerce brands and geared to attract candidates who grow brand, community and revenue, not just follower counts.
Job Title
Social Media Manager
Reports To
[Head of Marketing / Head of eCommerce / Head of Social]
Location
[Location, hybrid, two to three days in office]
Salary
[£35,000 to £50,000, plus bonus and benefits]
Role Purpose
To own and grow [Company]’s social media presence, building brand, an engaged community and revenue through content, community management, paid social and creator partnerships.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the social strategy and content calendar across all platforms.
- Create, brief and schedule on-brand content, including short-form video.
- Manage community: respond, engage, and build relationships with followers.
- Plan and run paid social campaigns, in partnership with the paid team.
- Manage influencer and creator partnerships end to end.
- Support social commerce and shoppable content across platforms.
- Track trends and adapt the approach to each platform.
- Report on reach, engagement, growth and revenue against targets.
Skills and Experience
- Proven experience managing social for a brand, ideally eCommerce.
- Strong content and creative eye, including short-form video.
- Confident with paid social (Meta, TikTok) and platform analytics.
- Experience with scheduling and listening tools such as Later or Sprout Social.
- Commercially minded, able to link social activity to results.
- Excellent copywriting and on-brand tone of voice.
Key Performance Indicators
- Engagement rate and community growth.
- Reach, views and share of voice.
- Social-driven traffic, conversions and revenue.
- Content output and performance against the calendar.
What We Offer
[Salary range, performance bonus, pension, hybrid working, training budget and creative tools.]
Section 03
Key Responsibilities Explained
If you are tailoring the template, these are the four areas that define a genuine Social Media Manager, and separate a growth-minded operator from someone who simply schedules posts.
Section 04
Skills and Tools to Specify
Be specific about platforms, tools and metrics in the job description. Naming them attracts genuine operators and filters out people who only know one channel. These are the capabilities to prioritise.
ℹ
Name your platforms and metrics in the advert. “Own TikTok and Instagram for a fashion brand, growing engaged community and social-driven revenue” attracts far stronger candidates than “manage our social media.”
Section 05 · Pay Guide
Social Media Manager Pay Guide
Always publish a salary band in the job description. A UK Social Media Manager typically earns £35,000 to £50,000, with executives from around £24,000 and heads of function reaching £90,000. Figures below draw on Robert Half, Indeed and our own UK eCommerce Salary Guide. For related roles, see our digital marketing jobs in London guide.
| Level | Experience | UK salary |
|---|---|---|
| Social Media Executive | 0 to 2 years | £24,000 to £32,000 |
| Social Media Manager | 3 to 6 years | £35,000 to £50,000 |
| Senior Social Media Manager | 6 to 9 years | £45,000 to £62,000 |
| Head of Social | 9 years and up | £65,000 to £90,000 |
Indicative 2026 UK ranges. Add roughly 10 to 25 per cent for London, where social media managers commonly reach the high fifties and above. Strong paid social, video and community-building skills sit at the top of each band.
Section 06
What Great Looks Like in an eCommerce Brand
The best Social Media Managers in eCommerce do more than post consistently. These are the signs of a great hire, and the standards worth writing into your brief and testing at interview.
🌟
They think in funnel, not just followers
Great managers connect social to the whole journey: awareness, community, and social commerce that drives sales. They can show how their content moved traffic, sign-ups or revenue, not just likes.
🎥
They can actually make content
In modern eCommerce, especially on TikTok and Reels, the manager who can shoot, edit and post fast beats one who only briefs. Hands-on short-form video skill is now a core, not a bonus.
🤝
They build community, not just an audience
They reply, spark conversation and turn customers into advocates. An engaged community drives retention and word of mouth in a way that a large but passive following never will.
📈
They stay ahead of platforms and trends
Platforms change fast. Great managers spot and act on trends and format shifts early, and know when a trend fits the brand and when to leave it. They test, learn and adapt continuously.
Section 07
Social Media Manager Versus Head of Social
A common hiring error is blurring the Social Media Manager and Head of Social levels, which produces a mismatched job description and salary. Map the difference before you write the brief.
Social Media Manager
£35,000 to £50,000
+Runs content, community and campaigns hands-on
+Owns the day-to-day channel delivery
+Usually few or no direct reports
Head of Social
£65,000 to £90,000
+Owns the social strategy and budget
+Sets targets and reports to leadership
+Leads the social team and agencies
✅
Rule of thumb
If the role runs social day to day, it is a Social Media Manager. If it owns the strategy, budget and team across the channel, it is a Head of Social. Match the job description and salary to the real level, a brief that asks for strategy ownership on a manager salary will not convert.
Getting Your Social Media Manager Job Description Right
A precise Social Media Manager job description does most of the screening for you: it filters for people who grow brand and revenue, names the platforms and metrics that matter, and sets the right salary expectation. Start from the free template above, tailor it to your brand, and screen for what great looks like. Three steps will keep your brief sharp.
1
Confirm the level, Executive, Manager or Head of Social, before you write a word.
2
Use the template, name the platforms and metrics, and publish the salary band.
3
Benchmark the package with a specialist recruiter before the role goes live. See also our eCommerce salary guide.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
01What does a Social Media Manager do?
A Social Media Manager owns a brand’s presence across platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Pinterest. They run content strategy and creative, day-to-day publishing, community management, paid social campaigns, and influencer and creator partnerships, and report on performance. In eCommerce, the role builds brand and community and increasingly drives sales through social commerce and paid.
02What should a Social Media Manager job description include?
A Social Media Manager job description should include the job title, reporting line, location and working pattern, a salary band, a clear role purpose, key responsibilities across content, community, paid social and reporting, the platforms and tools in use, the KPIs the role is measured on (engagement, growth, revenue), and what the company offers. Naming the platforms and metrics attracts genuine operators.
03What skills should a Social Media Manager have?
A Social Media Manager should be strong across the platforms that matter to your audience, with a good creative and short-form video eye, confident running paid social on Meta and TikTok, and fluent in platform analytics and GA4. They need experience with scheduling and listening tools such as Later or Sprout Social, excellent copywriting and on-brand tone, and the commercial judgement to link social activity to results.
04How much does a Social Media Manager earn in the UK?
A UK Social Media Manager typically earns £35,000 to £50,000 in 2026. Social Media Executives start around £24,000 to £32,000, Senior Social Media Managers earn £45,000 to £62,000, and a Head of Social commands £65,000 to £90,000. London pays roughly 10 to 25 per cent above the national average, with managers commonly reaching the high fifties and strong paid and video skills at the top.
05What is the difference between a Social Media Manager and a Head of Social?
A Social Media Manager runs content, community and campaigns hands-on and owns the day-to-day channel, usually with few or no direct reports, earning £35,000 to £50,000. A Head of Social owns the strategy and budget, sets targets, reports to leadership, and leads the team and agencies, earning £65,000 to £90,000. Match the title, scope and salary to the level you actually need.
06What does great social media management look like in eCommerce?
Great looks like thinking in funnel rather than followers, connecting content to traffic and revenue, being hands-on with short-form video, building an engaged community rather than a passive audience, and staying ahead of platform trends. The best managers can show commercial impact, make content themselves, and adapt fast as platforms change, not just keep a calendar full.
07What tools should a Social Media Manager know?
The core tools are a scheduling and listening platform such as Later, Sprout Social or Hootsuite, the native platform analytics and ad managers for Meta and TikTok, GA4 for tracking social-driven traffic and revenue, and content creation tools like Canva and CapCut for fast, on-brand output. The exact mix depends on the brand and platforms, so name yours in the job description.
08How do I write a Social Media Manager job description that attracts strong candidates?
Name the specific platforms, the brand and the metrics the role owns, publish a salary band, and lead with the impact, growing brand, community and revenue, rather than a list of tasks. Test for content and commercial thinking at interview by asking a candidate to critique your current social or pitch a campaign. Start from a proven template, be clear on the level, and benchmark the salary against the live market before publishing.
Sources and Further Reading
- Robert Half: Social Media Manager Salary in London, 2026
- Indeed: Social Media Manager Salary in the United Kingdom, 2026
- Morgan McKinley: Social Media Manager Salary in London, 2026
- Elite X Recruit: Digital Marketing Jobs in London Guide
- Elite X Recruit: UK eCommerce Salary Guide, Live Benchmarks by Role
By the Elite X Recruit team, UK eCommerce recruitment specialists. REC members.
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