General Manager
13 days ago
Fairfield
General Manager — The Social Media Agency About Us We're The Social Media Agency, a small, fast-moving team helping brands show up online in a way that feels real. We're not a giant corporate shop with layers of approval chains and cookie-cutter content calendars. We're a lean group of people who genuinely care about the accounts we manage, the platforms we work on, and the results we get our clients. We're growing, and as we grow, we need someone who can hold the whole operation together while we scale. The Role We're looking for a General Manager to run the day-to-day of the agency so leadership can focus on strategy, growth, and new business. This is not a "sit in on meetings and nod" management role. You'll be the person who actually keeps things moving: making sure the team is doing great work, clients are happy, deadlines are hit, and the business itself is healthy. You'll be managing a team of social media marketers who handle content, campaigns, and client accounts across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and others. You're not expected to do their job for them, but you do need to understand it well enough to coach, troubleshoot, and step in when something's off track. This role suits someone who's managed people before, understands how a small agency actually operates, and wants real ownership rather than a narrow lane. If you like being the person who makes the trains run on time, and you also enjoy solving problems that don't have a clean playbook yet, this is for you. What You'll Be Doing Team Leadership Directly manage a team of social media marketers, including day-to-day check-ins, performance feedback, and career development Set clear expectations, deadlines, and quality standards across all client accounts Run team meetings that are actually useful, not just calendar filler Hire, onboard, and train new marketers as the team grows Handle performance issues directly and fairly, including tough conversations when needed Build a team culture people actually want to be part of Client & Account Oversight Serve as an escalation point when client issues come up that the marketing team can't resolve on their own Review campaign performance and content quality across accounts to make sure standards are being met Sit in on key client calls when needed, especially for larger accounts or sensitive situations Make sure client deliverables are on time, on brand, and on strategy Operations Own the day-to-day operations of the agency: workflows, tools, processes, and internal systems Identify bottlenecks in how work gets done and fix them Manage scheduling, workload distribution, and capacity planning across the team Track and report on team output, campaign performance, and business metrics to leadership Help build out the systems and processes we don't have yet, since we're still a growing company Business Support Work closely with leadership on hiring plans, budgets, and growth priorities Flag risks early, whether that's a client relationship going sideways, a team member struggling, or a process that's not scaling Bring ideas to the table on how to improve how the agency runs, not just execute what's already been decided What We're Looking For Proven experience managing a team, ideally in a marketing, agency, or client services environment Solid understanding of social media marketing, even if you're not the one creating content day-to-day Comfortable wearing multiple hats. Agencies are unpredictable and priorities shift fast Strong communicator, both with your team and with clients Organized enough to keep several moving parts on track without dropping things A problem-solver who doesn't wait to be told what to fix Experience giving feedback, handling conflict, and coaching people to improve Comfortable with ambiguity. We don't have every process buttoned up yet, and you'll help build some of them Nice to have, not required: Experience scaling a small team or department Familiarity with project management or CRM tools Background working directly with clients or accounts, not just internal teams Experience working in or with a marketing or advertising agency specifically A track record of building or improving processes from scratch rather than just following existing ones A Few Things We're Not Looking For To save everyone time, this probably isn't the right fit if you're looking for a purely strategic role with no hands-on people management, a highly structured corporate environment with established playbooks for everything, or a position where you'd be several steps removed from clients and the actual work. We're also not looking for someone who needs constant validation or sign-off before making day-to-day decisions. We want a GM who can own this role, not someone who needs the role defined for them every step of the way. What You Get Real ownership over how the agency runs day-to-day, not just a title Direct access to leadership and a real say in decisions A team that moves fast and doesn't drown in unnecessary process Room to build things your way as we grow, rather than inheriting a rigid system [Add: PTO, pay structure, remote flexibility, bonus structure, benefits, etc. once finalized] Who Thrives Here People who do well on our team tend to be self-starters who don't need constant direction, but also know when to loop leadership in. We move fast, we're honest with each other, and we care more about getting things right than covering ourselves. If you like structure for the sake of structure, this probably isn't the right fit. If you like building the structure yourself, it might be exactly right. A Day in This Role Might Look Like Mornings often start with a quick scan of client accounts and a check-in with the team to see what's on fire and what's on track. From there, you might jump into a call with a client who's unhappy about a campaign's engagement numbers, then turn around and coach a marketer through how to present results more confidently next time. Later, you could be reworking how the team hands off tasks between content creation and scheduling because the current process keeps causing delays. By the end of the day, you've probably touched people management, client relations, and internal operations, sometimes all before lunch. No two days are identical here. Some weeks are heavy on hiring and onboarding, others are heavy on client fires, others are quiet enough to focus on building better systems. You'll need to be comfortable moving between those modes without losing track of the big picture. How We Measure Success in This Role We're not going to hand you a rigid scorecard on day one, but generally, success in this role looks like: The team is hitting deadlines and producing consistently strong work without you having to micromanage every deliverable Clients feel heard and see results, and escalations are handled quickly and professionally Turnover on the team stays low because people feel supported and know what's expected of them Internal processes get better over time instead of staying stuck or getting more chaotic as we grow Leadership can trust that day-to-day operations are handled, freeing them up to focus on strategy and growth We'll set clearer, more specific goals together once you're in the role and have a feel for where the biggest opportunities are. Our Values, in Practice We talk a lot about being real with clients, but that same standard applies internally. We'd rather have a team member tell us a deadline is at risk two days early than find out the day it's due. We'd rather a manager give direct, kind feedback than let a performance issue fester for months. None of us have this fully figured out, including leadership, and we're looking for someone who's comfortable saying "here's what I think we should do differently" without being asked. We also believe in giving people real responsibility early. You won't spend your first few months just observing. You'll be making decisions, running point on real problems, and shaping how this team operates almost immediately. That's exciting for the right person and overwhelming for the wrong one, so it's worth being honest with yourself about which one you are. Growth Path As the agency grows, so does this role. We expect the General Manager position to evolve alongside the company, potentially expanding into a broader operations or leadership role as we add more clients, more team members, and more complexity. If you're someone who wants to grow into a bigger seat as the business grows, this is a strong place to plant a flag early. A Note on Where We're At We want to be upfront: we're a small, growing agency, not an established enterprise with decades of infrastructure behind it. That means some things will be a little scrappy at first, some processes will need to be built from scratch, and you'll have real influence over how this company runs going forward. For some people, that ambiguity is stressful. For others, it's the whole appeal. If it's the latter for you, we think you'll enjoy this role a lot. How to Apply Send your resume along with a short note about your management experience and why this role interests you to the contact details provided. Tell us about a time you had to fix something that was broken on a team you managed. We're more interested in how you think through problems than in a perfectly polished resume. We're a small company that's still figuring some things out as we grow, and we're upfront about that. If that sounds exciting rather than scary, we'd love to hear from you.
