Social Media Specialist / Graphic Designer – BuddyMeal

About BuddyMeal

BuddyMeal is a South African personalised dog food brand on a mission to make better nutrition simple for every dog. We’re a growing, ambitious brand looking for a creative and proactive person to take ownership of our social media, content and day-to-day design requirements.

The Role

As our Social Media Specialist / Graphic Designer, you will be responsible for planning, creating, managing and reporting on all of BuddyMeal’s social media content.

This is a highly creative, hands-on role. You will be responsible for bringing the BuddyMeal brand to life across social media, while also supporting the wider marketing team with graphic design for digital and print.

You will be expected to take ownership of the content process from idea → planning → creation → editing → publishing → reporting.

Working arrangement: Hybrid — 4 days per week on-site and 1 day working from home.

Key Responsibilities

Social Media & Content

Take full ownership of BuddyMeal’s social media platforms and content.
Develop and manage a monthly social media content calendar.
Plan content around campaigns, product launches, promotions, events and relevant trends.
Create engaging and on-brand content for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other relevant platforms.
Create Reels, TikToks, Stories, static posts, carousels and other social-first content.
Film and capture content when required, including behind-the-scenes, product, event and lifestyle content.
Edit short-form videos for social media.
Write engaging captions and social media copy that reflects the BuddyMeal tone of voice.
Stay up to date with social media trends, formats, sounds and content opportunities.
Proactively come up with new content ideas rather than simply following a content calendar.
Manage the scheduling and publishing of content.
Monitor comments, messages and general community engagement, escalating customer queries where necessary.
Identify opportunities to increase engagement, reach and brand awareness.

Graphic Design

Create graphics and creative assets for Meta advertising campaigns.
Design social media posts, carousels, Stories and other digital assets.
Design brochures, flyers, cards, promotional material and other marketing collateral.
Create branded templates that can be used consistently across BuddyMeal's marketing.
Assist with event collateral, promotional materials and partner assets.
Ensure all creative follows BuddyMeal's brand guidelines and visual identity.
Resize and adapt creative for different platforms, formats and placements.
Work closely with the marketing team to turn campaign concepts into strong visual executions.

Reporting & Performance

Compile a monthly social media performance report.
Track key metrics including reach, engagement, follower growth, views, clicks and content performance.
Identify which content is performing well and provide recommendations for future content.
Use performance data to continuously improve the content strategy.
Monitor boosted posts and manage allocated social media boosting budgets.
Make recommendations on which content should be boosted and how budgets should be allocated.
Track the performance of boosted content and adjust budgets where necessary.

Requirements

Minimum 3 years of experience in social media, content creation, graphic design or a similar role.
Strong experience managing social media platforms, particularly Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Strong content creation and video editing skills.
Strong graphic design skills and a good understanding of visual communication.
Experience creating content specifically for social media.
Experience designing Meta ads, brochures, flyers, cards, templates and other marketing collateral.
Proficiency in design software such as Adobe Creative Suite, InDesign, Canva or similar tools.
Experience with video editing software such as CapCut, Adobe Premiere Pro or similar.
Strong understanding of social media trends and best practices.
Good understanding of social media analytics and reporting.
Comfortable working with and managing boosting budgets.
Excellent attention to detail.
Strong organisational and time-management skills.
Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
Strong written communication and copywriting skills.
Experience working with a brand or consumer-facing business would be advantageous.
Experience in the pet, lifestyle, food or e-commerce space would be advantageous.
Comfortable working 4 days on-site and 1 day remotely each week.

What We're Looking For

We’re looking for someone who is creative, proactive, organised and commercially minded.

You should be someone who naturally spots content opportunities and trends, understands what makes people stop scrolling and can turn an idea into strong content without needing to be micromanaged.

We want someone who can look at the BuddyMeal brand and think:

What should we be posting? What will people actually want to watch? What can we do differently? And how can we make the brand more memorable?

You will play an important role in growing BuddyMeal's social presence, brand awareness and online community, while supporting the wider marketing team with high-quality creative and design.