Social Media Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Company
“A perfume is a world you can return to over and over again–a keyhole into far off places–material and imaginary.”
D.S. & Durga is a Brooklyn fragrance house on a quest to create thrilling perfumes inspired by music, myth, and the mundane. Founded in 2009 by David (D.S.) and Kavi (Durga) Moltz, the brand is known for its uniquely distinguished perfumes, candles, and aromatic products. All fragrances and design worlds are original compositions, rooted in specificity, surrealism, and clarity.
With distribution across 600 doors globally and five freestanding stores in NYC and LA, the brand is entering a new phase of growth following Manzanita Capital’s majority investment in 2024.

Role Overview
D.S. & Durga is looking for a Social Media Manager to take full ownership of our social strategy — someone who can answer the real question behind this job: how do you make someone smell something through a screen? This isn't a content calendar or a posting schedule; it's the challenge of translating a fragrance into a feeling someone experiences through a rectangle of glass in their hand.
You'll work directly with our founders, our Art Director, and our fractional CMO to build a social presence as specific and distinct as the brand itself — not a playbook borrowed from every other beauty account, but one that's genuinely ours. You'll also partner closely with our Influencer & GTM and Commercial teams, since social is only one part of a larger discovery engine: it doesn't stay on the app, it walks into a store, gets sprayed on a wrist at a dinner party, and becomes the reason a stranger asks what you're wearing. Your content should compound moment to moment, not reset the algorithm every Monday.
This role requires both a rigorous, analytical understanding of how platforms actually work — mechanics, not vibes — and the creative eye and hands to turn that understanding into something beautiful. You'll translate performance data into direction for the rest of the team.
Your creative toolkit — Music, Myth & the Mundane:

• Music — "Perfume Is Music" is a working method, not a tagline. You'll build the character of a scent the way you'd build a track: notes, a family, a mood, using playlists, rhythm, and tone.
• Myth — Every bottle is a character with a world around it — what they wear, drink, listen to, believe. You'll know how to build that world and translate it into a nine-second video.
• The Mundane — A fork's shadow on white linen, a glass of water, a cassette mid-play. You'll know how to find the charge in an ordinary object and make it feel like the moment before something happens.

Priorities, in sequence:

1. Instagram, now — Reframe our existing assets into content that works on the platform, with sharper editing and sharper instincts for what stops the scroll.
2. TikTok, rebooted — Restart the experiment. Test, fail fast, iterate, and find a voice that's ours rather than a version of what's already working for everyone else.
3. What's next — YouTube, emerging platforms, and whatever's coming. You'll help us figure out what's worth chasing and what's noise.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Full ownership of D.S. & Durga's social strategy — not just execution, the vision itself.
• Build a strategy that meets our customer where they actually are, in partnership with founders, Art Director and fractional CMO.
• Sequence and build step by step — know what comes first, and why.
• Synthesize the brand's essence into a social context that feels native to each platform, not translated onto it.

Content, Built from Our Own Pillars

• Character — give every fume its own persona, its own vibe, its own moment.
• Fume — the notes, the family, the samples, told the D.S. & Durga way.
• Playlist — build the world beyond the bottle; play in formats other brands can't touch.
• World Building — educate on the olfactive range without ever sounding like a brochure.
• Fan Mail — go beyond the algorithm; build the culture club with our most committed fans.
• Merchandise — make the b(r)and visible, collectible, IYKYK.
• Be plugged into content producers and creators, and be willing to start from zero — shooting, editing, briefing, whatever the moment needs.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Influencer & GTM and Commercial to build content that compounds momentum instead of resetting it.
• Design for the online-to-offline journey — how discovery on a screen turns into a moment IRL.
• Keep storytelling consistent with Creative, Retail and PR — one world, every channel.

Data & Platform Mastery

• Understand how the algorithm actually works, on each platform, and use that to shape format — not just timing.
• Bring an analytical brain: track performance, find the signal, feed it back to the team as direction.
• Test, learn, refine — every post is a small experiment inside a much bigger one.

How We Sound (and How You Should Too)Our words matter as much as our fumes. A few house rules you'll need to live inside:

• Sniff, never smell. Fumes, not scents. Wax, not candle.
• Fancy, not precious. Grand, with a wink. Cheeky and original. Anti-corporate by instinct.
• We reference music, not beauty — remixes and mixtapes, not flankers.
• If it sounds like advertising, we don't say it — unless we're poking fun at advertising.
• No “discover this.” No “captivate your senses.” No phony indulgence. If it's too polished, too earnest or too corporate, it's wrong.

Competencies: To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following.
Achievement Focus - Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles. Measures self against standard of excellence. Recognizes and acts on opportunities. Sets and achieves challenging goals. Takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
Continuous Learning - Assesses own strengths and weaknesses. Pursues training and development opportunities. Seeks feedback to improve performance. Shares expertise with others. Strives to continuously build knowledge and skills.
Communications - Exhibits good listening and comprehension. Expresses ideas and thoughts in written form. Expresses ideas and thoughts verbally. Keeps others adequately informed. Selects and uses appropriate communication methods.
Managing Customer Focus - Develops new approaches to meeting customer needs. Establishes customer service standards. Monitors customer satisfaction. Promotes customer focus. Provides training in customer service delivery.
Planning & Organization - Integrates changes smoothly. Plans for additional resources. Prioritizes and plans work activities. Sets goals and objectives. Uses time efficiently. Works in an organized manner.
Problem Solving - Develops alternative solutions. Gathers and analyzes information skillfully. Identifies problems in a timely manner. Resolves problems in early stages. Works well in group problem solving situations.
Teamwork - Balances team and individual responsibilities. Contributes to building a positive team spirit. Exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views. Gives and welcomes feedback. Puts success of team above own interests.
Use of Technology - Adapts to new technologies. Demonstrates required skills. Keeps technical skills up to date. Troubleshoots technological problems. Uses technology to increase productivity.

qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:

• A self-starter who's curious by nature and energized by building something from zero.
• Creative first, genuinely technical second — platforms and algorithms as craft, not mechanics.
• A strong communicator who can bring founders, creatives and commercial partners onto the same page.
• Someone who thinks in sequence — you know how to strategize and build step by step.
• Comfortable being both the strategist and the person who rolls up their sleeves and gets it done.
• Plugged into culture, creators and the wider content ecosystem — you'd recognize our Scene Makers, Amplifiers and Youthful Discoverers on sight.
• 5–7 years of experience in social media strategy, brand content or digital storytelling within beauty, lifestyle or luxury consumer brands.
• A track record of building social strategies from the ground up, not just maintaining an existing machine.
• Strong editorial instincts and copywriting ability — tone, wit and nuance, on command.
• Deep, current understanding of social platforms, algorithms, cultural trends and creator-driven content ecosystems.
• Experience managing creative production — briefing photographers, editors, freelancers and creators.
• Comfortable reading analytics and turning performance data into clear, actionable direction.
• High visual literacy and real appreciation for design, aesthetics and craft.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, founder-led environment with a high creative bar.

Language ability:
Read, analyze and interpret business, professional, technical or governmental documents. Write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals. Effectively present information and respond to questions from managers, customers and the public.

Mathematical ability:
Add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals. Compute rate, ratio and percent, and draw and interpret bar graphs.

Reasoning ability:
Solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

computer skills:
MS Office, Google Suite, Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom, CapCut, native Instagram/TikTok/YouTube Shorts editors, scheduling tools (Later, Sprout Social, or Meta Business Suite), platform analytics, Google Analytics, Excel/Google Sheets, Canva or Adobe Express, Figma, Asana or Notion

Benefits:

• The salary range for this role is $90,000-$100,000
• Location: Brooklyn, NY (Hybrid- 3 days per week in office)
• Full Time employees are eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance, employer paid life insurance, 401k plan, pre tax commuter benefits, quarterly gratis, employee discount, long-term & short- term disability leave and much more.

Supervisory responsibilities: This job has no supervisory responsibilities.