Creative Social Media Manager

Icarus Complex Magazine + Media is looking for a talented, visually minded and intellectually curious Social Media Manager to lead our social media presence and help translate complex ideas into intelligent, visually compelling digital content.

Icarus Complex is an independent, non-profit climate media organisation examining the systemic roots of the climate crisis and creative solutions from around the world. Our work sits at the intersection of climate, economics, politics, food and agriculture, energy, finance, design, culture & social justice. We are interested in complexity rather than simplification and in communication that helps people understand how systems connect.

The role:

This is a key creative and communications role within Icarus Complex.

We are looking for someone who can take our journalism, photography, films, podcasts, interviews and other editorial work and think creatively about how it should live, travel and find new audiences through social media.

This is not simply a posting and scheduling role.

We want someone with strong visual and editorial instincts who can understand a piece of content, identify the ideas that matter, and translate them into compelling social-first storytelling.

A strong eye for design is essential. Icarus Complex has an established visual language, and we are looking for someone who can understand and protect that identity while giving themselves room to experiment and be creative within it. We don’t want every post to look the same; we want the overall body of work to feel unmistakably Icarus.

The role also has an important outward-facing dimension. Social media should not simply be a broadcasting channel. We want it to be a way of building relationships and creating networks around the ideas we cover.

You will therefore actively identify organisations, publications, creatives, researchers, experts and communities with whom Icarus should be connecting and develop collaborations and partnerships around relevant editorial themes to amplify the reach and impact of our work.
You will work closely with the Founder + Editor and our international editorial and creative team while taking ownership of the day-to-day direction and development of our social channels.

What you’ll be doing:

• Develop and manage Icarus Complex’s overall social media strategy and editorial calendar.
• Translate our journalism and editorial output into compelling social-first formats.
• Write and edit intelligent, concise social copy.
• Develop concepts for carousels, graphics, short-form video and other forms of visual storytelling.
• Create and adapt visual assets for social media.
• Maintain the integrity of Icarus Complex’s visual language while finding opportunities to experiment creatively within it.
• Identify strong arguments, quotes, statistics and ideas within longer editorial pieces and develop ways of communicating them to wider audiences.
• Think thematically about our editorial output and identify potential partners, collaborators and communities around those themes.
• Proactively initiate and manage collaborations and partnerships with relevant media organisations, NGOs, creatives, experts, institutions and aligned social accounts.
• Develop collaborative posts, cross-platform initiatives and other creative approaches to expanding our reach and introducing Icarus Complex to new audiences.
• Build genuine relationships with relevant communities rather than approaching social media purely as a distribution channel.
• Coordinate with editors, designers, photographers, filmmakers and contributors.
• Manage scheduling, publishing and community engagement.
• Monitor performance and use analytics to understand what resonates, what doesn’t and where we can improve.
• Develop strategies for sustainable audience and engagement growth without compromising editorial quality.
• Experiment with emerging platforms, formats and approaches where they make sense for Icarus.
• Keep abreast of developments in social media, digital storytelling, visual culture and climate communication.
• Manage a small social media team.

Who we’re looking for:

We are particularly interested in someone who combines creative thinking, visual sensitivity and strong organisational skills.

You might come from social media, graphic design, digital publishing, journalism, communications or another creative discipline. The precise background matters less than your ability to understand ideas and communicate them intelligently.

You should have:

• Approximately 3-5 years of relevant professional experience.
• A genuinely strong eye for design and visual culture.
• A very good understanding of typography, composition and graphic communication.
• The ability to work within an established visual identity without being constrained by it.
• Excellent written English.
• Experience managing social media professionally.
• Strong editorial judgement.
• The ability to understand complex subject matter and make it accessible without oversimplifying it.
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Canva or comparable design tools.
• An understanding of short-form video and contemporary social formats.
• Experience developing and managing collaborations, partnerships or community relationships through social media. This part of the job is key.
• The confidence to identify and approach potential partners independently.
• Strong organisational and project-management skills.
• The ability to take ownership of projects and work independently within a distributed international team.
• Curiosity about climate, economics, politics, culture and the systems that connect them.
• If your background is in graphic design we would want you to help design concepts as well.
• The ability to manage a small social media team.

Experience in climate, sustainability, journalism or independent media would be valuable, but is not essential. Intellectual curiosity is.

An interest in systems and information design

As Icarus Complex develops, we are increasingly interested in systems design and information visualisation: finding compelling visual ways to explain complex systems.

Working arrangement:

• This is a remote position for someone based in Asia, working either full-time or a minimum of four days per week.
• Icarus Complex operates internationally, with team members and contributors across multiple countries and time zones.
• The role requires a high degree of independence, reliability and ownership, alongside close collaboration with the Founder + Editor and the wider team.
• Compensation will be discussed according to experience, working arrangement and location.

About Icarus Complex:

• Icarus Complex Magazine + Media is an independent media non-profit taking an in depth look at the systemic roots of the climate crisis and covering creativensolutions from around the world.
• Our work brings together journalism, photography, film, illustration, design, podcasts and other forms of storytelling to explore those connections.

How to apply:

Please send:

• A short introduction telling us about yourself, where you are based and why Icarus Complex interests you by using this form.
• Your CV or LinkedIn profile.
• Examples of social media accounts you have managed.
• A portfolio or examples of relevant visual/design work.
• Examples of collaborations or partnerships you have initiated or managed.
• If applicable, examples of information design, systems mapping, infographics or other work communicating complex ideas visually.

We are particularly interested in seeing how you think, how you see and how you translate ideas into communication, not simply how polished your portfolio is.