Social Media Manager

The 30,000-Foot View

Website: drruscio.com
Compensation: $32-45 / hour (depending on experience)
Employment Type: Independent Contractor (1099)
Hours: 20 – 30 hours per week (with room for growth)
Location: 100% remote, US applicants preferred, (flexible hours)
Reports to: Head of Growth
Role: Social Media Manager (content curation and analytics-driven growth)

About the Role
Dr. Michael Ruscio produces a large, steady volume of high-quality YouTube content. That content is our flagship asset and primary engine of exposure. The Social Media Manager’s mission is to extend the reach of that content across our non-YouTube channels — Instagram, Facebook/Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok — and to grow those channels through disciplined, data-driven iteration.

In short: take what already exists, adapt it intelligently for each platform, test what works, measure rigorously, and compound growth over time. This is a builder-and-optimizer role, not a passive posting role.

About the Ruscio Institute  
The Ruscio Institute is a healthcare educational company built around the work of doctor, professor and clinical researcher, Michael Ruscio.  We are a growing organization dedicated to providing science-backed, practical and actionable wellness education. Our ecosystem monetizes through a premium supplement line and clinical services. 

Core Responsibilities

1. Content Curation & Repurposing — Translate Dr. Ruscio’s YouTube library into platform-native content for IG, Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok, selecting the strongest moments, clips, and themes and reshaping them to fit each channel’s format, audience, and best practices.  Safeguard brand integrity by ensuring all curated micro-content maintains Dr. Ruscio’s evidence-based, professional, yet deeply accessible tone.  This will involve you editing clips from YouTube, with occasional support from our staff YouTube editors when advanced editing is needed. 

2. Trend & Platform Research: Maintain a systematic pulse on both fronts: (1) content trends — trending audio, formats, hooks, and conversations, especially within the health and wellness space, identifying what we can authentically adapt to our brand; and (2) platform trends — algorithm changes, new features, and shifting best practices across IG, TikTok, Pinterest, and Meta. Translate these into timely, testable content opportunities.

3. Creative Testing — Develop and test a range of creative approaches (hooks, formats, captions, covers, hashtags, posting times, content series) to learn what drives engagement and growth on each platform.    

4. Analytics-Driven Iteration — Monitor performance data across all channels, identify what is and isn’t working, and continuously refine the approach. Decisions are grounded in metrics, not guesswork. This is the heart of the role: a repeatable loop of curation → test → measure → adjust → scale.

5. Channel Growth & Optimization — Own the growth trajectory of each non-YouTube channel. Set and pursue meaningful growth targets and manage the content strategy needed to hit them.

6. Reporting & Communication — Provide ownership with clear, regular reporting on channel performance, key learnings, and the strategy adjustments being made, keeping leadership aligned without requiring them in the weeds.

7. Email List Growth – Using ManyChat to leverage followers into email subscribers based on our free guides and opt ins

Expected weekly output 

• One strong YouTube segment becomes a Reel, a TikTok, a Facebook post, and a few Pins, so a single creative effort feeds multiple channels. 
• We favor 3–4 excellent, well-adapted pieces a week plus active daily community engagement over high-volume burnout.  Note: we currently have a comments moderator, so you will focus on overseeing & guiding the comment moderator’s effort, not manually replying yourself.   
• Regularly update Instagram stories to reflect engaging content – Live posting on posts from the grid, Q&As, resources with direct links
• Using ManyChat to leverage followers into email subscribers based on our free guides and opt ins

What Success Looks Like

• Consistent, measurable growth in audience and engagement across our social channels
• A documented, repeatable system for curating and testing content  
• Clear evidence that decisions are tied to analytics and that the process improves over time
• Content that authentically reflects the brand’s mission of educating and helping people
• Ownership feels informed and confident in the direction without needing to micromanage
• We are helping people and we are having fun

Metrics & KPIs

Success is measured against clear, channel-by-channel metrics in three tiers: primary KPIs (the outcomes that define the role), secondary KPIs (the levers that drive those outcomes), and leading indicators (the activity that signals a healthy, disciplined process).

Note on targets: The target ranges below are starting reference points. Concrete goals should be set per channel once we establish a 30–60 day baseline, then reviewed and adjusted quarterly. The aim is steady, compounding growth. 

Primary KPIs — the outcomes:

• Audience/follower growth — net follower growth per channel, tracked monthly (e.g., +5–10% MoM early on, normalizing as the base grows)
• Engagement rate — interactions ÷ reach or followers, trending up or holding strong as the audience scales
• 30 day reach— Overall account reach in 30 day period. Identify top performing content in terms of views and saves
• Video views (Reels, TikTok, etc.) — total and average views-per-post climbing over time

Secondary KPIs — the levers:

• Saves & shares — the strongest organic-growth signals on IG/TikTok
• Watch time / average view duration — whether hooks and pacing are landing
• Follower-to-engagement ratio — guards against hollow follower growth
• Profile visits & link/bio clicks — the bridge between social reach and the website
• Referral traffic to drruscio.com — directional measure of social’s contribution to the funnel (via UTMs/analytics)
• Top-performing content patterns — which formats, topics, and hooks repeatedly win
• Email list growth – attribution from social

Leading indicators — the process:

• Posting consistency — adherence to the agreed cadence per channel
• Repurposing throughput — assets produced per YouTube upload
• Creative tests run — number of deliberate experiments per period
• Test win rate & learnings applied — whether tests produce insights that get rolled into the approach
• Reporting cadence met — regular, on-time reporting with clear takeaways

Reporting rhythm:

• Weekly or biweekly — a concise performance snapshot
• Monthly — channel-by-channel growth review against targets, top performers, key learnings
• Quarterly — strategic review, reset targets against the new baseline, align on next quarter’s focus

Growth Path

This role starts at a mid-level scope with a clear runway. A contractor who demonstrates strong execution, sound judgment, and consistent channel growth has a path to expand into a senior-level Social Media Manager — taking on greater strategic ownership, broader scope, and increased hours/responsibility as the channels and team grow.

Ideal Candidate 

• Demonstrated Experience: 4 years of social media management experience handling content curation and organic growth pipelines, ideally within the wellness, healthcare, or digital-creator industries.
• Proven Portfolio: Clear, metric-backed proof of expanding channels and successfully scaling accounts from mid-tier to high-growth status in previous roles.
• Video Proficiency: Highly competent in short-form asset management, hook optimization, and editing/formatting high-performing reels, clips, and shorts.  Experience with CapCut, Canva, Adobe or similar.
• Creative & Analytic:  Strong creative instincts for short-form and platform-native content.  Genuinely data-driven — comfortable living in analytics and iterating from them.  
• Self-directed and reliable in a remote, flexible-hours environment
• Aligned with and energized by a health education mission 
• Highly organized, systems-oriented 

What We Offer

• Competitive Compensation:
  • $32-45 / hour (depending on experience)
  • Independent Contractor (1099)
  • 20 – 30 hours per week (with room for growth)
• Freedom & Flexibility: 
  • Fully remote
  • Flexible work hours
• Healthy Company Culture:
  • A team of hardworking, dedicated professionals who are committed to a mission you can believe in.  Working in a supportive, collaborative and enjoyable work environment.
• Location: 
  • Fully remote, most of leadership team located in Austin, TX
• Perks: 
  • Employee discount on our premium supplement line  
  • Learning about health while you work