You should join Shelf for the people and our mission.
We aspire to build the best team of the 2020s. Just like PayPal in the ‘90s, Google in the ‘00s, and Stripe in the ‘10s, we want to be known as “a place where it’s good to be from.” If you join us, we promise to be the best place to grow your career — with the best people you’ve ever worked with.
Our goal is to build a generation-defining cultural product — one you can turn around and see someone using on the subway. In doing so, we’re creating a new category: Personal Context Infrastructure — and ushering in an internet that actually works for you.
Shelf is used millions of people to track what they’re watching, reading, listening to & more, and to keep up with what others are into. Shelf connects to your favorite platforms, shares back insights from your behavior, and will soon let you share that context with services to enable personalized intelligence, on your terms.
Editorial is a key pillar of our brand strategy. We run a Magazine and are active on socials across Instagram and TikTok.
The Opportunity
We’re looking for a Social Media Manager to own and grow Shelf’s Instagram and TikTok.
This role is both creative and operational: You’ll help shape Shelf’s voice, plan and publish daily content, and build the systems that turn Shelf’s social presence into a cultural engine.
You’ll execute on the Shelf’s brand voice on IG and TikTok, build and cultivate a community of loyal fans, and turn Shelf’s IG and TikTok presence into something people talk about, trust, and believe in.
What You’ll Do
Execute on Shelf’s Social Strategy
Execute and continuously evolve Shelf’s IG and TikTok.
Manage content ops: content calendar, asset tracking, requests, QA, and scheduling to ensure timely posting.
Maintain brand consistency and tone across every post, story, and comment.
Create & Publish Content
Build and run a meme factory — ideating and creating tasteful, culturally relevant memes that align with Shelf’s tone.
Translate editorial stories and product moments for IG.
Maintain our Shelf Brand Social Playbook, including templates, tone/voice guides, meme rubrics, and engagement protocols.
Grow & Engage the Shelf Community
Be the voice of the brand in comments, DMs, and public conversations — engaging proactively, playfully, and authentically.
Develop and execute comment- and DM-engagement protocols targeting key ecosystems (artists, labels, tastemakers, fandoms).
Cultivate relationships with creators, publicists, and partner accounts to organically grow Shelf’s brand visibility.
Analyze & Iterate
Lead weekly analytics reviews and experimentation cycles to evolve strategy and surface learnings.
Elevate the Feed
Curate a portfolio-quality brand presence: polished grids, strategic pins, and professional highlights that impress creators and publicists.
Uphold a sharp creative bar for every post: captions, hooks, subtitles, thumbnails, and cultural timing
What You’ll Bring
Cultural Radar: Deep fluency in internet culture, memes, music/TV/creator scenes; anticipates trends before they peak.
Trained Visual Eye:You must have a penchant for graphic design or a degree in it. Either way, you’re highly skilled at short-form editing, including video, and social-post design tools — can make the most BEAUTIFUL memes.
Community Athlete: Relentlessly personable; builds authentic relationships through comments, DMs, and community engagement.
Analytical & Iterative: Uses data to guide experiments, spot winners, and double down on what works.
Organized & Reliable: Strong calendar discipline and ops instincts; ships daily, with high consistency.
Tasteful Brand Steward: Sharp judgment on tone, visual identity, and what fits Shelf’s distinct voice.
Scrappy & Resourceful: Makes things happen with minimal resources; finds or makes assets quickly.
Clear Communicator: Direct, low-ego collaborator with Editorial, Product, and Design.
High Bar for Quality: Obsessed with precision — captions, timing, layout, sound, and hooks all matter.
Resilient: Thrives in feedback loops, fast cycles, and the chaos of a startup environment.
What Success Looks Like
Within the first 30 Days, we expect:
Social calendar and meme and video pipelines live and running, with a daily cadence established on IG and TikTok
First cultural experiments posted across brand accounts
Comment/DM engagement protocols implemented
Weekly analytics rhythm in place
You’d Be a Great Fit If
You’ve managed and grown accounts (not just personal/creator profiles, or necessarily one for a brand — could be a niche meme or fan account).
You’ve got major graphic-design chops and/or a very aesthetic eye and the skill to make beautiful social posts.
You’re excited to help build a brand from the ground up — fast, scrappy, and creatively free.
You’re highly organized and in the details.
You’ve worked in culture-forward spaces (music, media, or tech).
You love creating, iterating, and pushing the edges of what’s possible in social storytelling.
Compensation
$55,000–85,000 base annualized, and the opportunity to grow with one of NYC’s most ambitious startups.