Contract type
Permanent
Location
Hatfield (Hybrid working – 3 days in the office)
Working hours per week
40 hours
Level
Lead
Application Closing Date
Tuesday 5th May 2026
About Us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value. We’re also on a mission to empower our business with smart technology; we’ve recently launched our AI Academy, providing a tailored AI learning journey for every colleague. We’re Ocado Retail, a market‑leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, ocado.com. Not only is Ocado the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same‑day grocery delivery service.
About the team and the role
We are looking for a Social and Influencer Lead to join the wider Marketing Team. This role comes at an exciting time for Ocado’s future plans in the social and creator space. You will have the opportunity to shape the future vision for our plans in this area as we turbo‑charge our commitment and make social and influencers an even more important part of our marketing strategy in FY27 and beyond. Joining now, you will have the license to define what good looks like and how we best set ourselves up for success. The perfect role for someone who wants to hit the ground running and be involved at the start of this next phase of our social journey. This role reports into the Head of Communications and Social and leads Ocado’s social and creator program. In doing so, you will manage a team of three made up of:
* Creative & Campaigns Manager
* Influencers & Brand Ambassadors Manager
* Social Content & Influencer Creative
You will also work alongside our in‑house creative team, EAT, as well as collaborating with your PR counterparts, and our external agencies across the brand marketing team. This role is responsible for setting the strategy and delivering Ocado Retail’s organic social and creator outputs.
What you’ll do
Strategy & Leadership
* Inspire and champion brand social media. While at first, given annual timings, that will mean taking our existing strategy and content franchises and combining it with your own vision to oversee the creation of brilliant, engaging content ultimately you will be responsible for leading the development of ORL’s social strategy to supercharge our brand in the social and creator space.
* Own and lead the development and execution of the full creator and talent program for FY27 and beyond partnering with the Head of Comms and Social on how this fits into the overall comms strategy. Deliver alongside the Influencers & Brand Ambassadors Manager.
* Create, define and implement a comprehensive talent roster strategy, including the right mix of content verticals (e.g., pro/home chefs, women’s health/culture, nutrition) and talent tiers (mega, macro, mid, micro‑influencers).
* Develop a Talent Flywheel approach to scale the program, incentivising organic posting through a scaled gifting program and retained contracts for the most successful organic creators.
* Establish Goal Setting and Measurement Standards for both organic social and our creator program that correlate with business outcomes such as barrier breakdown, trial and acquisition.
* Partner with the Head of Comms and Social to ensure integrated mindset applied to all briefs and content is better utilised across channels (e.g. CRM, Paid Digital, Merchandising, Print) as a result of embedding yourself in the various teams to understand opportunities for content sharing.
Content & Execution
* Take an engaging and inventive approach to ensure our organic social content is resonating with current and prospective Ocado customers.
* Partner with your team to identify content opportunities and themes from across Ocado and existing partners like M&S and other smaller suppliers, including trading events and campaigns.
* Oversee organic social budget, working closely with your team and Ocado’s paid digital team to inform influencers and boosting decisions.
* Collaborate with marketing team on integrated content approach to Ocado Life; identifying ways we can be smarter with the content created and utilised across channels.
Management & Partnerships
* Line manage two direct reports (Creative & Campaigns Manager, Influencers & Brand Ambassadors Manager) providing clear direction and upskilling in line with their development plans whilst also supporting the Head of Communications and Social to create a high‑performing team that can deliver against the overarching strategy and business objectives.
* Manage external social media agency and other partners to ensure they are an extension of in‑house team and delivering best‑in‑class work.
* Oversee relationships with key brand ambassadors and influencers alongside Influencers & Brand Ambassadors Manager with a view of how content can be better utilised across channels for maximum input and return on investment.
* Responsible for content development and creation of organic BAU social content in line with overarching strategy alongside Creative and Campaigns Manager and in‑house creative team, Eat.
* Demonstrate cross‑functional alignment and horizon scanning by working alongside PR, Commercial and broader Customer teams to uncover trends/data and identify relevant consumer opportunities to showcase Ocado’s extensive product range.
Issues Management
* Partner with the Customer Hub and Ocado Logistics to advise on and mitigate any potential reputational risks that emerge on social channels. Lead on social messaging and responses in partnership with corporate comms colleagues.
* Partner with Head of Comms and Social to develop and maintain issues and crisis communications protocols for social channels ensuring the business is able to respond effectively; in line with broader existing issues management plans.
Who you are
* Proven experience either in‑house or agency.
* A natural “big picture” thinker who lives in the “what’s next.” You possess a test‑and‑learn mentality, always scouting the latest platform shifts and cultural trends to build “first‑to‑market” influencer and content experiments.
* Strong track record in implementing social media strategies and influencer programmes for a consumer facing brand that have led to clear and demonstrable success in achieving broader business goals e.g. consideration.
* Expertise in helping a household brand develop a unique tone of voice and ownable look and feel across social channels.
* Proven ability in Talent Identification, using metrics like audience overlap and core performance (follower growth, engagement rate) to select individual creators.
* Experience with creator management tools (e.g., Sprinklr, CreatorIQ).
* Creative and dynamic: confident in your ideas, fun to work with, and full of ideas for entertaining content.
* Agile & adaptive, comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment, with excellent problem‑solving, multitasking, and time management skills.
* Constantly challenging what’s possible – the social space is fast moving and always evolving. You should be someone who is constantly thinking about what’s next, helping ORL stay ahead of the curve.
Benefits
By joining Ocado Retail, you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail. You’ll also be part of our AI Academy, a dedicated learning journey designed to empower every colleague with the smart technology skills of the future.
Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market‑leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.
Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.
Never miss the moments that matter: Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.
We’re an equal opportunities employer, which means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.
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