Brand & Social Media Strategy Consultant

Gurukul The School | Freelance – Monthly Retainer

Location: Remote | Scheduled online review meetings

Experience: 5–8 years

Engagement: Freelance / Monthly Retainer

About Gurukul The School

Gurukul The School is a nationally reputed Pre-K to Grade XII institution committed to nurturing confident, well-rounded and future-ready individuals through holistic, value-based and progressive education.

The school believes in creating an ecosystem where academic excellence, character building, innovation, leadership, creativity and life skills go hand in hand.

Our Branding, Communication & Media vertical captures the life of the institution in real time—its people, achievements, learning experiences, events and everyday moments—and translates them into meaningful communication across multiple platforms.

As we strengthen this vertical, we are looking for an experienced strategic professional who can bring an independent market perspective, digital intelligence and fresh thinking to our existing in-house team.

About the Role

Gurukul The School is looking for a Brand & Social Media Strategy Consultant to assess the current health and effectiveness of our branding, communication and social media presence and help define the next stage of our digital growth.

This is a strategy, audit and advisory role—not an execution role.

The consultant will evaluate our existing digital presence, analyse performance, benchmark Gurukul against relevant schools and leading brands, identify gaps and opportunities, and provide clear, actionable recommendations.

The consultant will work with the in-house Branding, Communication & Media team to translate these insights into content directions, campaign ideas, platform strategies and monthly priorities.

We are looking for someone who understands what works, why it works, what is changing and what Gurukul should do next—while keeping the school's identity, values and reputation at the centre.

Key Responsibility Areas

1. Brand & Social Media Audit

- Conduct periodic audits of Gurukul's branding, communication and social media presence.
- Identify strengths, gaps, inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement.

2. Market & Competitor Intelligence

- Track relevant social media, content and communication trends.
- Benchmark Gurukul against leading schools, education brands and relevant aspirational institutions.
- Bring new ideas and emerging practices to the team.

3. Content & Campaign Strategy

- Develop a monthly strategic content and campaign framework with clear objectives, audiences, platforms and expected outcomes.
- Recommend what the in-house team should create,



rather than executing the content personally.
- Guide the team on formats, storytelling approaches, platform behaviour and audience expectations.

4. Performance & Optimisation

- Analyse platform performance including reach, engagement, saves, shares, watch-through, audience growth, enquiries and relevant conversion indicators.
- Identify what is working and recommend changes based on data.

5. Strategic Direction to the In-House Team

- Provide practical direction to the Graphic Artist, Video Editor, Photographer and Coordinator.
- Convert strategic observations into actionable creative briefs and priorities.
- Help the team understand not only what to produce, but why.

6. Brand Relevance & Digital Growth

- Advise on strengthening Gurukul's brand positioning, visibility, differentiation and digital relevance.
- Identify opportunities to communicate the school's philosophy, achievements, people, student experiences and institutional strengths more effectively.

7. Reporting & Review

- Provide a structured monthly performance report.
- Present key observations, trends, successes, gaps and recommended actions.
- Maintain a continuous Action → Outcome → Learning → Next Action cycle.

What We Are Looking For The ideal consultant will have:

- 5–8 years of relevant experience in social media strategy, digital brand strategy, content strategy or a closely related field.
- Demonstrable experience of owning campaigns from strategy and planning through execution oversight and measurable outcomes.
- A strong portfolio of campaigns with measurable results.
- Experience working with brands where trust, reputation and stakeholder sensitivity are important.
- Experience in education, schools, higher education, parenting, healthcare, hospitality or another family-facing category will be preferred.
- Strong understanding of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and other relevant platforms.
- Solid analytical ability and comfort interpreting platform data.
- Ability to distinguish meaningful business/brand outcomes from vanity metrics.
- Strong understanding of current content formats, audience behaviour and emerging digital trends.
- Ability to guide an in-house creative team without taking over its execution.
- Excellent presentation, communication and stakeholder management skills.




- Ability to challenge existing approaches constructively and provide evidence-based recommendations.

Skills Required

Social Media Strategy | Brand Strategy | Digital Strategy | Content Strategy | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Analytics | Brand Management | Digital Marketing | Marketing Strategy | Market Research

What This Role Is — and Is Not

This role is about:

Audit → Insight → Strategy → Direction → Measurement → Optimisation

This role is NOT about:

- Daily posting
- Designing creatives
- Editing videos
- Photography
- Personally producing every piece of content
- Replacing the in-house creative team

The consultant's value will be in making the existing team sharper, more relevant and more effective. Expected Deliverables The engagement is expected to include:

- Initial Branding, Communication & Social Media Health Audit
- Competitive and market benchmarking
- Platform-wise performance assessment
- Brand and content gap analysis
- Content and campaign strategy
- Monthly strategic content calendar framework
- Trend and opportunity recommendations
- Platform and format recommendations
- Monthly performance report
- Leadership/team review
- Actionable priorities for the following month

Engagement & Availability

This is a freelance monthly retainer engagement. The consultant will work remotely and participate in scheduled review meetings with the Director and Head – Strategy / Communication.

Availability for occasional strategic discussions around major campaigns, institutional events and time-sensitive communication requirements will be expected.

Selection Process

Profile & Portfolio Review → Strategic Discussion → Paid Assignment → Reference Check

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to present two previous campaigns, covering:

- Campaign objective
- Target audience
- Strategy
- Their specific role
- Execution approach
- Results achieved
- Key learnings

A shortlisted candidate may then be invited to complete a paid 30-day strategic assignment for Gurukul. The final selection will include a reference check with at least one previous retainer/client.

Closing

We are looking for a strategic thinker, not a content executor. The right consultant will bring an independent point of view, understand where digital communication is moving, identify what Gurukul should Start, Stop and Strengthen, and help the internal team convert those insights into meaningful communication.

If you have a strong record of building brands through social media strategy, measurable campaigns and continuous optimisation, we would like to hear from you.

📌 Brand & Social Media Strategy Consultant (India)
🏢 Gurukul The School(Official)
📍 India