Primary Responsibilities:
- Serve as a primary, day-to-day, client contact; provide strong client counsel, anticipate client needs and prepare in advance, interact with senior level colleagues and clients
- Proactively generate new ideas and opportunities to ensure client program success; participate actively in account team strategy sessions and brainstorms
- Serve as the lynchpin of a client relationship team, liaising between clients, vendors, and agency team to keep teams and deliverables organized
- Maintain a thorough understanding of clients’ businesses and industries; actively follow and understand emerging issues, trends and news impacting your clients’ business, and proactively advise the team and client regarding how best to leverage or address these developments
- Manage and mentor teams; facilitate teamwork and learning opportunities by delegating and involving junior staff whenever possible; review materials drafted by junior staffers; supervise media reporting and monitoring
- Actively support the pitch process for new business (including research and capabilities presentations and/or contribute media ideas for broader presentations) and attend new business pitches as appropriate; find creative ways to contribute to organic growth of existing accounts
- Demonstrate excellent writing skills; press releases, creative pitches, media audit and reporting, strategic recommendations, briefing documents, etc.
- Develop a thorough understanding of the digital landscape and provide hands-on social and digital support, including content development and digital strategy for clients across multiple digital platforms.
- Drafting materials that will secure proactive coverage for the clients to cultivating relationships with journalists and influencers
- Conduct media monitoring to identify client-relevant media coverage, including competitive market and industry information, and perform analysis on these stories for agency clients
- Moderate media interviews and support media events, product briefings and media tours, and represent clients and products at industry conferences and events
Education and Experience Requirements:
- At least 3 years of experience serving in a full-time role either in a public relations agency or the communications department of a company in a relevant industry
- Bachelor’s degree in public relations, a related field or in the media
- Experience managing staff across multi-dimensional accounts (both up and down)
- Excellent process and organizational skills; attention to detail a must as this primary focus is staying ahead of client and keeping the team focused on meeting deliverables
- Quality control for junior staff work product
- Track record of meeting deadlines with a multi-client workload
- Demonstrated experience maintaining client interaction on a daily basis with client and help the account team retain and grow the business
- Ability to “get smart quickly”- understand and learn different business sectors swiftly
- Strong track record of generating targeted impactful earned coverage
- Demonstrated understanding of digital and social media and how they work together with traditional media relations
- Superior oral and written communication skills; strong proofreading and editing ability
- Demonstrated proficiency in media writing and media relations (story pitching to traditional media and bloggers, writing releases and bylines, ability to find creative angles and create highly targeted media strategies and pitches)
- A demonstrated understanding of and affinity for digital tools and media platforms (including social media)
- Experience working with corporate/B2B clients is a plus!
Success Factors and Other Details:
- Maintain knowledge and understanding of industry publications, nationals, broadcast media
- Maintain a thorough understanding of clients’ businesses and industries, and the industry issues that directly and indirectly affect the client
- Proven ability to think strategically, creatively and proactively; exhibit a facility for problem solving and close attention to detail
- Desire to pursue knowledge and professional development
- Team oriented with the proven ability to work in partnership with others as well as independently
- Cultivate and exhibit strong presentation and interpersonal skills
- Maintain a professional, client-ready demeanor and presence; keep a high standard of etiquette in all communications and interactions