Vice President, Media Relations

Weber Shandwick is looking for a Vice President, Media Relations with Consumer experience to join our consumer team.

We Are Seeking: 

We are seeking a passionate Consumer and Food media guru Vice President to join our Media Relations team within our Consumer Practice. You love the thrill of the pitch, building relationships with media, and constantly immersing yourself in pop culture/trends to drive impact for brands. 

With 8-10 years of experience, you’ll play a lead role on integrated account teams to create earned media strategies that transform stories into trending topics. Familiarity with both traditional media as well as digital and social platforms is key.

What You Will Be Doing: 

• Crafting and telling compelling stories
• Creating and guiding smart earned-led media strategies across various programs
• Building and maintaining excellent relationships with national and regional news, sports, music and lifestyle reporters
• Developing a deep understanding of our client’s business and target audiences, and – working in close collaboration with our Creative, Insights and Client Experience teams
• Oversee campaign execution, rolling up your sleeves and stepping in where required, and taking accountability for program success
• Provide expert counsel to clients and colleagues on media trends, issues and best practices – act as a thought leader and trusted partner who shares knowledge and expertise
• Counseling junior members of the team to effectively work with the media and developing their skill sets in the agency setting
• Allocating agency resources in accordance with our client’s budget
• Bringing a client-focused attitude that results in work being performed to the highest quality standards
• Presenting on a consistent basis to show crafted strategies for client status calls, new business presentations, special projects
• Proactively looking for and telling impactful stories for clients that further business objectives

What We’re Looking For:

• Senior lifestyle/CPG/Food + Beverage media strategist with a minimum of 8 years of experience and increased responsibility overseeing earned media strategy development and execution
• Knowledge and expertise in food, women’s and men’s lifestyle, entertainment and sports is preferred
• Experience in other verticals such as corporate, social impact, or tech is a bonus, but not required
• Proven ability to garner earned-first coverage (especially in food and lifestyle outlets) and conversation on behalf of brands
• Established media relationships (especially within food and lifestyle verticals) and illustrative examples of past success
• BA or BS in Public Relations, Communications, Journalism or related field
• Proven aptitude to solve problems, handle crises, and make quick decisions with incomplete information
• A working style that is self-motivated, well-organized and resilient to ever-changing timelines, requests and deliverables
• Exceptional client service record with ability to counsel and interact effectively with senior management at client organizations
• Working in and/or with large, marketing-oriented companies
• Effective team supervision and leadership
• Excellent communication skills; verbal and written
• Management of earned media campaigns including thought leadership, product launches, business campaigns, celebrity partnerships, etc.
• Ability to counsel senior clients and their executives with flawless earned media strategy
• Ability to media train senior clients
• Can integrate earned media strategy seamlessly with digital, social and paid
• Strong presentation skills and the ability to craft strategy for new business presentations
• Ability to effectively balance and prioritize multiple projects and deliverables

The Weber Shandwick Collective recognizes that your health and wellbeing are a priority. This is why we offer a full suite of benefits including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k (with employer match)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Juice Money - $60 monthly reimbursement to be used towards purchases that nourish your health, mind, body, and soul
• MyDays – Flexible holiday schedules
• Short-Term Disability
• Paid Employee Family Leave
• Family Building Benefit

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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