Account Director, Public Relations

Brilliant

New York (NY)

Remote

USD 95,000 - 110,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Fabulous Fridays (office closed 3pm)

Monthly book club

Virtual happy hours

401K with company match

Medical, dental, vision

Job summary

Brilliant is seeking a full-time Account Director to lead integrated programs for our largest clients, owning strategy, creative direction and the client relationship from planning through delivery. The role sits above the account supervisor level and reports into earned media leadership.

It spans strategic counsel, creative campaign development, team leadership, and cross-department coordination across PR, influencer, affiliate, paid and events.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, or related field.
8+ years of agency experience in the consumer, lifestyle or CPG space.
Demonstrated experience as a day-to-day client lead, not solely a contributor.
Strong, current media relationships and a portfolio of top-tier placements you secured yourself.
Hands-on experience with pitches and press materials that get picked up.
Comfortable using AI tools day to day, with examples of how you've used them.

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior day-to-day contact on the agency's largest integrated accounts.
Provide ongoing, consistent strategic counsel that builds client trust.
Present recommendations, plans and results to client leadership.
Own the health of the account, including scope, budget and renewal conversations.
Develop and implement public relations strategies aligned to client business goals.
Lead media relations, story angles, pitching calendar, and editor relationships.
Coach junior staff on pitch writing, follow-up, and building media relationships.
Lead client presentations and lead media training and briefing documents.
Oversee client media awards programs and set submission strategy.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Client relationship management

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

AI literacy/tools

Media/pitching

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, or related field

Tools

Muck Rack

Cision

Qwoted

Job description

Who We Are: Brilliant is looking for a full-time Account Director to join our fast-moving, award-winning agency. We’re a fully remote performance team built on a simple promise: Work Hard. Play Hard. Laugh Hard.

We aren't for the faint of heart! We move fast, hold a ridiculously high bar for excellence, and thrive on driving real ROI for our clients. But we also believe that intense drive should come with great culture—which is why we offer unlimited PTO, Fabulous Fridays (doors close at 3pm), virtual happy hours, a monthly book club, and endless reasons to win together.

And the industry notices: We were recently named an Inc. Best Workplace 2026 and landed on the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies for 2026!

What We Do:

Since 2008, Brilliant has been where bold ideas meet relentless execution. We're a performance marketing agency with deep expertise in family-focused brands, bringing together PR, Influencer, Social, Paid Media, Affiliate, Retail Support, Experiential, and AI Intelligence to create integrated, full-funnel campaigns that shatter targets and cut through the noise.

Our Dream Team Member:

A strategic thinker who sees the whole board, not just the next deadline
Trusted by clients, and the first call when something matters
A creative who can start from a blank page and come back with an idea nobody expected
A steady leader who develops people instead of just assigning them work
Comfortable across disciplines, and fluent enough in influencer, paid and affiliate to build a real integrated plan
A real media person with relationships worth something and a pitch that lands
Commercially minded about scopes, budgets and where the growth is
Curious about new tools, AI, and technology, and quick to try them to make work faster and better
Calm under pressure and direct when something needs to be said
Passionate about staying ahead of trends in the CPG and F&B space

Position Overview:

The Account Director leads integrated programs for the agency's largest clients, owning strategy, creative direction and the client relationship from planning through delivery. The role sits above the account supervisor level and reports into earned media leadership. It spans strategic counsel, creative campaign development, team leadership, and cross-department coordination across PR, influencer, affiliate, paid and events. We're looking for someone who leads rather than supports, and who is excited to use new tools, including AI, to work smarter.

What You’ll Do:

Client Leadership:

Serve as the senior day-to-day contact on the agency's largest integrated accounts
Provide ongoing, consistent strategic counsel that builds client trust
Present recommendations, plans and results to client leadership
Own the health of the account, including scope, budget and renewal conversations alongside agency leadership

Strategy & Creative:

Develop and implement public relations strategies aligned to client business goals
Build campaigns from a blank page: product launches, brand moments, media and influencer events, creative mailers
Bring fresh angles and trend-jacking opportunities to the table before clients ask for them
Partner with the influencer, paid, social and affiliate teams to build plans that work together rather than in parallel

Media Relations:

Own the earned media strategy on your accounts: the story angles, the target outlets, and the pitching calendar
Personally pitch and secure top-tier national coverage. This is a hands-on role, not an oversight role.
Build and maintain real relationships with editors, producers, freelancers and influencers in the consumer and family space
Direct media list development and quality control the team's pitches before they go out
Coach junior staff on pitch writing, follow-up, and building their own media relationships
Lead media training and briefing document development for client spokespeople and experts
Monitor daily trends and competitor coverage, and turn them into fast trend-jacking opportunities
Know when a story is worth chasing and when it isn't, and spend the team's hours accordingly

Awards:

Oversee client media awards programs and set the submission strategy

Team Leadership:

Supervise and mentor team members at all levels
Delegate meaningful work and give constructive, timely feedback
Foster a collaborative and productive remote work environment

Project Management:

Own campaign and account timelines from kickoff through delivery across multiple workstreams
Track deliverables, budgets, staffing and team responsibilities
Responsible for quality control and on-time delivery of the team's work
Flag risks and staffing gaps before they become problems

Technology & AI:

Actively use AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, and similar) to support research, drafting, monitoring and reporting
Test and adopt new software and platforms, and share what works with the team
Stay current on how search and AI are changing brand discovery, and bring that thinking into client plans

New Business:

Contribute strategy and creative thinking to new business pitches
Help build and present pitch materials
Identify organic growth opportunities within existing accounts

Events / Activations:

Lead virtual or live media and influencer events, creative media mailers, and more
Develop decks and lead client presentations

Requirements:

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field
8+ years of agency experience in the consumer, lifestyle or CPG space
Demonstrated experience as a day-to-day client lead, not solely a contributor
Experience managing and developing people
Working knowledge across at least a few of: earned media, influencer, affiliate, paid media, events
Strong, current media relationships and a portfolio of top-tier placements you secured yourself
Hands-on experience writing pitches and press materials that get picked up, not just reviewing someone else's
Fluency with media databases and monitoring tools such as MuckRack, Cision or Qwoted
Comfortable using AI tools day to day, with examples of how you've used them
A real willingness to try new technologies and adopt new tools quickly
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously
A proactive, self-starter attitude with a passion for staying ahead of trends
Preferred: affiliate platform experience (LTK, ShopMy, Impact) and experience in baby, parenting, toys or wellness categories

Benefits: