Brand PR Director - Earned-First Strategy Lead

Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 154,000 - 211,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Benefits package

Job summary

Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates, in North America, seeks a Brand PR Director to lead earned-first communications for its confectionery portfolio, including M&M’S, SNICKERS, SKITTLES and EXTRA. You will steer PR strategy, partnerships and executive visibility across Marketing, Digital, Legal and Corporate Affairs to elevate the brands’ reputation and growth.

The role drives culture-aligned storytelling, sponsorships, and cross-functional collaboration with internal stakeholders and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, journalism or associated profession is required, or the equivalent.
• 10+ years of strong communications and leadership capabilities for consumer-facing brands with earned-first strategies.
• Knowledge of reputation-driving strategies for consumer brands.
• Expertise in brand communications and navigating the consumer media landscape.
• Experience with strategic agency management including scoping, contracting, and success measurement.
• Proven success in leading communications across multiple brands and portfolio.
• Influencing without direct authority to motivate teams and challenge status quo.
• Knowledge of Retail, Paid Media, Influencer, Social, and CP channel management.
• Digital-first mindset and understanding of the consumer media landscape.
• Line management experience in ambiguous settings.
• Ability to travel.

Responsibilities

• Drive the strategic direction and execution of brand PR, sponsorships, and earned-first communications that support Confectionary’s growth ambitions.
• Identify cultural conversations, media moments, and relevant voices to increase brand awareness and relevancy with today’s consumers.
• Unify external brand communications, including earned media, key brand moments, and portfolio wide campaigns.
• Ensure consistent brand messaging across consumer, corporate, and Associate-facing platforms.
• Develop and maintain messaging architecture for confectionary brands, including core narratives, tone-of-voice, and proof points.
• Serve as the earned media expert across the brands’ integrated agency teams (IAT) and internal cross-functional forums.

Skills

Earned-first strategy

Brand leadership

Agency management

Cross-functional collaboration

Digital branding

Influencer/CP channel knowledge

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in communications/marketing/journalism or related field

Job description

Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates, in North America, seeks a Brand PR Director to lead earned-first communications for its confectionery portfolio, including M&M’S, SNICKERS, SKITTLES and EXTRA. You will steer PR strategy, partnerships and executive visibility across Marketing, Digital, Legal and Corporate Affairs to elevate the brands’ reputation and growth.

The role drives culture-aligned storytelling, sponsorships, and cross-functional collaboration with internal stakeholders and