Public Relations Manager

Fabio Viviani Hospitality Group; Barrington (IL); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Flexibility in managing daily schedule

Exposure to growing brand portfolio

Job summary

Fabio Viviani Hospitality (FVH) is seeking a Public Relations Manager to lead day-to-day PR for a portfolio of restaurant brands and support opportunities for Chef Fabio Viviani and FVH leadership.

You will develop relationships with journalists across food, hospitality, lifestyle and travel, identify opportunities to tell stories, and create earned visibility beyond press releases. Flexibility with evenings and weekends is expected in this fast-paced hospitality environment.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in public relations or media relations.
• Experience managing multiple brands/markets.
• Strong earned media storytelling ability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Experience coordinating interviews and events.
• Ability to travel locally between FVH restaurants.

Responsibilities

• Serve as day-to-day PR lead for assigned FVH brands.
• Develop relationships with local, regional and national journalists, editors, producers and other media contacts.
• Identify and pitch opportunities including restaurant and chef features, openings, TV segments, food and beverage stories, awards and more.
• Coordinate media previews, interviews, VIP and media events; manage assets and scheduling.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Operations, Culinary and Beverage to ensure assets are ready and deadlines met.
• Lead PR around restaurant openings, brand launches and ongoing storytelling beyond openings.

Skills

Media relations

Pitching stories

Relationship building

Project management

Multibrand management

Communication skills

Job description

Fabio Viviani Hospitality (FVH) is looking for a Public Relations Manager who knows how to create opportunities, build meaningful relationships and keep our brands part of the conversation.

This role will serve as the day-to-day PR lead for a portfolio of restaurant and hospitality brands while also supporting opportunities for Chef Fabio Viviani, FVH and members of our culinary and leadership teams.

Our PR Manager will work across multiple concepts and markets simultaneously, each with its own identity, audience, priorities and opportunities. You will be responsible for understanding what makes each brand newsworthy, identifying the right people to tell those stories to, and consistently creating opportunities for earned visibility.

This is not a role centered around distributing press releases and waiting for coverage.

We are looking for someone who understands restaurants, hospitality, media and relationships and can turn restaurant openings, chefs, menus, events, partnerships, trends and everyday moments into stories people want to tell.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Media Relations + Earned Coverage

• Serve as the primary day-to-day PR lead for assigned FVH brands.
• Develop and maintain relationships with local, regional and national journalists, editors, producers and other relevant media contacts across food, beverage, hospitality, lifestyle, travel, business and related categories.
• Proactively identify and pitch opportunities including:
  • Restaurant and chef features
  • New restaurant openings
  • Television and broadcast segments
  • Food and beverage stories
  • Seasonal and trend-based stories
  • Restaurant roundups and dining guides
  • Local and national lists
  • Business and hospitality coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Interviews
  • Speaking engagements and appearances
• Respond quickly to inbound media opportunities and coordinate interviews, assets, restaurant access, scheduling and spokesperson availability.
• Maintain an active pipeline of pitches and opportunities rather than relying solely on incoming requests.

Restaurant Openings + Brand Launches

• Lead PR execution surrounding new restaurant openings, new locations and significant brand announcements.
• Build and manage PR timelines in coordination with the broader FVH opening strategy.
• Coordinate media previews, interviews, VIP and media events, chef appearances and opening coverage.
• Work cross-functionally with Marketing, Operations, Culinary and Beverage to ensure information, photography, menus, biographies and other required assets are accurate and available ahead of deadlines.
• Continue developing stories and media opportunities after the restaurant opens, rather than treating opening coverage as the completion of the PR cycle.

Influencer + Creator Relations

• Identify creators and influencers based on audience fit, content quality, market relevance and brand alignment.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant food, hospitality, lifestyle and travel creators.
• Coordinate influencer visits from outreach through completion, including reservations, restaurant communication, expectations, follow-up and resulting content.
• Ensure restaurant teams have complete information prior to hosted visits and that the guest experience is appropriately coordinated.
• Track visits, resulting content and ongoing relationships so successful creators can become long-term brand partners rather than one-time transactions.

Awards + Industry Recognition

• Proactively identify opportunities for FVH restaurants, chefs and leadership to be considered for:
  • Awards
  • Best-of lists
  • Restaurant roundups
  • Dining guides
  • Chef recognition
  • Industry honors
  • Local and national editorial lists
  • Relevant nominations and submissions
• Maintain an active calendar of deadlines and opportunities so FVH is working ahead of submissions rather than discovering opportunities after deadlines have passed.

Community + Partnerships

• Develop relationships within the communities where our restaurants operate.
• Identify meaningful opportunities with local organizations, charitable partners, chambers and business groups, cultural organizations, tourism partners and community events.
• Evaluate opportunities based on brand alignment, audience, potential impact and available resources.
• Coordinate approved community and charitable initiatives and maintain appropriate communication and follow-up.

Events + PR Activations

• Support and develop PR opportunities surrounding:
  • Grand openings
  • Media and VIP events
  • Chef appearances
  • Wine and beverage dinners
  • Seasonal programming
  • Community activations
  • Partnerships
  • Culinary events
  • Chef Fabio appearances
  • Other newsworthy restaurant experiences
• Understand that the event itself is only one piece of the opportunity. Determine what makes it a story, who should know about it, who should attend and how we can extend its visibility before and after the event.
• Identify opportunities that extend beyond individual restaurants and strengthen the visibility of Chef Fabio Viviani and Fabio Viviani Hospitality.
• Develop relationships that can lead to interviews, television appearances, culinary features, podcasts, speaking engagements, business stories, industry opportunities and other relevant exposure.
• Identify opportunities for additional FVH chefs and executives to serve as subject-matter experts and representatives of their restaurants or areas of expertise.

Reputation + Brand Awareness

• Understand the positioning of each assigned restaurant and ensure PR activity supports the broader brand and FVH strategy.
• Monitor media, public conversation and emerging opportunities relevant to assigned brands.
• Work closely with the Director of Marketing and leadership when messaging, reputation management or response strategy is required.
• Understand the difference between earned media, paid media, advertising, influencer partnerships and organic opportunities, and clearly communicate those distinctions when evaluating opportunities.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

• Strong PR is built through relationships.
• Our PR Manager is expected to consistently build and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, producers, creators, community organizations and industry partners, not simply contact them when FVH needs coverage.
• Understand what individual media contacts cover, what interests them and which FVH brands, chefs or stories are actually relevant to their audience.
• A contact list is not the same thing as a relationship.
• We are looking for someone who becomes a trusted resource for information, access, chefs, restaurants and hospitality expertise.

PERFORMANCE + REPORTING

Maintain organized tracking of:

• Media outreach and pitches
• Earned media placements
• Active and pending opportunities
• Media relationships
• Influencer and creator visits
• Resulting creator content
• Awards and list submissions
• Community partnerships and activations
• Restaurant openings and events
• Chef Fabio and executive opportunities
• Reach, impressions and other available performance metrics
• Upcoming editorial opportunities and deadlines

Prepare weekly and monthly updates highlighting results, opportunities, challenges and next steps.

Reporting should not simply document activity. Use results to determine what is working, where relationships are developing, where visibility is lacking and what should happen next.

HOW YOU WILL WORK

FVH operates in a fast-moving hospitality environment. Priorities can shift quickly, restaurants operate seven days a week, and PR opportunities do not always happen Monday through Friday between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

This role offers significant flexibility in how you manage your day and organize your workload, but it is not a traditional 9-to-5 position.

Restaurant openings, media appearances, events, chef activations and other opportunities will require evening, weekend and holiday availability. Candidates should be comfortable working within the rhythm of the hospitality industry and adjusting their schedule accordingly.

You will work closely with Marketing, Operations, Culinary, Beverage, restaurant leadership and outside partners. Many of the people you need to coordinate with will not report directly to you.

The right person will be trusted with considerable autonomy. In return, we expect strong communication, organization, judgment, accountability and follow-through.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• 3+ years of public relations, media relations or communications experience, with restaurant, hospitality, food and beverage or lifestyle experience strongly preferred
• Experience managing multiple brands, accounts, clients or markets simultaneously
• Strong understanding of earned media and what makes a compelling story or pitch
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain media relationships
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience coordinating interviews, media appearances and events
• Experience working with influencers and creators
• Strong understanding of restaurant openings, events and hospitality PR
• Ability to identify proactive opportunities rather than relying solely on incoming requests
• Strong organizational and project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and shifting priorities simultaneously
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy
• Ability to communicate effectively with journalists, creators, chefs, restaurant operators, executives and outside partners
• Ability to identify an opportunity, determine the next steps and drive it forward independently
• Ability to travel locally between FVH restaurants and attend restaurant events as required

YOU WILL THRIVE HERE IF

• You are naturally curious and constantly looking for the next opportunity.
• You follow food, restaurants, hospitality and lifestyle media because you genuinely want to know what people are talking about.
• You understand that sending a pitch is not the same thing as creating a result.
• You know how to build genuine relationships rather than only reaching out when you need something.
• You can move between a casual restaurant, an elevated dining concept, a new restaurant opening and Chef Fabio without losing sight of how differently each should be positioned.
• You see a great chef, menu item, event, partnership or restaurant moment and immediately start thinking about who might care about the story and why.
• You are persistent without being transactional.
• You are highly organized, comfortable with accountability and do not need someone checking behind you to make sure the next step happened.
• And when one of your brands hasn't generated meaningful visibility lately, your instinct is to figure out why and create the next reason for people to talk about it.

ABOUT FVH

Fabio Viviani Hospitality is a growing hospitality group with a diverse portfolio of restaurant and hospitality concepts across the United States.

Our team works across brands ranging from casual concepts to elevated dining experiences, new restaurant openings, events, partnerships and emerging concepts while also supporting the visibility of Chef Fabio Viviani and FVH.

That means no two days, brands or stories look exactly alike.

COMPENSATION + BENEFITS

Salary: $60,000 - $70K annually, based on experience

FVH offers a straightforward benefits package that includes:

• Health insurance employer contribution
• Paid time off following one year of employment
• Flexibility in managing your daily schedule and workload
• Exposure to and experience across a growing portfolio of restaurant and hospitality brands