Senior PR Manager

Aquent; Las Vegas (NV); Sur place; USD 80 000 - 100 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Aquent is seeking a Senior PR Manager to lead Public Relations and Communications for its flagship platform based in Las Vegas. This role involves owning the PR strategy, executing communications campaigns, and mentoring a small team. You will directly manage press relations and contribute to building a dynamic company image.

The ideal candidate will possess exceptional writing and editing skills along with experience in securing major media coverage. Candidates with agency or newsroom backgrounds will thrive in this role.

Qualifications

• 5 to 8 years of experience in PR agency or corporate communications.
• Demonstrated record of securing tier-one media coverage.
• Experience mentoring or managing junior talent.

Responsabilités

• Own the PR and Communications strategy with KPIs.
• Write press releases, media alerts, and pitch letters.
• Manage and mentor at least one FTE direct report.

Connaissances

Exceptional writing skills

Strong media relationships

Team leadership

Crisis management

Formation

Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, Journalism

Outils

Project management tools like Jira

Description du poste

*Must have a portfolio to be considered*

About the Role

Our flagship platform is a global leader in the premium consumer tech and lifestyle space, and we are entering the most important chapter of our brand transformation. We are looking for a Senior PR Manager who will own Public Relations and Communications end‑to‑end as a small, high‑output in‑house function, with two North Stars: Share of Voice against named industry competitors and earned media impressions.

This is the scope of a Head of PR delivered by a true player‑coach. You will set the strategy and execute it personally. You will write the press release, pitch it to the journalist, prep the executive team for the podcast, brief the agency on the follow‑on, file the award submission, and clean up the asset library before the end of the day. You will also lead a small team: at least one direct report (PR Associate or PR Coordinator) whom you will hire, mentor, and grow, plus two external agencies serving as a force multiplier on outreach and relationships. You will coordinate cross‑functional marketing campaigns with creative, product, social, and digital teams.

This role exists because our brand is moving past its legacy reputation and becoming the definitive platform for ambitious people building extraordinary lifestyles. We need a PR operator who treats the news cycle like a marketplace, finds our brand a seat at every relevant table, and makes us one of the most talked‑about companies of the next 24 months.

If you want a corporate seat with five layers above you, this role is not for you. If you want a function you can build, a brand you can shape, a team you can grow, and direct exposure to corporate leadership and the Director of Marketing from day one, keep reading.

Who Should Apply

We care more about wiring than your exact resume background. We are especially open to candidates from these tracks:

• Agency operators (mid‑level to senior) at consumer, lifestyle, or entertainment shops who are ready to run their own shop in‑house.
• Former journalists, reporters, or editors who already think in story angles and possess an active newsroom network.
• In‑house PR managers at high‑growth consumer brands who have scaled a media presence from a small baseline.
• Comms operators with a journalism background who have spent time on both sides of the media pitch.
• Communications generalists from entrepreneurial or founder‑led companies where PR was built entirely from scratch.

If you have spent your career telling stories, editing content, or working in newsrooms, your skills translate. We value your understanding of what journalists need, how editors think, and what makes a story worth publishing.

Core Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Manage and mentor at least one FTE direct report. Set their priorities, coach their writing, develop their media judgment, and grow them into a stronger PR operator.
• Run weekly 1:1s with each direct report focused on feedback, development, and removing operational blockers.
• Build a quarterly development plan for each direct report so they have a clear path of growth.
• Delegate work that is below your bar (media monitoring, basic asset maintenance, lower‑tier outreach) and use that leverage to focus on tier‑one pitching, executive visibility, and high‑level strategy.
• Scale the team thoughtfully as Share of Voice and earned media impressions grow; make the business case for additional headcount when warranted.

Strategy & Earned Media Ownership

• Own the PR and Communications strategy for the brand, with explicit ownership of Share of Voice and earned media impressions as your primary KPIs.
• Build and maintain a rolling 90‑day PR calendar tied to product moments, the cultural calendar, and market trend opportunities.
• Define quarterly themes and narratives the brand will own in tier‑one media.
• Set and report on KPIs weekly: SoV vs. named competitors, earned impressions, tier‑one placements, sentiment, and share of conversation on key topics.
• Build a quarterly executive readout for the Director of Marketing and Executive Leadership.

Writing, Pitching & Media Relations

• Write press releases, media alerts, pitch letters, op‑eds, bylines, talking points, Q&A, fact sheets, executive bios, and briefing books end‑to‑end with minimal editing required.
• Pitch directly to journalists, editors, podcast bookers, producers, bloggers, and influencers. This role does not outsource primary pitching to an agency.
• Maintain and grow a personal list of journalist and producer relationships across business, lifestyle, consumer tech, and modern culture beats.
• Respond to inbound media requests with extreme speed (within hours) and gather information across the company to prepare approved messaging.
• Identify and pursue PR opportunities through platforms like Qwoted and HARO daily.
• Insert the brand into the news cycle through trend‑hijacking: spot a story moving on social media, in newsletters, or in early‑morning headlines and have an optimized pitch out before lunch.
• Edit and proofread all external communications for accuracy, AP style, tone, and brand consistency.

Executive Visibility & Spokesperson Duties

• Build a targeted podcast, interview, and speaking pipeline for our executive leadership and founders, placing them on shows their target audiences actually listen to.
• Prepare executives with briefing materials, narrative arcs, and message tracks for every public appearance.
• Identify and submit the company and its leadership into industry, business, and culture awards that drive brand credibility.
• Manage stage and panel opportunities at major industry conferences.
• Coordinate executive visibility across earned media, social, and owned channels.
• Be available to participate in interviews and serve as a named or unnamed spokesperson for the company when needed.
• Ensure everyone in PR, including any direct reports, is media‑trained and willing to step in front of the camera, the microphone, or a reporter’s notebook on the company’s behalf.

Customer Advocacy & Case Study Database

• Build and maintain a curated, highly confidential repository of verified platform users who are willing and prepared to speak to the press on the company’s behalf.
• Recruit new case studies into the repository continuously, prioritizing diversity across demographics, professions, geography, and story types.
• Vet every advocate for media‑readiness, story strength, and alignment with our modern brand guidelines.
• Match the right real‑world story to the right journalist request when media outlets ask for interview subjects.
• Manage all NDAs, consent forms, talking‑point briefings, and post‑interview follow‑ups for user interviewees.
• Maintain the database as a living asset, tagged by beat, story angle, and availability, so the right user can be sourced within hours.

Agency Management

• Serve as the day‑to‑day client lead for our outside US and international agencies. Run weekly status calls, set the agenda, drive deliverables, and hold the agencies to clear quarterly scorecards.
• Treat the agencies as a true force multiplier on outreach and relationship coverage, not as a replacement for your own pitching.
• Quality‑control every agency‑drafted asset before it leaves the building to ensure it meets internal standards.
• Track and report on agency performance metrics and ROI, renegotiating scope when necessary.
• Coordinate cross‑border narrative consistency so global stories ladder up to the same brand position.

Trend‑Mining, Crisis & Cross‑Functional Coordination

• Monitor the news cycle continuously across consumer tech, lifestyle, business, and tech for stories the brand should participate in.
• Maintain a list of recurring cultural moments and pre‑build pitches around them.
• Track competitor PR activity and flag where they are taking share of conversation we should be contesting.
• Anticipate reputational issues before they hit. Maintain holding statements and crisis trees for predictable categories, and quarterback incoming reputational challenges alongside legal and executive input.
• Plan, organize, and execute integrated marketing campaigns alongside creative, social, product, and digital teams.
• Create and manage Jira/project management tickets, maintain organized workflows, and keep the PR function operationally tight.
• Monitor daily media coverage using tools like Muck Rack, Cision, or Meltwater to compile weekly summaries and monthly reports.

Required Qualifications

• 5 to 8 years of combined experience across a PR agency, an in‑house corporate communications team, or a fast‑paced newsroom.
• Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, Journalism, or a related field (or equivalent professional track record).
• Demonstrated record securing tier‑one media coverage (national business, lifestyle, culture, or consumer tech outlets) that you personally pitched.
• Exceptional writing and editing skills with a portfolio of published or placed work. You can draft a press release, a pitch email, an op‑ed, and copy without a template.
• Experience managing PR agency or vendor relationships as the primary client contact.
• AI fluency. You already use ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or similar tools to research trends, draft first passes, build media lists, and analyze coverage.
• Strong personal media relationships with journalists, podcast bookers, or producers in consumer technology, business, or lifestyle beats.
• Experience mentoring or managing junior talent, even if informally.
• Comfort operating as a player‑coach: you set your own priorities and ship the work yourself while developing direct reports.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a top global consumer or lifestyle PR agency.
• Newsroom experience as an editor or reporter at a recognized media outlet.
• Experience working at an entrepreneurial or founder‑led company where the PR function was built from the ground up.
• Track record of managing user, customer, or talent casting workflows for media stories, including managing consent and NDA frameworks.
• Experience helping corporate executives become recognized thought leaders in the media.
• Comfort with reputation management for brands that navigate complex public‑perception landscapes.

Cultural Fit: Who Thrives Here

• You Move Fast: You would rather ship a B+ pitch in two hours than an A+ pitch in two days.
• You Own Your Viewpoint: You have a strong perspective and defend it, but you shift strategies fluidly when data or market dynamics dictate.
• You Love the Execution: You are an operator, not an architect. You like the execution as much as the planning, and you do not consider operational tasks beneath you.
• You are Camera‑Ready: You are willing and ready to step in front of the camera or microphone yourself when needed. PR people here are active brand champions, not just behind‑the‑scenes coordinators.
• You Take Extreme Ownership: You are the kind of person who would rather fix something quietly than wait to be told to fix it.