Vice President of Public Relations/Communications

Who we are: Pitchblend is a highly specialized digital PR/brand communications agency sought-after by the globe's most forward-thinking brands for our cultural vision, comms innovation, visual aesthetics and expertise of next-generation audiences. We specialize in brand & creative strategy, brand & marketing communications, PR and digital strategy for leading global brands connecting our clients to next generation audiences across the culture space. We are a minority, woman-owned agency with a diverse, multi-generational team. We cultivate honest and enduring connections while operating with integrity, passion and a whole lot of heart!

Who you are: You’re a leader who takes initiative and instinctively knows how to inspire the best from your team. You obsess over achieving exceptional results in everything you and your team handle. You have expertise in managing managers, and have a proven track record in effectively mentoring staff to perform at their best while maintaining strict quality control on client facing deliverables. You are a natural relationship-builder and a nimble and strategic thinker with sharp intuition, leading clients at the highest echelon to turn to you for your opinion and guidance.

What you’ll be doing: Responsible for the overall health and longevity of client accounts, you would play a pivotal role in driving high level strategy while managing team leads to drive maximal results for our clients, ensuring that all account work is strategic, effective and results-driven. Your primary responsibilities include (but aren’t limited to) the development and oversight of high-level brand communication plans, campaigns, media relations strategy, and ensuring best-in-class execution of media relations, social media and partnerships, events, as well as accountability for the quality of client work.

You would serve as a trusted and reliable contact for clients regarding the strategic approach, efficiency and efficacy of campaign and project execution. With a strategic bird’s-eye-view over all account activity, you would also help streamline processes, optimize team performance and innovate on growth opportunities for team members, clients and the agency.

Additionally, you would drive business development efforts for the agency including (but not limited to) strategic scoping for new projects with existing clients, as well as researching prospective target accounts, pursuing new business leads, and driving, authoring and delegating new business proposals and presentations.

Must have background and be an authentic participant of niche/sub communities within culture ranging from premium & luxury street and sportswear + sneaker culture, emerging public and contemporary art, DJ/festival culture, emerging rap/hip-hop, dance, indie rock, Pro sports (basketball, soccer), action sports (street skating), outdoor sports (hiking, trail running, mountaineering), consumer technology, emerging media and mass media. Must have current relationships at outlets like Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, Complex/Sole Collector, Nice Kicks, The Cut, Coveteur, i-D, Rolling Stone, The FADER and others.

We take pride in our rigorous hiring process, curating for the most ambitious, talented, self-learning and highly connected turnkey professionals who can instantly navigate and solve a wide range of challenges and complexities on day one (role commensurate).

JOB DESCRIPTION

Account Management:

• Oversee overall account activity to ensure client goals are being met
• Provides strategic guidance on all account activity

Account Oversight

• Responsible for all account activity being executed in a strategic, timely and professional manager
• Initiate the ideation and implementation of new programs and concepts that add value for clients
• Maintains a bird's eye view over all account activity, ensuring all moving pieces ladder up to a larger strategic vision
• Manage budgets and resources efficiently, ensuring that work is performed within budget constraints

Campaign Planning / Strategy:

• Initiate and lead the development and presentation of written plans and proposals
• Leads brainstorms as needed Guides team on strategy of key components
• Provides final polishes and approvals of all written plans
• Ensure that campaigns align with clients' branding and goals
• Monitor campaign progress and analyze results

Crisis Communication:

• Develop crisis communication plans and strategies
• Provide counsel during crises and manage communication with stakeholders

Media Relations:

• Establish and maintain ongoing relationships with key media to increase client exposure
• Identifying and fostering new media contacts on a regular basis

Reporting and Analytics:

• Oversight of production of client reports, providing direction on what each recap should entail
• Guide team in presenting results in a way that shines performance in the best light
• Analyze data and metrics to make data-driven decisions

Client Relations:

• Provides clients with strategic direction from an industry and competitive perspective, best practices and innovations
• Serves as clients' primary counsel on important account issues and strategic advisory
• Act as the main point of contact between the agency and clients, ensures strong client relationships
• Oversee and manage client scopes, ensuring all contractual obligations are being maintained and met

Agency Leadership:

• Collaborate with leadership to improve culture, quality of work, address and identify issues and establish the effective processes
• Mentorship and development of team members including account leads, managers, directors
• Play a pivotal role in devising high level strategy, execution, and managing team members to drive maximal results
• Help streamline processes, optimize team performance and innovate on growth opportunities for team members, clients and the agency
• Recruit, hire, and train staff, providing mentorship and guidance for team members to reach their career trajectory goals
• Foster a collaborative and creative work environment
• Drive and contribute to the overall growth and success of the agency by achieving revenue and profitability targets
• Play a leadership role in ensuring the team stays up to date on industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices

Agency Representation:

• Represent the agency at industry events and conferences
• Establish the agency and yourself as thought leaders in the field

Ethical Standards:

• Uphold ethical standards in PR practices
• Ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations

Business Development:

• Drive business development efforts by researching prospective target accounts and pursuing new business leads
• Spearhead the creation of new business proposals and presentations, including leading brainstorms, crafting the overarching strategy being proposed, and project management of getting the proposal done on time
• Serve as an key member in client intake and discovery, building trust to be positioned as a trust client go-to from the onset
• Develop and maintain a strong network in the industry
• Responsible for health and longevity of existing clients, ensuring ongoing client retention and account growth

Requirements:

You might be a good fit if you have:

• BA in Mass Communications, Public Relations, Digital Marketing or related fieldAbility to author strategic plans, in both word document and presentation deck forms
• Excellent and effective oral presentation and campaign sell-in abilityAbility to use persuasive skills and influence to gain trust and buy-in from clients, and to steer them toward more effective strategies that yield maximum results
• Operational and systems oriented acumen
• New business pitch development, proposal & scope of work preparation skill
• Budget oversight and management skills
• Culture & lifestyle marketing & brand comms experience
• Well-rounded or fluent knowledge across a combination of following lifestyle segments: Fashion, Streetwear, Sneaker lifestyleArt, Music & Entertainment Tech, Digital, Web2 & Web3 Pro & Action Sports Travel, Adventure & Outdoor SportsSustainability & Social Impact
• Media landscape expert and thought leader with a deep knowledge of social-first & .COM, broadcast, podcast, print and emerging media opportunities
• Excellent understanding of marketing and public relations execution
• Background in social media content strategy and community management
• Experience working in a fast paced, high pressure PR environment
• Experience managing and coaching junior staff
• Experience working across lifestyle B2C brands
• Proficiency in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides Strong leadership skills
• A nimble, strategic mindset
• A strong work ethic
• A thirst to learn and grow with every experience
• Meticulous attention to detail
• A steel trap mind and memory that can juggle multiple clients at once
• 10+ years of PR experience, 6+ years in an agency setting
• 5+ years in managing team performance
• 5+ years in people management

This position is 100% remote; however, candidates needs to be local to NY or LA.