Senior PR Manager [AQ-24657]

Aquent is partnering with a pioneering company that is redefining its industry, charting a new course to become the definitive platform for ambitious individuals building extraordinary lives. This innovative organization is undergoing a rapid transformation, moving beyond its past to redefine its space as a leading premium platform. They are committed to being a definitive voice in modern lifestyle, treating the news cycle as a dynamic marketplace, and ensuring a constant presence in relevant conversations. Join us in supporting this groundbreaking client as they continue to make a profound impact. About The Role This is an unparalleled opportunity to lead a transformative journey, directly shaping the public narrative and strategic direction for a rapidly evolving premium platform. As a senior leader in PR and Communications, you will be instrumental in positioning the brand as a definitive voice in modern lifestyle. Your strategic acumen and hands-on execution will directly impact how millions perceive the brand, making this one of the most consequential roles in their transformation. You’ll have the unique chance to build a function, shape a brand, and grow a team, all while directly influencing executive leadership from day one. What You’ll Do Lead and mentor at least one direct report, setting priorities, coaching their development, and fostering their growth into a stronger PR operator. Own the end-to-end PR and Communications strategy, with explicit responsibility for Share of Voice against competitors and earned media impressions. Build and maintain a rolling 90-day PR calendar, aligning with product launches, cultural moments, and emerging trends. Define quarterly themes and narratives to establish the brand’s ownership in tier-one media. Write and edit a wide range of communications, including press releases, media alerts, pitch letters, op-eds, talking points, and briefing books, ensuring minimal editing is required. Pitch directly to journalists, editors, podcast bookers, producers, bloggers, and influencers, leveraging and growing a personal network across relationships, lifestyle, business, consumer tech, and culture beats. Respond to inbound media requests with speed and precision, gathering information cross-functionally to prepare approved messaging. Proactively insert the brand into the news cycle by identifying and hijacking trends, delivering timely pitches. Build and manage a podcast, interview, and speaking pipeline for executive leadership, preparing them with comprehensive briefing materials. Identify and submit the company and its executives for relevant industry, business, and culture awards. Serve as a spokesperson for the brand when needed, participating in interviews and representing the company’s perspective. Build and maintain a curated ‘book’ of diverse members willing and prepared to speak to the press, managing all aspects from recruitment and vetting to prep and follow-up. Serve as the day-to-day lead for external US and UK agencies, driving deliverables, ensuring quality control, and coordinating trans-Atlantic narrative consistency. Continuously monitor the news cycle for relevant stories, track competitor PR activity, and bring actionable trend memos to marketing leadership. Anticipate and manage reputational issues, maintaining holding statements and crisis trees, and quarterbacking any incoming reputational stories. Plan, organize, and execute integrated marketing campaigns in collaboration with creative, social, product, and digital teams. Manage PR operations, including project management tasks, standard operating procedures, media lists, asset libraries, and budget, while monitoring and analyzing PR metrics for leadership reporting. What You Bring Must-Have Qualifications 5 to 8 years of combined experience across PR agency, in-house PR, and/or journalism, with the right mix being more critical than years alone. Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, Journalism, or a related field, or an equivalent professional track record. Demonstrated record securing tier-one media coverage that you personally pitched. Exceptional writing and editing skills, with a portfolio of published or placed work that showcases versatility and brand consistency. Experience managing PR agency or vendor relationships as the client, or experience inside a top agency running accounts as a senior individual contributor. AI fluency, with proven experience using modern AI tools for research, drafting, media list building, and coverage analysis. Strong personal media relationships with journalists, podcast bookers, or producers in at least one of the following areas: relationships, lifestyle, business, consumer tech, or culture. Strong project management and operational discipline, with a track record of shipping things on time and maintaining organized systems. Working knowledge of industry-standard PR and project management tools, plus relevant style guides. Comfort operating as a player-coach, capable of both setting priorities and personally executing work, while also hiring, managing, and developing at least one direct report. Demonstrated experience mentoring or managing junior talent, whether formally or informally. What Sets You Apart Experience at a top consumer or lifestyle PR agency. Newsroom experience as a reporter or editor at a recognized outlet, with a deep understanding of newsroom operations and news judgment. Experience working at an entrepreneurial or founder-led company where PR was being built from the ground up. Existing relationships with relationships, sex-and-culture, or modern-love beat reporters. Track record of award wins (industry, business, or culture awards) that you personally drove the submission for. Experience helping executives become recognizable voices in the media. Comfort with reputation management for brands that carry public-perception challenges. Experience with influencer marketing, social media coordination, or modern earned-and-paid integration. Experience with member, customer, or talent casting for media stories, including managing consent and NDA workflows. Experience building or scaling a small in-house PR team from scratch. Familiarity with luxury, lifestyle, consumer technology, or relationship brands. APR or similar professional certification.