Account Director, Media Relations

SENIOR ASSOCIATE – MEDIA RELATIONS, FINANCIAL SERVICES 

Weber Shandwick is currently seeking a Senior Associate of Earned Media Strategy to join our Integrated Media team and support consumer-facing financial brands, in sub-sectors including retail banking, fintech, payments and retirement. 

We’re looking for a team player to help us tell compelling stories for our financial services clients through innovative and integrated earned, owned and paid media strategies. Do you love the thrill of the pitch, building relationships with media and influencers, and constantly immersing yourself in social media, culture and media trends to drive impact for financial brands? Do you love helping financial brands help regular people save more, invest for their future, have tough money conversations, and checkout with ease? If so, this role is for you. 

With 2-3 years of experience, you’ll help us create campaigns that drive earned media coverage and activate influencer and social programs that generate meaningful and measurable results. 

Responsibilities include but not limited to: 

• Help develop and execute innovative and award-winning integrated PR campaigns 

• Work with the Integrated Media team and client leads to support the development and execution of social media and influencer strategies and proposals 

• Identify and build relationships with media, influencers and content creators to bring our clients’ stories to life through trusted and relatable voices 

• Enhance the profile of our client’s executive spokesperson bench through comprehensive media strategies that increase their share of voice, bolster their thought leadership, and amplify corporate milestones 

• Identify new outlets and platforms, and creative ways to propel earned-first storytelling for our clients 

• Monitor media outlets, understand financial services industry issues that directly and indirectly affect our clients, and analyze and distill meaningful insights from media coverage and social conversations 

• Keep your finger on the pulse of retirement, insurance, banking, payments and fintech news, reporter moves, and competitor landscapes 

• Monitor issues and help develop strategic messaging for clients’ issues and reputational risks 

• Advise the team on how to architect proprietary research, thought leadership content, and bold brand acts to beget media outcomes 

• Develop and track meaningful KPIs to measure success of campaigns and return on investment for our clients 

• Participation in office-wide initiatives, seminars and meetings to further professional learning and development 

 

  

Key Qualifications: 

• Approximately 2-3 years of experience, ideally in an agency, communications or marketing environment 

• Tenacity, creativity and a proven ability to garner media coverage on behalf of consumer financial brands 

• Interest in engaging consumers on financial topics (including saving, spending, retirement, insurance, borrowing and investing), as well as B2B stakeholders 

• Digitally savvy, with a good understanding of the overall media and social media landscape 

• Creativity in spotting ways for consumer financial brands to break into the cultural conversation 

• A working style that is self-motivated, well-organized and resilient to ever-changing timelines, requests and deliverables 

• Experience working with a research vendor to design media-genic proprietary thought leadership and surveys 

• Strong written, verbal communication, presentation, collaboration and problem-solving skills 

• A degree in communications or a related discipline 

The Weber Shandwick Collective recognizes that your health and wellbeing are a priority. This is why we offer a full suite of benefits including:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k (with employer match)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Juice Money – $60 monthly reimbursement to be used towards purchases that nourish your health, mind, body, and soul
• MyDays – Flexible holiday schedules
• Short-Term Disability
• Paid Employee Family Leave
• Family Building Benefit

NYC Salary range: $62,400 – $70,000

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; market considerations; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s background, pertinent experience, and qualifications.

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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Weber Shandwick is seeking a spring intern to work across major consumer brands. This is a full-time (40 hours/week), paid internship that will start in January 2025. This role is hybrid out of our NYC office.

 

The Essentials

• Thinking: Intellectual curiosity and creativity is a must
• Storytelling: Understand the elements that make a story exciting and how to highlight them in what you read in the press and what you see on social media
• Communication: Speak, write and edit succinctly and compellingly
• Management: Meet deadlines, put out fires and multi-task. Work fast, and work well
• Interpersonal: Play nice, whether it’s in a team, with a team or independently
• Technical: Know Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook. Media databases and social tracking tools are a bonus (examples: Cision, Muckrack)
• Detail-Oriented: Whether it’s a media list or a recap report, attention to detail and a commitment to delivering clear and precise work is essential
• Spark: Understand what sets you apart

 

What You Will Be Doing

• Research: Analyze brands using various resources, thoughtful and detailed research helps our bring ideas and plans to life
• Engage: Share big ideas in brainstorms and with teams
• Plan: Assist in event coordination and logistics 
• Create: Craft written communications including media materials, from briefing books to media pitches
• Hustle: Pitch stories to media, develop media lists, track placements, etc.
• Monitor: Track brands in traditional online and social media during one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Previous campaign reporting experience is a plus
• Organization: Organize and maintain product closet, check inventory, order product/shipping supplies
• Product send outs: Compile various product mailers and coordinate product shipments

 

What We Are Looking For

• Someone who has an interest in, and enthusiasm for public relations and consumer brands
• Able to work in a dynamic and fast-paced agency environment
• Strong writing skills and understanding of the media landscape
• Strong attention to detail
• Excellent time management skills
• Go-getter and proactive mindset – you’re willing to go above and beyond your daily tasks
• A contributing member of the team

Requirements:

• The ideal candidate must be a college graduate by the start of the internship or have demonstrated transferrable skills
• Must be available to work 40 hours a week starting January 2025

NYC Salary range: $20.00 – $20.00

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; market considerations; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s background, pertinent experience, and qualifications.

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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