Director, Media Relations (Travel & Tourism)

Praytell is an integrated marketing and creative communications agency made by teams with strategic minds and spirited hearts. We create timely, integrated, headline-worthy campaigns across social, earned, digital and more. And we’ve picked up some pretty cool awards along the way, like PRWeek’s Best Place to Work (8x so far!), Agency of the Year and even a few your mom would recognize, even if she doesn’t fully get what you do for a living. Best of all, we’ve got a team of the smartest, kindest, most curious and supportive humans on the planet. And guess what? There’s an empty seat here with your name on it. If you're looking for an opportunity to join an ambitious team that is singularly focused on doing great work with great people, we'd love to hear from you! Overview: We’re looking for an experienced media relations pro to join our growing Media Team, dedicated to supporting our rapidly expanding Travel & Tourism practice, which represents national, regional, and city-level DMOs; hotels and accommodations; airlines; and travel-adjacent lifestyle brands. Responsibilities: As Director, Media Relations, you will:

• Be accountable for inserting our travel and tourism clients into culturally relevant media conversations, both in the travel space and beyond (think: lifestyle, entertainment, design, wellness, and business media).
• Drive media strategies and all aspects of their execution in collaboration with the account team, with minimal input required from leadership.
• Provide strategic input on campaign strategies and plans, sharing strong, insight-driven POVs, builds, and pushes.
• Develop compelling creative ideas, media angles, and identify feature storytelling opportunities to generate leads and secure coverage across traditional (e.g., print, online, broadcast) and emerging channels (e.g., Substacks, podcasts, e-newsletters).
• Collaborate with the account team to produce comprehensive, airtight media lists (inclusive of traditional media and emerging channels like podcasts, social, and newsletters); press releases; briefing docs; bylines; and mailers.
• Staff media events and client FAM trips, hosting both clients and media in an engaging and professional manner.
• Stay up-to-date on industry news, trends, and updates to inform media strategy and recommend new pitch angles/ideas; create forward-looking POVs on the media landscape and tangible implications for clients.
• Maintain a strong existing roster of media relationships with travel and lifestyle/non-endemic media; cultivate and expand this roster through ongoing pitching and networking with media via virtual and in-person meet-and-greets.
• Manage proactive and reactive media relations for clients, while coaching junior staff to do the same.
• Co-develop KPIs in partnership with account leads for clients and campaigns; monitor/report progress and recommend pivots to meet KPIs.
• Collaborate with other members of the Influence Team (Media, Influencer, Corporate) to develop ongoing industry POVs, share learnings from media meetings, and act as a media relations braintrust for the agency.
• Work closely with members of our integrated teams, leveraging tools and resources with a high-level understanding of cross-agency collaboration (i.e., social, creative, analytics).
• Participate in new business opportunities (which may require occasional travel), as well as mentorship and training programs for junior staff development.
• Understand allocation roles and processes, accurately managing and tracking time via Harvest, and flagging overages in real time.
• Balance media leadership responsibilities with client deliverables, ensuring deadlines are consistently met.

Requirements

Experience you have:

• You have 8+ years of experience in public relations, preferably in an agency environment, with an expertise in media strategy and media relations.
• You have strong relationships with media and continue to develop new connections regularly across multiple media channels.
• You have a deep understanding of the travel industry with a penchant for securing coverage, creating excitement with media and thinking of creative pitch angles to drive hits.
• You’ve developed and executed media strategies for clients in the travel and tourism industry, and have worked with teams to see them through to execution..
• You’ve participated in new business pitches and are comfortable communicating with senior level clients.
• You’re a strong writer, capable of whipping up a press release, briefing doc or byline as needed.
• You’re comfortable interfacing with clients and media.
• You're familiar working in an IAT model, collaborating with other PR, marketing and advertising partners.
• You have experience coaching up and mentoring junior staff.

Equally as important, you are:

• Ambitious and entrepreneurial
• Flexible and adaptable
• Meticulous and well organized
• A creative thinker and problem solver
• Inquisitive and eager to learn
• Collaborative and a team player
• Honest and approach all work ethically
• Committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the workplace

Benefits

We have a growing list of benefits and perks, including:

• Salary: $105,000 - $130,000 (Please note, the salary range for this role reflects the minimum and maximum compensation. In the spirit of transparency, we typically offer salaries within the 25th to 75th percentiles and cannot exceed the maximum listed. The final offer will depend on your experience, skills and qualifications.)
• Comprehensive health care (Medical, Dental, Vision)
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), where you receive shares of Project Worldwide, our parent company, for every year you work here
• Traditional and Roth 401(k) options with an annual employer contribution based on company performance
• Flexible Time Off (FTO), more than a dozen company holidays and mental health days
• Flexible work locations within the US, remote is a-ok! We also have physical hubs and offices in LA, SF, Austin, Chicago and New York
• Flex Fridays, aimed to keep Fridays meeting-free (with exceptions) for focused work and providing you space to support your personal wellbeing while delivering great client service
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) giving you and your family access to mental health resources, family and relationship support, career resources, legal and financial services, discounts and more
• Paid parental leave and fertility support programs
• Training and team-building programs and activities
• Camp Praytell, our company offsite (eligibility based on employee start date)
• Our wonderful Employee Resource Groups (BEACON, Compañeros, elevAsian, Herizon and Prism)
• And more!

Interview Process

• Submit Application
• Phone Screen (30 mins)
• Team Interview (30 mins - 1 hour)
• Final Interview (30 mins)
• Take Home Test (TBD)
• Offer
• Target Start Date: August

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