Freelancer Account Director, Earned Media

Chicago, IL (On-site)

$75/hr – $90/hrSenior Level6+ years expTemporary

Posted 4 months ago

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Job Summary

Lead earned-media campaigns as a senior storyteller and trusted client partner, guiding large, integrated programs from ideation to execution.

  • Own end-to-end earned media campaigns from ideation to execution.
  • Must-have: 6-8 years in earned media with project leadership.
  • Standout: Deep media relationships across business, entertainment, wellness, sports, and pet outlets.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Become a Master Storytelling: You'll be the architect of compelling earned media campaigns. From ideation to execution, you will craft newsworthy angles and proactive pitches that tap into the cultural zeitgeist, ensuring our brands are always part of the conversation.
  • Lead with Cultural Curiosity: Your finger is always on the pulse. You'll be our go-to expert for what's buzzing and what's next, identifying real-time opportunities to inject our brands into trending moments with authenticity and flair.
  • Champion Client & Campaign Excellence: Serve as a trusted senior counselor to our client partners, delivering consistently brilliant work. You'll collaborate with a team of all-stars across the agency to bring large-scale, integrated campaigns to life with sharp attention to detail.
  • Cultivate Media Mastery: Build and nurture incredible relationships with top-tier media across every vertical that matters – from business and entertainment to wellness, sports, and, of course, pet-centric outlets.
  • Mentor the Next Generation: Part of your role is to inspire and grow our junior team members, guiding them with hands-on feedback and helping them develop into the industry's next top talent.

Requirements

  • Proven Experience: 6-8 years of experience in earned media and communications, with a track record of leading projects from start to finish.
  • Media Relations Savvy: You have a "golden rolodex" and a deep understanding of the modern media landscape.
  • Strategic Mindset: You're a critical thinker who can connect the dots between brand goals and cultural trends to create innovative strategies.
  • Collaborative Spirit: You thrive in a team environment and know how to build strong relationships with clients and partners to get things done.
  • Unstoppable Drive: You bring relentless energy, a client-first attitude, and an unwavering commitment to quality in everything you do.

Preferred

  • Experience with CPG, Pet, or Food & Beverage brands is a huge plus!
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Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick is the earned-first global communications agency. Led by world-class strategic and creative thinkers and activators, Weber Shandwick has won some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including being named #1 in the Public Relations and Brand Strategies category on Fast Company’s 2024 Most Innovative Companies list, one of Fast Company’s Best Workplace for Innovators in 2023, PRWeek’s 2024 Global Agency of the Year, ranked #1 on PRovoke’s Global Creative Index in 2024 and honored on Ad Age’s A-List in 2024 & 2020 and Best Places to Work in 2019, in addition to being awarded Campaign Global’s PR Agency of the Year in 2023. Weber Shandwick was the most awarded PR agency at the 2023 and 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, including earning the PR industry’s first-ever idea-led Cannes Grand Prix in the Brand Experience & Activation category and cumulatively earning more than 225 Cannes Lions. Weber Shandwick has also been named PR Agency of the Year by Campaign US in 2021, honored as PRovoke’s Global Agency of the Decade in 2020 and ranked #1 on PRovoke’s Global Creative Index in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, the firm was named PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and was awarded PRWeek’s Purpose Agency of the Year in 2020 and 2021. Weber Shandwick also received Honorable Mention on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Marketing Agencies in 2021, as the only PR agency featured.  Part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), Weber Shandwick is the anchor agency within The Weber Shandwick Collective – the strategic communications and consulting network. For more information, visit https://www.webershandwick.com/. Social Media Community Guidelines: http://bit.ly/wssocialterms

Founded in 2001
New York, NY, US
4.4K employees (1,170 in marketing)

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
74.1K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
36%
Direct
46.1%
Referral
5.6%
Social
11.7%
Paid
0.4%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~4.4K

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
882 (20% of company)
Median Career Experience
14 years
Median Tenure
7 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
36

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