Director of Media Relations

NYC or Chicago preferred | Remote-friendly

Haus is a boutique, founder-led PR agency with a very simple philosophy: know the media, know the culture and make things happen. We're high-touch, highly collaborative and, admittedly, chronically online and deeply invested in knowing what's happening in culture before everyone else does. We're also nimble by design, without layers of bureaucracy. You work directly with founders, clients and media, have real ownership over your work, and get to see the impact of what you do.

Our clients span consumer brands, with a particularly strong roster of food and beverage / CPG, and we're looking to expand our team to support existing and new clients.

We're looking for a Media Relations Director with 6-8 years of PR experience who genuinely loves media relations. And when we say media relations, we mean actual relationships with reporters. Not just a really good media list. In particular, we’re looking for experts in consumer lifestyle and emerging media: entertainment, celebrity, culture, trends, fashion, wellness, travel, home and beyond. Food and beverage media experience is a major plus, since the majority of our clients are in that space.

This is a doer role. You should want to pitch, pick up the phone, find the right reporter, rewrite the pitch when it's not landing, figure out a different angle and keep going until you get results.

• Own media relations across a roster of consumer clients, with a particular focus on lifestyle and food & beverage.
• Build and maintain relationships with reporters, editors, producers, freelancers and creators across national, lifestyle, culture and food media.
• Develop and execute proactive and reactive media strategies that generate meaningful coverage.
• Pitch constantly: news, trends, products, experts, data, partnerships, cultural moments and whatever else might get a reporter's attention.
• Evaluate ideas through an earned-media lens and identify what will actually make a reporter care.
• Stay deeply plugged into the news cycle, social media, cultural moments, emerging trends and, yes, whatever everyone is talking about on the internet that day.
• Draft pitches, media alerts, press releases, talking points and other media materials.
• Support client launches, events, announcements and ongoing news engines.
• Serve as a media relations expert and trusted partner to clients, including joining client calls and helping guide earned media strategy.
• Track, report on and communicate media results and learnings.
• Contribute to new business when opportunities arise, and pursue as much of it as you're interested in.
• Collaborate closely with the founders and broader Haus team on client strategy and execution.
• Help mentor and manage junior team members as Haus grows.

• 6-8 years of PR/media relations experience, ideally at an agency.
• A strong, demonstrable network of media contacts, including existing relationships with national lifestyle, entertainment, culture, trends, fashion, beauty, wellness, travel, home media. Food and beverage media experience is a major plus.
• A true pitcher and doer. You're happiest when you're in the weeds getting coverage.
• Tenacity. If the first pitch doesn't work, you don't just shrug and move on. You figure out what might and are resourceful enough to find a new angle when the obvious one isn't landing.
• Curious about clients' businesses and able to quickly understand what makes a story interesting.
• Someone who can look at an idea and say, 'Cool, but will a reporter actually care?'
• Easy to get along with, collaborative and low ego.
• Comfortable working independently in a very flat, entrepreneurial environment.
• Confident in communicating directly with clients.
• An excellent writer…