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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Head of PR

💰 $140,000 - $260,000

Public RelationsCommunicationsExecutive

🎯 Role Definition

The Head of PR (Head of Public Relations) is a senior communications leader responsible for developing and executing an integrated public relations strategy that protects and elevates brand reputation, secures high-impact earned media, builds relationships with media and stakeholders, advises executive leadership, and measures the business impact of PR programs. This role leads cross-functional teams and external agencies to shape narratives, manage crises, and drive visibility across traditional and digital channels while aligning PR initiatives to corporate goals, product launches, investor relations and social responsibility programs.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior PR Manager with broad media relationships and campaign ownership.
  • Communications Director with experience in corporate messaging and executive counsel.
  • Agency Account Director who has led integrated PR campaigns for multiple clients.

Advancement To:

  • VP of Communications / VP of PR
  • Chief Communications Officer (CCO) / Head of Global Communications
  • Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) with integrated brand remit

Lateral Moves:

  • Head of Brand and Content
  • Director of Corporate Affairs / Head of Government & Public Affairs

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop and own the company-wide public relations strategy and annual PR plan that aligns with business objectives, product launch calendars, investor timelines, and corporate reputation goals, including measurable KPIs and ROI targets.
  • Lead, mentor and scale a high-performing PR team (in-house and agency partners), define team structure, hiring priorities, professional development plans, and performance metrics to drive results across earned, owned and social channels.
  • Serve as the principal media relations lead: cultivate and maintain strong relationships with national, trade and regional journalists, editors, broadcast producers and influencers to secure top-tier placements and exclusive opportunities.
  • Advise the CEO and executive leadership team on media strategy, speaking engagements, interview preparation, messaging, and rapid response protocols to ensure consistent, compelling and on-brand communications.
  • Design and execute integrated media campaigns for product launches, corporate announcements, funding rounds, executive hires, partnerships and events that generate measurable high-value coverage.
  • Lead crisis communications planning and response: develop issue scenarios, holding statements, reactive Q&A, spokespeople training, and cross-functional war room procedures to protect reputation and restore stakeholder trust.
  • Oversee corporate storytelling and narrative development: create core messages, brand positioning, executive bios, thought leadership content, byline and op-ed strategies that strengthen credibility and category leadership.
  • Manage media training and executive coaching for spokespeople, providing real-time coaching before major interviews, panels, and presentations.
  • Partner with marketing, content, social and product teams to ensure consistent brand voice, synchronized campaign execution, cross-channel amplification, and seamless handoffs for content repurposing.
  • Develop press materials and assets: press releases, media advisories, executive statements, backgrounders, FAQs, case studies, press kits, and multimedia assets to support outreach and coverage.
  • Oversee measurement and analytics for PR programs: define success metrics, implement tracking for media impressions, share of voice, sentiment analysis, message pull-through and business impact, and deliver executive-level monthly and quarterly reports.
  • Manage relationships and contracts with external PR agencies, media monitoring vendors, influencer partners and production houses; set SLAs, budgets, and performance expectations.
  • Collaborate with investor relations and legal teams on alignment of external communications for financial disclosures, earnings periods, regulatory matters, and M&A communications to ensure compliance and clarity.
  • Lead reputation building and executive thought leadership programs: secure speaking slots at industry conferences, curate keynote narratives, and place executives in top-tier business and trade outlets.
  • Drive integrated influencer and analyst relations strategies: brief analysts, secure industry recognition and analyst reports, onboard influencers for product launches, and measure impact on sales pipeline and brand metrics.
  • Own community and stakeholder engagement for corporate social responsibility and ESG narratives: amplify sustainability initiatives, philanthropic partnerships, and employee stories to build trust among customers, partners and regulators.
  • Oversee proactive media outreach and rapid reactive communications during breaking news cycles to ensure accurate representation and minimize misinformation.
  • Manage PR budget planning, allocation and forecasting, ensuring efficient spend across channels, agencies, earned events and measurement tools while demonstrating cost-per-coverage and ROI.
  • Create and enforce media policies, spokesperson guidelines and approval workflows across the organization to ensure timely and accurate external communications.
  • Lead cross-functional scenario planning and post-mortem analyses for major campaigns and incidents to document learnings, optimize playbooks and continuously improve readiness.
  • Represent the company publicly as needed (panels, podcasts, industry forums) to elevate the brand and own external partnerships with trade associations and professional bodies.
  • Drive multilingual and international PR strategies where applicable, coordinating localized messaging and media outreach with regional communications leads to ensure consistent global brand narrative.
  • Champion innovation in PR tactics, including data-driven storytelling, integrated digital PR, SEO-conscious news placements, and multimedia content that extend reach and search discoverability.
  • Maintain vigilance for emerging media trends, platform changes, AI-driven news distribution, and regulatory shifts that impact reputation and adjust strategy accordingly.

Secondary Functions

  • Act as a strategic adviser on internal communications projects that influence employee engagement, onboarding, and internal brand ambassadors.
  • Support product and go-to-market teams with PR inputs during feature launches and beta programs to optimize third-party validation.
  • Collaborate with legal, HR and security teams on sensitive situations, ensuring communications balance transparency, compliance and stakeholder protection.
  • Provide ad-hoc senior counsel for board communications, annual reports, and corporate governance announcements.
  • Mentor cross-functional stakeholders on media best practices, social amplification and executive presence to cultivate an organizational culture that supports earned media.
  • Curate and maintain a centralized PR asset library and media contact database to improve speed and consistency in outreach.
  • Facilitate quarterly executive reviews of PR performance and contribution to broader marketing and business objectives.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strategic media relations: proven ability to secure top-tier national and trade coverage, craft pitches that resonate, and manage long-term journalist relationships.
  • Crisis communications and issues management: develop and execute incident response plans and spokesperson protocols under tight time constraints.
  • Measurement and analytics: proficiency with media monitoring, sentiment analysis, share-of-voice tools (e.g., Meltwater, Cision, Brandwatch), and translating coverage into business KPIs.
  • Executive communications and speechwriting: craft executive narratives, keynote speeches, op-eds and presentation decks for C-suite visibility.
  • Integrated campaign planning: design PR programs that tie earned media to marketing funnels, SEO outcomes, and product adoption metrics.
  • Content creation and editorial oversight: write and edit press materials, bylines, thought leadership pieces and multimedia scripts with strong journalist-facing clarity.
  • Budgeting and vendor management: manage PR budgets, negotiate agency retainers, and benchmark vendor performance using clear SLAs.
  • Digital PR & SEO: understand how press placements impact organic search, backlinks, and SERP visibility; coordinate with SEO teams to maximize discoverability.
  • Multichannel amplification: execute coordinated distribution across owned and social channels to increase reach and engagement from earned placements.
  • Contract and compliance awareness: work closely with legal/regulatory teams to coordinate public statements in regulated industries and ensure accurate disclosures.

Soft Skills

  • Executive presence and stakeholder influence: confident advisor to senior leaders with the capacity to persuade and align diverse perspectives.
  • Strategic thinking with business acumen: ability to translate corporate objectives into measurable PR plans that move business metrics.
  • Calm under pressure: perform effectively during high-stakes crises and time-sensitive media situations.
  • Excellent storytelling and writing: craft compelling narratives, clear messages and journalist-friendly content at speed.
  • Leadership and team development: inspire, coach and scale a cross-functional PR team while fostering a collaboration-first culture.
  • Strong relationship-building: deep interpersonal skills to cultivate trust with journalists, executives, partners and cross-functional peers.
  • Decision-making and prioritization: evaluate competing requests and focus resources on high-impact activities.
  • Adaptability and curiosity: quickly learn new categories, technologies and global market nuances to inform PR strategy.
  • Collaborative mindset: partner effectively with marketing, product, legal, investor relations and HR to ensure unified external communications.
  • Attention to detail: ensure accuracy and consistency in public statements and press materials.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, English, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree or advanced certificate in Strategic Communications, MBA with marketing focus, or equivalent professional PR accreditation.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Public Relations
  • Communications
  • Journalism
  • Marketing
  • Business / Management
  • English / Rhetoric

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8–15+ years of progressive public relations/communications experience, with 4+ years in a senior leadership role managing teams and agency relationships.

Preferred:

  • Demonstrated history of leading high-impact PR campaigns for consumer tech, B2B SaaS, finance, healthcare, or comparable industry.
  • Experience advising C-suite executives and managing investor, analyst and regulatory communications.
  • Proven crisis communications leadership and a portfolio of measurable media wins at national or global scale.
  • Experience operating in a matrixed or global organization with cross-border communications responsibilities.
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