PLMR is a leading, fast-growing communications agency with a dynamic, vibrant team, who deliver outstanding results for clients every day. We work across a range of core sectors, including education, health and social care, technology, built environment, energy and sustainability, and professional services to deliver public relations, public affairs, reputation management and digital strategies that play a central role in helping our clients achieve their diverse objectives.
Key Responsibilities and Duties:
As an Account Manager you will be a central member of the PLMR Education practice providing high quality servicing to all our clients. You will have at least three years’ experience in dealing with local, trade, national and digital media for both positive media opportunities and in the context of crisis communications. You will be able to demonstrate your ability to develop relationships with journalists, clients and political stakeholders; and will have a proven aptitude for consultancy and management.
In this role you will progress your consultancy skills; overseeing the day to day management of client accounts and maintaining a positive client relationships; understanding the media landscape and identifying proactive and reactive press opportunities, including any potential reputational risks; monitoring political trends; and navigating issues which might impact client activity. You will also further develop your commercial and business skills, upselling to clients and support with new business proposals that meet organisations’ aims and objectives. In this role, you will manage relationships with both junior and senior colleagues, ensuring PLMR meets and exceeds client expectations at every level.
You will have excellent written and verbal communication skills, be well organised, highly motivated and able to work under your own initiative. As an account manager, you will be a team player with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to supervise, motivate and lead colleagues. You will have a proven ability to deliver on commitments, plan workloads, identify issues and find solutions. You will have your own networks within media circles which you will maintain and expand.
You will work on an array of clients within education, spanning multi-academy trusts and schools, edtech providers, education charities and associations as well as supporting corporate organisations and other businesses working within PLMR’s other sector areas, as required. While the role will predominantly focus on media relations (PR and reputation management), there will be opportunities for public affairs, stakeholder engagement, crisis communications and broader communications support.
Key Skills and Competencies:
- Experience in an agency or in-house in communications and PR (three years’ minimum)
- Excellent written, presentation and verbal communications skills.
- An understanding and deep interest in the British media and political system. You will have started to build your network of journalists and have knowledge of editors across PLMR’s key sectors.
- Experience with reputation management, including sharing advice as well as preparing comms materials.
- A strong track record of identifying or creating a news hook, resulting in relevant media coverage. You will also have an established network of media contacts, even if outside education.
- Ability to be a self-starter and work on multiple projects with challenging deadlines.
- The ability to write persuasively and convey client messages accurately for different media and audiences.
- Experience with line management and a can-do attitude and a positive, supportive and engaging approach to work.
Main responsibilities:
- Driving and implementing programmes of work for clients, including writing and distributing press releases, drafting briefing notes and stakeholder outreach and preparing crisis communications statements.
- Developing news angles, stories and pitches to raise awareness of the client’s profile, products and services.
- Establishing, building and nurturing strong relationships with clients, key stakeholders, potential new business leads and media contacts (including journalists and industry spokespeople).
- Providing leadership on accounts – steering the account team to maintain excellent and trusted client relationships, ensuring that the client feels well serviced, able to call for advice at any time, and maximising the opportunities for account development.
- Working with the Account Directors to ensure that client accounts are run efficiently and to budget.
- Closely monitoring political and media developments in relevant sectors and consider how this impacts your clients.
- Supporting clients with your reputation management skills.
- Managing and mentoring junior members of staff.
- Being involved in identifying new business opportunities, pitching for new business and developing proposals as well as upselling to existing clients.
- Provide leadership on accounts and act as a trusted point of contact for the client.
- Managing live tasks and ensuring deadlines are consistently met, work is delivered to a high standard and is always accurate.
- Researching, forecasting and evaluating the effects of public policy on an organisation, using public sources, political intelligence and personal contacts.
- Writing and placing articles on behalf of PLMR in key media for the company’s profile and positioning.
- Attending events, seminars, and conferences, and setting up regular meetings with contacts to promote a positive, professional image of PLMR as a market leader and obvious point of call for our services.
- Providing editing and proofreading capabilities, including drafting and editing documentation to produce accurate and error free final copy after minimum iterations.
- Mentoring or managing junior colleagues, if required, in order to develop their consultancy skills.
- Setting a professional example to all colleagues.
- Preparing and delivering internal training, if required as well as presenting in team and company meetings are requested.
- Developing sectoral expertise, particularly in education and skills.
- Meeting personal development objectives set by line manager.
Activities may be subject to amendment over time as the role develops and/or priorities and requirements evolve.
Salary: Competitive, plus a very attractive range of benefits including: 25 days of annual leave (plus UK Bank Holidays); enhanced pension plan; enhance maternity pay; private healthcare, gym allowance and outstanding training.
Please submit a CV and Cover Letter, outlining why you’d be a good fit for this role, to support your application.
Please note that due to the expected high volume of applicants, if you do not hear from us then it is likely that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
At PLMR we are committed to reflecting and representing the diversity of the UK and to equal opportunities in employment. The policies and practices of the agency aim to promote an environment that is free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity and inclusion of all people. At the heart of our policy, we seek to treat people fairly and with dignity and respect. We therefore encourage and welcome applications from people with a diverse variety of backgrounds; age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, social background, religion and/or belief.
If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application process, please let us know.
