Sr. Manager, Brand Partnerships & PR

As the Sr. Manager for Brand Partnerships and PR, you will work across two key streams of business development for the MERIT brand. One, you will be responsible for driving both long and short-term growth of the brand through strategic and co-designed partnerships in the luxury, fashion and lifestyle industry. In addition to leading the strategic approach to hit revenue and growth targets, you will work collaboratively with internal stakeholders across all areas of the business to build processes, manage deadlines and ensure financial objectives of the partnership are met. Secondly, you will be responsible for managing our external PR agency to develop and implement our strategy for both long and short lead press opportunities as it relates to new product launches and continued coverage of the MERIT brand. In tandem with the agency, you will be responsible for building MERIT’s reputation with, but not limited to journalists, key media stakeholders, make-up artists and industry specialists to ensure we have effective press and media coverage for key brand moments. The ideal candidate should have established contacts in the lifestyle, beauty and or fashion industry and understand the intricacies of building a brand in a fast-paced environment. This role will work intimately with all cross-functional areas of the business, the ideal candidate is highly organized and should have experience working in a complex and matrixed environment.

Job Duties:

• Build the strategic roadmap that will allow MERIT to successfully scale our branded partnerships business model repeatedly and successfully
• Manage and deliver daily budget updates for all partnerships between finance and integrated teams
• Manage an ongoing pipeline of brand partnerships prospects – development a process for identifying new potential partners and new categories outside of the lifestyle and beauty industry
• When required, collaborate with the Product Development team on co-designed partnerships to ensure development lead times are taken into account and shared broadly with all stakeholders
• Work collaboratively with the Creative, Brand Marketing and PR teams to bring each partnership to life in a new and unique way; considering both IRL and digital moments
• Partner with finance to ensure all partnership related processes are met and compliant according to company guidelines
• Work in partnership with the legal team to develop a streamlined process to create contracts for branded partnerships and enforce all service level agreements
• Manage partnership wrap-up reporting, identifying new opportunities and ways to optimize
• Ensure our PR agency has all relevant and up to date briefing materials for new product launches and branded initiatives
• Partner with the influencer marketing team to ensure our collective celebrity and influencer outreach appropriate for each new product launch
• Share brand press coverage and highlights with the broad marketing team; build relationships with key media and press stakeholders when the brand is covered in a specific outlet
• Partner with Brand Director to approve press releases and media kits for both ongoing coverage and new product launches

Skills and Qualifications:

• 7+ years experience in marketing, brand partnerships and PR with a proven track record for developing and executing successful marketing campaigns that achieve brand exposure and result in product sell-through
• Budget management
• Demonstrated success leading innovative and ROI-driven social initiatives from ideation through execution and reporting
• Versed with key media and PR outlets; existing relationships is a plus
• Experience working in a start-up environment, with the ability to manage and collaborate in a fast-paced environment
• Strong interpersonal skills with a keen ability to build lasting relationships
• Strong negotiation skills