Weber Shandwick

PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, Integrated Media Belgian Market (FR)

About us

Weber Shandwick has always been at the forefront of innovative communications. Our belief is that you have to contribute value to earn value. Value that is worthy of earned media, earned attention, earned reputation, earned loyalty and earned business. Engagement is our currency in communications. No value, no engagement.

We’re lucky to attract some of the best minds in PR & Comms. Our team is dynamic, open-minded, and fun. At Weber Shandwick, you can be yourself and own your impact. We make sure that our account teams not only exist of media experts and strong communicators, but also of specialists in strategy and planning, policy advisors, digital experts, and award-winning creatives.

About the job

We are looking for an experienced Manager with around 5 years of earned strategy and media relations expertise. You would be working on some of our Belgian market key clients in different industries (Technology, Professional services, Sustainability, Food & Agriculture and Healthcare). With the ability to involve and manage different levels of stakeholders, from clients to media to other senior colleagues. You must be native/bilingual in French, have a good command of English. Knowledge of Dutch is a plus.

Your focus will be on all that relates to corporate communications, media relations and thought leadership profiling. Other responsibilities include recommending programs and activities, coordinating with clients’ goals, effectively delegating projects and offering counsel to junior team members. Experience in issues and crisis communications is a plus.

What you’ll be doing

• Maintain daily client contact, serving as a trusted resource and advisor.
• Translate communications plans and strategies into day-to-day tactics.
• Counsel clients and colleagues on establishing effective relationships with journalists.
• Lead or co-lead story mining sessions with subject matter experts and client executives; develop news-making story angles that drive coverage results.
• Understand news cycles, cultural shifts, industry trends and issues that directly and indirectly affect the client and analyze and distill meaningful insights from media coverage in Belgium. Understanding of the pan European/Brussels media landscape is a plus.
• Generate story ideas and topic angles, draft media materials, and pitch media to land earned coverage.
• Develop strategic messaging; support creation of integrated media plans and proposals.
• Stay on top of news, trends and influencers in specific industries and be able to link these to your clients’ objectives.
• Participate in agency development and assist with new business.

What we're looking for

• Track record experience of working in public relations in an agency environment or in-house (around 5 years’ experience).
• Proven experience in media relations / corporate communications and thought leadership. Preferably in the professional services and HR industry. Other areas of interest include sustainability, food & agriculture, technology and healthcare.
• Demonstrate established relationships with Belgian media (reporters, editors, producers, podcasters, freelancers and contributors).
• Demonstrated success with media strategy, story development, and pitching.
• Experience writing PR plans and proposals.
• Can work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent oral and written business communication skills.
• Instills confidence with clients and colleagues.
• Strong communicator combined with strong project management skills.
• Proactive character, able to navigate changeable and fast-paced environments with high expectations.
• Able to effectively build internal and external relationships.
• Native/bilingual in French, good command of English, and knowledge of Dutch is a plus.

Note from Talent Team

We appreciate the time you took to apply for the role and your recent interest in Weber Shandwick. We will review all applications within five working days and be in touch with those who have been shortlisted to the next stage. Unfortunately, due to volume we are not able to get back to everyone individually so if you have not heard back from us unfortunately you have not been successful on this occasion and wish you all the best in your search.

At Weber Shandwick we are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

We make our careers website accessible to any and all users. If you need an accommodation to participate in the application process, please contact us at JobAppAccommodation@ipgdxtra.com. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or vendors; rather it is strictly for applicants who require special assistance accessing our employment website. Due to volume, messages sent to this email address that are not related to an accommodation cannot be answered.