Head of Communications

**Head of Communications & PR** **Reporting to**: Agency Director **Location**: Vancouver (Hybrid) **Employment Type**: Permanent, Full-Time **Compensation**: - **Salary**: $90,000 - $100,000 (commensurate with experience) - **Benefits**: Comprehensive Health and Wellness Coverage **Who We Are**: SMC is on a mission to deliver cutting-edge PR and omni-channel marketing-communications strategies that shape the future of food, beverage, hospitality, and lifestyle brands. We thrive on teamwork, inclusivity, and collaboration, driven by our core values that fuel our purpose. We're looking for a dynamic leader who is passionate about storytelling, mentoring a team, and navigating the ever-evolving media landscape to drive meaningful results for our clients. **Your Mission**: As the Head of Communications & PR, you'll lead our client service team, bringing to life in-culture ideas that resonate and engage. Your leadership will be rooted in our core values—embracing growth, achieving ambitious results, taking ownership, and winning together as a team. If you’re a seasoned PR account director with a deep understanding of media and you're ready to help us shape our agency’s future, we would love to connect with you. **What’s in It for You**: - **Impact**: Become a key player in shaping leading F&B brands. - **Growth**: Elevate your career as we scale together, embodying a growth mindset and embracing continuous learning and innovation. - **Passion**: Collaborate with a creative and dedicated team committed to industry excellence and client success. **Key Responsibilities**: - **Client Leadership**: Build and own strong relationships with clients, stakeholders, media, and internal teams. Serve as the primary contact for all PR and communications efforts. - **Strategic Insight**: Develop a deep understanding of each client’s business context and leverage this to craft tailored, effective communications strategies. - **Integrated Communications**: Lead the execution of integrated marketing communications with a focus on earned-first storytelling and a digital always-on approach. Stay ahead of trends and understand what makes a story resonate across different channels. - **Exceptional Client Service**: Deliver top-tier client services with the ability to counsel and interact effectively with owners, founders, and senior management at client organizations. Your commitment to ownership will ensure that you not only care about individual tasks but are fully committed to the big-picture outcomes for our team, agency, and clients. - **Event Management**: Plan, host, and attend client events, ensuring the best possible media exposure and positive outcomes for all stakeholders. - **Team Leadership**: Mentor, coach, and support team members, driving their development and holding them accountable to performance standards. Lead cross-functional teams to execute campaigns on time and within budget. - **Crisis Management**: Act as the escalation point for the team, navigating and resolving issues as they arise. - **Financial Stewardship**: Effectively manage team utilization and maintain financial responsibility for accounts to meet agency profitability targets. - **Business Development**: Identify new business opportunities and expand existing client relationships by introducing new services and capabilities. **What You Bring**: - **Experience**: 7+ years in PR or Communications, ideally in an agency setting, with a proven track record in developing and executing successful communications plans. - **Leadership**: Strong leadership and people management skills, with a history of mentoring and developing high-performing teams. - **Strategic Thinking**: Ability to think strategically, creatively, and holistically about client accounts. - **Project Management**: Expertise in project management, with experience managing client budgets and allocating resources effectively. - **Media Expertise**: In-depth knowledge of the Canadian and International media landscape, including traditional and digital media, with strong media relationships being a significant plus. - **Event Planning**: Experience in planning and managing high-profile press, influencer, and KOL events. - **Client Advisory**: Proven success in providing creative and strategic counsel to clients, building credibility with senior-level contacts. - **Business Acumen**: Experience in new business development and driving organic growth within existing accounts. **These are our values; they must resonate with you to ensure a great cultural fit**: **Growth Mindset: Embrace & Empower** We embrace a "can-do attitude" to proactively seek opportunities for personal and professional growth. We encourage ongoing learning, innovative thinking, adaptability, and resilience. **Results-Oriented: Achieve with Ambition** We are dedicated to driving exceptional outcomes with meaningful results. We are dynamic and strategic to identify opportunities, co