Our team, our family.

Akrete is hiring for an Account Director, Associate Account Executive and interns. See below for more information.

 

Open Position, January 2019:  Account Director

• Account Director
• 20-40 hours per week
• FTE or Independent Contractor team member
• Minimum 10 years’ experience
• To apply, email your resume and cover letter to Becky Reno at becky@akrete.com.

PR and Marketing pros—is your New Year’s Resolution to find a new Account Director or VP-level position that works for your life? High performers, meet Team Akrete.

Akrete, a national PR and Marketing Communications firm based in downtown Evanston with an office in Aon Center, is hiring an experienced Public Relations Account Director to join our growing team of creative and passionate leaders who welcome intellectual rigor and know award-winning work requires creativity, humor and hard work. Most of our clients are B2B; ALL our clients require B2H communication and constantly refreshed ideas and approaches.

We’re different than other agencies. Founded in 2011 by single mom and agency leader Margy Sweeney, schedule and location flexibility is part of our DNA. Our entire platform is based on working when and where it makes the most sense, and on never apologizing for balancing personal and professional commitments. Margy realized that amazing PR people (mostly women) were leaving the profession en-masse in their 30s because 70-hour weeks and kids just don’t mix well for most people. We assign accounts based on how much time you have to give, with many of our Account Directors working 20-30 hours per week. We’re a mid-sized agency with small agency service and big agency results, thanks to our culture and commitment to quality work and uncompromising client service.

Our flexible model doesn’t work for just anyone. We seek rock stars who don’t need babysitting, account leaders who can multitask and ideate on the fly. You will work with a committed team of writers, junior staff, media relations specialists and digital natives to create and execute top-notch integrated campaigns. Flexibility extends beyond our personnel and into our client work, as well. We don’t quibble about labels—we do what our clients need and bring them ideas from across the promotional spectrum whether it’s Marketing, PR, Sponsored Content, Digital Advertising or Zookeeping (OK, maybe not that last one).

Akrete is a special place, and we’re looking for 1-2 Chicago-area account leaders who will be a good fit for our team. Our clients are primarily in the financial services and commercial real estate industries, with an emerging B2C focus on select high growth markets. They include some of the most admired companies in our industries including JLL (NYSE: JLL), KeyBank (NYSE: KEY), Skender, Golub & Company and Garden Remedies. We work nationally and globally, and about half our team is based in the Chicago area, with the other half in locations around the country, in keeping with our values to work where and when it makes the most sense.

We offer the option to join us as a traditional FTE or on an ongoing contract basis. Want to be a part of articulating business stories with us? Here’s more info.

 Account Director Responsibilities

• Run the accounts assigned to you, serving as the overall account leader, taking ultimate responsibility for all PR, Marketing and Digital work, delivering it appropriately to meet client objectives and within budget and scope.
• Lead and oversee campaign development and execution, including media relations, analytics, strategy, creative and influencer marketing
• Foster and maintain productive and influential client relationships
• Serve as expert in integrated programs across paid, owned and earned media in social campaigns
• Cultivate a culture of respect, excellence and constant growth and partnership within your teams
• Serve as an ambassador of Akrete’s capabilities to grow our work with the client accounts that you lead and identify opportunities for client expansion
• Take a leadership role in business development for Akrete as time allows
• Serve as culture builder and mentor, making Akrete a great place to work for everyone who works with you
• Manage financials, including SOWs, invoices, budgets and billing, projections and staffing for your assigned accounts,
• Work directly with client(s) to communicate where work is outpacing agreed-upon scope and budget and determine appropriate path forward
• Lead by example in a culture of communicating with everyone on your teams regarding coverage, schedule and overall roles and responsibilities

Account Director Qualifications

• Experience leading PR and/or digital marketing accounts taking full responsibility for client service and campaign management and delivery
• You’re a skilled writer who can translate complex subject matter in an accessible, human and engaging way
• You’re an organized project manager
• You think outside the box and care about bringing fresh ideas to your clients
• You crave a team where you can laugh every day with your coworkers, even when deadlines and high-pressure situations are imminent
• You’ve worked with remote teams or are open to the idea of doing so
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications or related field with 8-10 years of experience at a PR, Digital or Integrated Marketing Agency
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation and problem-solving skills
• Comfort and proficiency in engaging with and leading meetings with senior executives
• Experience creating and executing earned media, including social, campaigns
• You have a strong understanding of traditional media and content marketing strategies, and the ability to integrate campaign strategies and tactics across earned, owned and paid media.
• Mentoring and teaching come naturally to you.
• Your desire for a flexible schedule is coupled with the ability to work in teams to make sure clients are covered at all times.
• You welcome accountability and structure, allowing for flexibility and innovation

Open Position, January 2019:  Associate Account Executive

• Associate Account Executive
• 40+ hours per week
• FTE, full benefits
• 0-2 years’ experience (internship experience preferred)
• To apply, email your resume and cover letter to Becky Reno at becky@akrete.com.

The Associate Account Executive (AAE) is a key member of our team, the entry-level professional who supports other Account team members in managing and coordinating all day-to-day operations of the clients’ PR and marketing campaigns. The AAE is the glue that holds the team together by ensuring all account management fundamentals are flawlessly buttoned up, so that the account can function as seamlessly as possible across all core projects and tasks. The AAE learns the PR and Marketing profession by executing projects as assigned by other team members and manages the work of interns to ensure all account service commitments are maintained.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Undergraduate degree in PR, marketing or related business major with internship or similar experience.
• Strong work ethic and unquenchable desire to learn about the PR and Marketing profession.
• Finds satisfaction in problem solving and meeting commitments with tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to work with multi-location and cross-functional teams without direct authority and collaborate across all partners
• Great writer with samples of work from academic or professional settings

Key Qualities

• Professionalism
• Respect for others regardless of level, background or relationship
• Positive, can-do attitude throughout all tasks big and small
• Strong communications and client management abilities
• Proactive and inquisitive demeanor
• Organized, detail-oriented, and thorough
• Ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously
• Understands how to prioritize tasks across multiple projects
• Meeting preparedness and ability to troubleshoot issues effectively
• Eager to learn & take on new responsibilities; looks for opportunities to support team and business wherever possible
• Proactively seeks solutions to problems, but knows when to ask for help/guidance

Team Relationship & Management

• Proactively manages up and across teams (over-communication is encouraged). Note this includes being able to say no at certain times, while partnering with Account Executive(s) (AEs) to prioritize workload by importance/urgency across projects.
• Builds trust and respect from external team members (e.g., other internal departments, partner agencies, clients).

General Responsibilities

• Works closely with AE(s) to keep all project management and results tracking documents updated
• Creates and maintains media lists and editorial calendars
• Provides daily news monitoring for clients
• Works closely with interns to monitor the media and competitor activity, capturing key insights and media activity in real-time.
• Engages AE(s) proactively as competitive alerts come through on weekly basis, learning to escalate urgent competitive activity proactively and understanding competitive movement that is less actionable.
• Brings new thinking to team through competitive intelligence and assessments
• Crafts internal competitive alerts and be able to speak to what competitors are currently messaging (including across regions) to broadly speak to what competitive activity on an as-needed basis.
• Supports the implementation of both traditional media and social media campaigns
• Drafts content including press releases, social media releases, pitches and blog posts
• Provides insight into key trends in client industries and helps to create story ideas that generate coverage and buzz
• Drafts speaking abstracts and award nominations
• Distributes press releases
• Helps develop compelling pitches and identify proactive media opportunities
• Accountable for majority of internal and client invites, including clear subject lines, intents/agenda, up-to-date dial-in’s and WebEx links, flawless attendees, and no typos
• Proactively manages internal & client calendars with appropriate parties well ahead of upcoming meeting time needs to ensure all parties are secured for any given meeting
• Quickly communicates any conflicts/challenges/new attendees to AE(s) to ensure all internal parties are up to date before meetings start
• Develops client agendas, recap reports, and regular weekly/monthly reports, proactively checking in with AE to ensure details are up to date
• The AAE should always be the most prepared person in a meeting, complete with printed copies, all call-in information, any & all technical equipment and any reference materials needed for the meeting
• Ensures account Dropbox folder is always up to date, orderly and includes all updated and relevant account management files and creative assets including creative briefs, brand presentations, recaps, internal debriefs, etc.
• Ability to quickly navigate and share latest documents, regardless of project, with team member in need
• Knows brand assets for assigned accounts inside and out – what agency already has vs. not, and who to reach out to from the client in order to receive needed materials in a timely manner
• Execute day-to-day aspects of social and digital campaigns
• Participates in key industry forums and social media platforms
• Performs community management duties
• Proactively owns timeline management helping to identify timing changes to clients
• Improves workflows across all team members
• Contributes toward new business pitches
• Participates in social media engagement for clients and agency

The people who succeed at Akrete are self-motivated, ambitious, and eager to think outside the box. Your passion for continual learning, authentic human communications, and stepping outside your comfort zone to be a team player will get you far.

Akrete is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

 

Call for Interns: Winter 2019

We are seeking multiple (3-4) student interns who have:

• 1-2 years of college under their belt
• Available to work 15-20 hours per week
• Majoring in PR, Marketing, Communications or something similar
• The more digital skills you have, the better

Please contact Becky Reno with inquiries and resumes: becky@akrete.com