Director, Paid Media

The Detroit office of Weber Shandwick is seeking a Vice President, Content Strategy and Development to join our editorial team, in support of a major automotive client. This role is embedded with the automaker directly; but can be based in any of our office locations. You will be responsible for evolving the automaker’s brand and product focused storytelling, to allow its stories to thrive in a transformed information landscape, with the goal of reaching and engaging audiences – spanning external and internal audiences.

You will be instrumental in defining the internal and external stories and tone of voice for client projects and assignments across a variety of communication strategies and channels. You need to be obsessive about honing your craft and polishing your words. You also must be comfortable editing at any point in the writing process – developmental, structural and line editing, and proofreading. Understanding brand tone, a passion for problem solving, and the ability to tell compelling stories must be in your DNA.

You must work well under pressure, and be collaborative, a self-starter and resilient to ever-changing deadlines.  

What We Are Looking For: 

An external storyteller who can:

• Lead, integrate and collaborate across a matrixed organization to tell stories that change perceptions:
• Be part of and aligned with the company’s editorial leadership and strategy; you’ll participate in development of story angles for multiple channels.
• Flex editorial leadership muscle; keeping an understanding of all news and programs coming the automaker’s brand comms team; and help architect storytelling upstream. 
• Attend all editorial and bi-monthly brand meetings with brand comms leaders
• Offer a deep understanding of what makes a story a story; storymining is critical for the role:
• Explore angles, people, technologies and capabilities in a way that resonate with consumers
• Feel comfortable leading meetings with engineers, designers, manufacturing, and financial comms to enrich stories with context and anecdotes
• Reimagine video storytelling by collaborating with editorial and content leadership on vehicle reveal content, episodic possibilities, and more
• Work directly with content leadership and EIC to devise story choreography, medium, more
• Editorialize the product launch
• Focus language on messaging, formatting, content optimized for AI discoverability
• Serve as a copyeditor for materials drafted by the brand bomms teams

An internal storyteller who can:

• Deliver smart brevity at scale
• In today’s multi-platform, information-heavy world, employees need concise, memorable content to better advocate for this automaker
• Develop fresh content for the internal eco-system
• This goes beyond the content in a press release, for an internal audience
• Can include rich content gleaned from cross-functional collaboration (interviewing engineers, designers, etc.)
• Create quick-turn internal launch kits
• Partner with content and editorial leadership to codify a kit – visuals, short scripts, and talking points for every brand and product moment
• Gauge narrative recall
• Explore ways to measure internal retention and engagement
• Stay connected
• Attend bi-monthly brand meetings with Brand and Product comms leaders, leaders of editorial and content teams

Qualifications

• 7-9 years of writing/editing experience (public relations, internal communications, social media, etc. journalism experience preferred)
• Must be self-motivated, hard-working, well organized, and resilient to ever-changing timelines, requests, and deliverables
• Experience working in the automotive industry is preferred (not mandatory)
• Must have a portfolio (share anything that conveys the way you think or approach assignments, even if it was never produced

Salary range: $113,000.00 USD – $145,000.00 USD

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; market considerations; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s background, pertinent experience, and qualifications. 

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status. 

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Senior Associate, Client Experience

The Detroit office of Weber Shandwick is looking for an account specialist to join our automotive practice to drive key client business. In this role, you will be responsible for thinking across channel and discipline to manage integrated engagements that are strategically rooted in our clients’ business and brought to life through unique activations and opportunities.

Responsibilities

CLIENT AND WORK

Our client (major automaker) is seeking a motivated, detail-oriented Senior Associate to support storytelling and media engagement across its Design Comms function. This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of design, innovation, and brand storytelling — helping to shape how the automaker’s cutting-edge design and technology come to life for internal and external audiences.

The ideal candidate is a creative communicator with strong organizational, event planning and writing skills, a passion for storytelling, and an interest in automotive design. This position requires collaboration across various teams to help facilitate site visits at the Design campus in Michigan, identify great design stories and support the company’s broader technology and innovation narrative.

Key Responsibilities

• Visitor and Content Facilitation: Manage and facilitate requests for visits to the automaker’s design center, including senior executive visits as well as media programs – ensuring alignment with design, communications, and security protocols.

• Content Capture Approvals: Coordinate and manage necessary approvals for photography, video, and content capture at Design facilities.

• Story Development: Actively story mine for interesting and relevant stories that highlight the automaker’s Design’s creativity and connect to the automaker’s overarching technology and innovation narrative.

• Communications Support: Assist in developing and executing communications strategies for Design in partnership with the Global Design Communications team.

• Brand Support: Provide communications and logistics support to a couple of the automaker’s vehicle brands, as requested.

• Project Coordination: Support the planning and execution of design-related media opportunities, events, and internal activations.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, Public Relations, Journalism, Marketing, or a related field

• 2-3  years of relevant experience in communications, events or media relations, roles

• Exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills

• Strong writing, research, and story development abilities

• Demonstrated interest in design, creativity, and innovation

• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities with oversight in a fast-paced environment

• Willingness to learn, take initiative, and collaborate across teams

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

• Interest or experience in event planning and coordination

Salary range: $58,700.00 USD – $65,000.00 USD

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; market considerations; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s background, pertinent experience, and qualifications. 

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status. 

 

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Roles and Responsibilities:

The Senior Vice President – Paid Media is a senior management position accountable for all aspects of assigned clients’ paid media programs. The SVP is responsible for managing an integrated paid media team and developing, executing, and monitoring strategic and tactical cross-channel media plans for clients.

Media Strategy & Planning

• Successfully build, grow and “own” client relationships – understand their business and their needs and help them achieve their objectives, building a strong relationship and ultimately growing the business
• Lead strategic and tactical planning activities – accountable for developing, implementing and maintaining media plans that deliver against client objectives/strategies
• Evaluate recommendations and presentations before they are sent to the client, and maintain quality control on daily workflow and media team processes
• Manage and be accountable for client budgets and timelines, oversee reports and client billing
• Assist in the negotiation of media contracts and programs/opportunities to ensure maximum leverage is applied
• Proactively investigate media opportunities and craft well-supported, articulate POVs to present to client
• Keep abreast of current events, media and any industry trends that impact your client’s business Team Leadership
• Manage and develop a team of direct reports – maintain the workload of your team, delegating tasks and responsibilities to ensure the most productive and effective use of each person’s skills, while motivating their interests and challenging them
• Train direct reports in media and marketing disciplines as well as in the specifics of the client’s business and industry
• Work closely with team to set brand strategies and develop media plans
• Accurately, objectively and constructively evaluate performance of direct reports
• Assist in training, mentoring, developing, and evaluating existing team members, as well as interviewing and hiring new team members
• Foster an environment which encourages intelligent risk taking, innovation and creativity Agency Growth & Operations
• Exhibit ambition by driving agency thought leadership and new business
• Actively participate in new business pitches
• Help own the financial aspects of your team – profitability by client, staffing needs, etc.
• Partner with Media and Finance operations as it relates to media billing
• Assist with media operations processes and compliance of team members

Qualifications

• 15+ years of integrated media experience with strong client and team leadership qualities
• Experience planning and buying across online and offline media channels
• Strong analytical skills and understanding of KPI’s and attribution
• Experience working with media management tools (e.g. Mediaocean)

Washington DC Salary range: $152,000 – $215,000

Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; market considerations; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s background, pertinent experience, and qualifications.

Weber Shandwick is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Weber Shandwick recruits qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, ethnic or national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or citizenship status.

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