What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, PR and Communications - Americas position at World Triathlon Corporation?
The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN® 70.3® Triathlon Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll® Running Series, IRONKIDS®, World Triathlon Championship Series, Epic Series™ mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic®, road cycling events including UTMB®, and other multisport races.
The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually with the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55 countries. For more information about The IRONMAN Group visit: www.ironman.com.
At The IRONMAN Group, our mission is to celebrate the power of the human spirit, fulfill dreams and uplift communities by organizing world-class events and extraordinary VIP athletic experiences, globally. We accomplish this through our amazing staff across the globe who are committed to our core values - Heart, Excellence, Ambition, Respect and Teamwork (HEART).
General Summary
This senior-level position oversees the development, management and implementation of the internal and external public relations and communications function for the Americas (currently USA, Canada, Mexico, LatAm), with a focus on raising the awareness and positive perception of The IRONMAN Group, its brands and event series through traditional and non-traditional media. The position will also have a key role assisting in the overall global and corporate public relations and communications functions. Travel to races and handling onsite public relations at the events is a function of this job.
Key stakeholders: VP Global Communications, Director PR & Communication (All Regions), Senior Director Marketing North America, Managing Director North America, Managing Director LatAm, Chief Marketing Officer, Manager PR & Communications North America.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
Strategy and execution: Americas
- Create and manage The IRONMAN Group Americas Communication and PR strategy, delivering to KPIs and budget with the goal of positioning The IRONMAN Group as sports and community leader across business, lifestyle, and endemic outlets.
- Develop and manage holistic brand/sport-specific communication and PR strategies for North America across event verticals (currently triathlon, road running, trail running), inclusive of celebrity and ambassador campaigns.
- Build and maintain close relationship with North America Marketing leadership to ensure Communication alignment to regional marketing objectives.
- Drive North America event communications, including local market outreach, positive promotion of the events, onsite support/logistics, media credentialing practices, content distribution to media and Communication policies
- Partner with LatAm MD to ensure clear understanding of The IRONMAN Group PR and Media policies and best practice for licensed events, and serve is primary contact person for LatAm Communication escalations.
- Ensure the North America Communication team delivers on key performance targets including coverage, reach, media mentions, sentiment, engagement rates, website traffic generated and share of voice.
- Deliver regular pro-active coverage and PR performance updates and mitigation/optimization strategies related to North American region to VP Global Communications, Chief Marketing Officer, and Executive leadership group.
- Key responsible person for securing, developing, and maintaining business and endemic media relationships for The IRONMAN Group North America region.
- Manage deliverables of communication agency related to Americas region and support on management of agency as needed for Global projects.
- In collaboration with North America Marketing team, manage creation of photography and video briefs at events for PR and media purposes.
- Ensure the seamless execution of day-to-day North America Communications team tasks including research and pitching of human interest and business stories, management of PR inbox, writing, editing and distribution of media releases and written PR material, media credentialing and media relations.
Strategy and execution: Global Communications
- Lead executive and internal communications as required by VP Global Communications; largely focused on Americas leadership and Corporate Executive team.
- Support Global Communication function to plan and execute major business announcements and projects, including but not limited to media relations, ambassadors, press conferences, global marketing campaigns, partnership announcements, World Championships and marquee events and media releases; as assigned by VP Global Communications.
- Collaborate with the global marketing, social, digital, and content teams to amplify coverage and cross company storytelling.
Crisis Communication
- Manage communication protocols for North America and Latin America including corporate, crisis, impact, and reputation situations in conjunction with regional and global business partners in legal, operations, and communications departments.
- Key contact person for crisis communication situations in Americas, escalating and mitigating in conjunction with VP Global Communication and SVP Global Operations or relevant other internal/external contact as needed.
Leadership
- Lead and develop North America communication team (currently one direct report) and serve as mentor and advisor to North America marketing managers as it relates to communications, in order to maximize PR efficiencies.
Requirements
Education and work experience:
- Bachelor degree in Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, Journalism or similar field is preferred. MBA or an advanced degree in a related field is a plus.
- Minimum of 10 years experience in Public Relations/Media industry required.
- Experience working in agency, rights holder or brand in sport and lifestyle sector is advantageous.
- Demonstrated experience with media monitoring software such as Muckrack, Cision, Brandwatch, Meltwater, TVEyes
Skills and knowledge:
- Excellent writing, editing skills and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to persuade key decision makers and comfortable presenting to executive teams
- Ability to travel within USA and internationally as needed, and willingness to work nights and weekends during season.
- Ability to perform as both a strategic thinker and tactical planner.
- Demonstrated experience in special situation and crisis communications
- Excellent project and people management skills; with affinity for building relationships with media and internally across functions and regions and adept at working in a team environment.
- Ability to work in a fast paced and dynamically changing environment; must be flexible, able to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and work under tight deadlines with meticulous attention to details.
- Strong business acumen with prior experience in creating and managing relationships with external agencies and the press.
- Ability to represent organization in a highly professional and polished manner.
- Demonstrates professional ethics and demeanor at all times.
The above declarations are not intended to be an “all inclusive” list of duties and responsibilities of the job described, nor are they intended to be such a listing of the skills and abilities required to do the job. Rather, they are intended only to describe the general nature of the job and are a reasonable representation of its activities.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.
