Senior Account Manager - Restaurants & Bars

Senior Account Manager – Restaurants & Bars

Job Description

This is an exciting time for PR & Communications agency AKA as we seek a SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER to join our London office and our ever-growing team.

This role will sit within the restaurants and bars team and a fantastic client roster of international and UK based hospitality spaces. You will be a point of contact for our clients and will support the Directors to ensure the smooth running of the accounts. You will play an key role in generating top-tier media coverage.

The ideal candidate will have a creative mind for pitching and a level-headed approach to client management. You will be responsible for strategically managing your own group of accounts and should be adept at looking after personalities and reputations within the restaurant and bar sector. You should have good working relationships with relevant journalists, and have the management skills to ensure monthly deliverables are achieved.

The role offers hybrid working arrangements, with 3 days spent in our centrally located Soho office. Our benefits package include a generous holiday allowance, training and development support through media and digital workshops, as well as client discounts and perks at some of London and the UK's best restaurants, bars, hotels and wellness concepts. Additionally, we organise team social events during working hours to foster a collaborative and enjoyable work environment.

As a Senior Account Manager, your main responsibilities will be:

Job Description:

• Provide strategic and tactical support to the Directors
• Day to day client contact and manage client expectations
• Generate feature placement in appropriate titles
• Maintain regular day to day contact with key press
• Manage PR campaigns for diverse restaurant clients from conception to completion
• Work with our in-house events team to manage launch events for media and influencers
• Proposal writing and presentation skills
• Line managing junior and mid level team members to ensure they meet targets
• Be brand champion, an expert on restaurant world knowledge and build key relationships
• Deliver coverage across online, offline and blogs, and leverage added value from all PR activity
• Promote AKA and its brands, campaigns, activities and events to the media, general public and external audiences globally
• Own all media relations and to continue to develop and maintain relationships with key journalists
• Monitor AKA brand placement/exposure, ensuring all communication and activity are on-brand
• Work closely with the social media team and brief on all events and launch initiatives

The Ideal Candidate:

• Proven experience operating in a senior position within the hospitality or travel industry, or a likeminded industry with transferable skills
• Proven commercial experience with working in a fast-paced environment
• Management experience is highly desirable
• Proven track record of creating a positive impact on business through implementation of a PR strategy
• Discreet, professional and well spoken, with excellent communication skills
• Extremely well-organised, methodical and efficient, with a good dose of common sense and initiative
• Pro-active and able to show initiative/ideas to constantly promote the AKA offering
• Creative and strategic thinker
• Strong established UK drinks and lifestyle press contacts (including critics and broader bar and lifestyle media)
• International press contacts are also desirable
• Strong experience of event management
• Strong presentation & superb writing skills
• Able to identify communication opportunities across multiple media platforms
• Strong MS Word skills; working knowledge of PowerPoint and Excel