Manager, Public Relations

KFC•Plano, TX

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, PR & Partnerships will develop and lead earned and shared media plans for Pizza Hut US and own creator, brand, and licensed/IP partnerships that extend our biggest campaign moments. This role is responsible for building press-worthy narratives, driving media relations, managing our PR agency, and delivering partnerships & activations that improve brand awareness, perception and engagement. This role is the primary day-to-day connector across Brand Strategy, Social, Creative, Media, CRM, and agency partners - ensuring PR and partnerships are integrated early and executed to the highest standard. This individual is a self-starter able to work independently, passionate and has the ability to partner with external agencies and franchisees, possess strong communication and written skills, and has experience in public relations with a publicly traded company.

Requirements

You will be required to attend the Plano, TX office 3 days a week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
6+ years of experience in PR/communications, with national consumer brand experience (QSR/CPG/retail/entertainment a plus).
Proven ability to drive earned media outcomes across high-profile launches or tentpoles.
Experience developing partnerships across creators, brands, and/or licensed/IP with clear results.
Strong writing, narrative-building, and stakeholder management skills; confident in fast-moving environments.
Experience managing agencies and navigating complex cross-functional partner groups.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Planning: Develop and lead the earned + shared media and partnerships approach across the annual marketing calendar, aligned to brand priorities, campaign objectives, and business goals.
Translate campaign priorities into newsworthy narratives and partnership ideas that build relevance and momentum.
Provide strategic counsel to cross-functional partners to ensure PR and partnerships are designed to drive cultural impact and campaign performance.
Earned & Shared Media: Lead national media relations end-to-end, including management of agency pitching, relationship-building, press outreach, and rapid response to inbound inquiries.
Create & review all core communications assets (press releases, media alerts, talking points, spokesperson Q&As, briefing docs) to ensure clear, consistent messaging.
Partner with Social, Media and Creative leads to turn campaign ideas into shareable moments optimized for earned pickup and social velocity, including PR-forward experiential moments when relevant.
Executive & Corporate Comms: Partner with the VP and C-suite executives to shape strategic communications plans around earnings, corporate initiatives, and investor relations.
Partnerships: Creators, Brands & Licensed/IP: Identify, evaluate, and activate partnerships across creators, brands, and licensed/IP collaborators, ensuring strong brand fit and clear value exchange.
Lead partnership development from concept through launch: stakeholder alignment, go-to-market planning, integration, deliverables, and execution with internal teams and external partners.
Partner with Legal and internal stakeholders to navigate contracts, approvals, brand safety, and governance.
Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as the day-to-day PR & Partnerships lead within integrated campaign workstreams, ensuring PR and partnerships are embedded early and integrated across touchpoints.
Collaborate with operations and franchise stakeholders as applicable to ensure activations are executable in-market and support business priorities.
Drive alignment across stakeholders by clarifying decisions, roles, timelines, and next steps.
Agency Leadership: Lead the PR agency relationship end-to-end: strategy development, scopes/deliverables, timelines, performance expectations, and day-to-day management.
Ensure agency work is on-brief, on-brand, and high quality through clear direction, feedback, and approvals.
Operational Excellence & Reporting: Own launch readiness for PR and partnerships: timelines, workflows, approvals, and escalation paths to deliver disciplined execution and fewer surprises.
Define and report on performance (e.g., quality of coverage, reach/impressions, share of voice, sentiment, engagement, earned value, partnership KPIs), delivering actionable learnings to improve future work.
Support issues and crisis communications in partnership with Corporate Comms, Legal, Ops, Food Quality, HR, and Franchisees—helping develop statements, Q&As, and spokesperson guidance as needed.
Build scalable communication and experiential processes that enable fast, effective, and high-quality execution in a rapidly growing global environment.