Public Relations Manager

Fabio Viviani Hospitality Group • Barrington, IL

9d • $60,000 - $70,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Fabio Viviani Hospitality (FVH) is seeking a Public Relations Manager to create opportunities, build relationships, and maintain brand presence in the conversation. This role will be the day-to-day PR lead for a portfolio of restaurant and hospitality brands, and will also support opportunities for Chef Fabio Viviani, FVH, and its culinary and leadership teams. The PR Manager will manage multiple concepts and markets simultaneously, understanding each brand's unique newsworthiness and identifying the right media outlets to tell their stories. This position requires a proactive approach, focusing on generating earned visibility through creative storytelling rather than solely distributing press releases. The ideal candidate understands restaurants, hospitality, media, and relationship-building, and can transform restaurant openings, chef profiles, menus, events, partnerships, trends, and everyday moments into compelling stories.

Requirements

• 3+ years of public relations, media relations, or communications experience.
• Restaurant, hospitality, food and beverage, or lifestyle experience strongly preferred.
• Experience managing multiple brands, accounts, clients, or markets simultaneously.
• Strong understanding of earned media and what makes a compelling story or pitch.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain media relationships.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience coordinating interviews, media appearances, and events.
• Experience working with influencers and creators.
• Strong understanding of restaurant openings, events, and hospitality PR.
• Ability to identify proactive opportunities rather than relying solely on incoming requests.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and shifting priorities simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Ability to communicate effectively with journalists, creators, chefs, restaurant operators, executives, and outside partners.
• Ability to identify an opportunity, determine the next steps, and drive it forward independently.
• Ability to travel locally between FVH restaurants and attend restaurant events as required.
• Comfort working within the rhythm of the hospitality industry, with availability required for evenings, weekends, and holidays.
• Strong communication, organization, judgment, accountability, and follow-through.

Nice To Haves

• Naturally curious and constantly looking for the next opportunity.
• Genuine interest in food, restaurants, hospitality, and lifestyle media.
• Understanding that sending a pitch is not the same as creating a result.
• Ability to build genuine relationships.
• Adaptability to position different concepts (casual, elevated dining, new openings, Chef Fabio).
• Ability to identify compelling stories and target audiences.
• Persistence without being transactional.
• Highly organized and comfortable with accountability.
• Proactive in generating visibility when a brand has been quiet.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary day-to-day PR lead for assigned FVH brands.
• Develop and maintain relationships with local, regional, and national journalists, editors, producers, and other media contacts across various categories.
• Proactively identify and pitch opportunities including restaurant and chef features, new openings, broadcast segments, food and beverage stories, seasonal and trend-based stories, roundups, lists, business coverage, podcasts, interviews, and speaking engagements.
• Respond quickly to inbound media opportunities and coordinate interviews, assets, restaurant access, scheduling, and spokesperson availability.
• Maintain an active pipeline of pitches and opportunities.
• Lead PR execution for new restaurant openings, new locations, and significant brand announcements.
• Build and manage PR timelines in coordination with the broader FVH opening strategy.
• Coordinate media previews, interviews, VIP and media events, chef appearances, and opening coverage.
• Work cross-functionally with Marketing, Operations, Culinary, and Beverage to ensure accurate and timely assets.
• Continue developing stories and media opportunities post-opening.
• Identify creators and influencers based on audience fit, content quality, market relevance, and brand alignment.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant creators.
• Coordinate influencer visits from outreach through completion, including reservations, communication, expectations, follow-up, and content tracking.
• Ensure restaurant teams are informed prior to hosted visits and that the guest experience is coordinated.
• Track influencer visits and resulting content for potential long-term partnerships.
• Proactively identify opportunities for FVH restaurants, chefs, and leadership for awards, best-of lists, roundups, dining guides, chef recognition, industry honors, and nominations.
• Maintain an active calendar of deadlines and opportunities for submissions.
• Develop relationships within the communities where restaurants operate.
• Identify meaningful opportunities with local organizations, charitable partners, chambers, business groups, cultural organizations, tourism partners, and community events.
• Evaluate opportunities based on brand alignment, audience, potential impact, and available resources.
• Coordinate approved community and charitable initiatives and maintain communication.
• Support and develop PR opportunities surrounding grand openings, media and VIP events, chef appearances, wine and beverage dinners, seasonal programming, community activations, partnerships, culinary events, Chef Fabio appearances, and other newsworthy experiences.
• Determine what makes an event a story, who should know about it, who should attend, and how to extend its visibility.
• Identify opportunities that strengthen the visibility of Chef Fabio Viviani and Fabio Viviani Hospitality beyond individual restaurants.
• Develop relationships for interviews, television appearances, culinary features, podcasts, speaking engagements, business stories, and industry opportunities.
• Identify opportunities for other FVH chefs and executives to serve as subject-matter experts.
• Ensure PR activity supports the brand and FVH strategy.
• Monitor media, public conversation, and emerging opportunities relevant to assigned brands.
• Work closely with the Director of Marketing and leadership on messaging, reputation management, and response strategy.
• Communicate distinctions between earned media, paid media, advertising, influencer partnerships, and organic opportunities.
• Consistently build and maintain relationships with journalists, editors, producers, creators, community organizations, and industry partners.
• Understand individual media contacts' coverage areas and interests.
• Become a trusted resource for information, access, chefs, restaurants, and hospitality expertise.
• Maintain organized tracking of media outreach, pitches, earned media placements, opportunities, relationships, influencer visits, awards submissions, partnerships, events, executive opportunities, performance metrics, and editorial deadlines.
• Prepare weekly and monthly updates highlighting results, opportunities, challenges, and next steps.
• Use results to inform strategy and identify areas for improvement and future action.

Benefits

• Health insurance employer contribution
• Paid time off following one year of employment
• Flexibility in managing your daily schedule and workload
• Exposure to and experience across a growing portfolio of restaurant and hospitality brands

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed