Senior Account Executive, Public Relations (NY/NJ Based)

Brilliant•New York, NY

3d•$70,000 - $95,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Brilliant is looking for a full-time Senior Account Executive to join our fast-moving, award-winning agency. We’re a fully remote performance team built on a simple promise: Work Hard. Play Hard. Laugh Hard. The ideal candidate brings 8+ years of full-time agency experience in consumer products PR or integrated marketing, strong project management skills, and real curiosity about new technology and AI. This is a remote role, but the candidate must live in the NYC / New Jersey tri-state area. You'll need to be in the city on a regular basis for in-person media engagements. We move fast, hold a ridiculously high bar for excellence, and thrive on driving real ROI for our clients. But we also believe that intense drive should come with great culture—which is why we offer unlimited PTO, Fabulous Fridays (doors close at 3pm), virtual happy hours, a monthly book club, and endless reasons to win together. Since 2008, Brilliant has been where bold ideas meet relentless execution. We're a performance marketing agency with deep expertise in family-focused brands, bringing together PR, Influencer, Social, Paid Media, Affiliate, Retail Support, Experiential, and AI Intelligence to create integrated, full-funnel campaigns that shatter targets and cut through the noise. The Senior Account Executive owns the day-to-day on assigned accounts and drives the earned media work that delivers against client goals. The role spans client management, hands-on media relations, creative ideation, junior staff development, and project management. This is a pitching role, not an oversight role. We're looking for someone who leads the day-to-day and is excited to use new tools, including AI, to work smarter. This role is remote, but you'll attend in-person media meetings, desksides, and events in the NYC area on a regular basis, so you need to be local.

Requirements

Based in the NYC / New Jersey tri-state area, and able to travel into NYC regularly for in-person media meetings and events.
Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field
5+ years of agency experience in the consumer, lifestyle or CPG space
Demonstrated experience as a day-to-day client lead, not solely a contributor
Strong, current media relationships and a portfolio of top-tier placements you secured yourself
Hands-on experience writing pitches and press materials that get picked up, not just reviewing someone else's
Experience mentoring or managing junior staff
Fluency with media databases and monitoring tools such as MuckRack, Cision or Qwoted
Comfortable using AI tools day to day, with examples of how you've used them
A real willingness to try new technologies and adopt new tools quickly
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously
A proactive, self-starter attitude with a passion for staying ahead of trends

Nice To Haves

8+ years of full-time agency experience in consumer products PR or integrated marketing
Affiliate platform experience (LTK, ShopMy, Impact)
Experience in baby, parenting, toys or wellness categories

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary day-to-day contact on assigned accounts and build real client trust
Present plans, recommendations and results on client calls
Flag scope and staffing issues to account leadership before they become problems
Own the pitching calendar on your accounts: story angles, target outlets, and timing
Personally pitch and secure top-tier national coverage. This is a hands-on role.
Build, maintain, and quality control media and influencer databases
Regularly identify new editor and freelancer contacts through tools like Qwoted and by subscribing to Substacks
Write and distribute pitches, press releases, and media alerts, then follow up and monitor for coverage
Own dedicated affiliate and ecommerce pitching
Coordinate media interviews and desksides, and develop spokesperson briefing documents
Build and maintain real relationships with editors, producers, freelancers and influencers
Quality control the team's media lists and pitches before they go out
Monitor trends and competitor coverage daily, and turn them into fast trend-jacking opportunities
Lead client media awards programs, including research, recommendations, submission applications, and deadline management
Review junior team to-do lists, media lists, pitches and press materials, and give timely feedback
Coach junior staff on pitch writing, follow-up, and building their own media relationships
Delegate meaningful work rather than task lists
Lead brainstorms and bring fresh angles for campaigns, product launches and brand moments
Contribute ideas before the client asks for them
Own campaign and account timelines from kickoff through delivery
Track deliverables, budgets, staffing and team responsibilities
Use project management tools such as Monday or Asana to keep workflows transparent
Responsible for quality control and on-time delivery of the team's work
Use AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT to support research, drafting, monitoring, and reporting
Test new software and platforms, and share what works with the team
Spot chances to automate routine tasks and raise the quality of the output
Lead virtual and live media and influencer press events, creative media mailers, and more, from planning through execution