Senior Manager, Brand Marketing & PR

[solidcore]•Arlington, VA

10d

About The Position

The Senior Brand Marketing Manager will lead PR strategy, brand marketing for new business ventures and international growth, as well as new studio opening (NSO) strategy and activation. This role requires strong PR experience and expertise, paired with brand strategic thinking — someone who can craft and execute PR strategies at a high level while also ensuring strong execution at the field level, working closely with studio teams to bring new openings to life. This role is central to how [solidcore] builds visibility, drives growth, and shows up in new markets.

Requirements

7-10 years in PR, communications, or media relations, with a track record of securing media placements and leading agency relationships.
Experience with crisis communications planning and response.
Proven ability to build brand and marketing strategies that gain buy-in across stakeholders.
Creative, consumer-insight-led thinker who can generate innovative ideas for bringing the brand to life — whether in a new market, a new country, or in new ways within existing markets.
Strong project management skills; comfortable running multiple workstreams (PR, new ventures, NSO) at once without losing attention to detail.
Excellent writing and storytelling skills, tailored to different audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience with new business launches, new studio openings, or international expansion is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own PR strategy end-to-end, setting the annual roadmap and prioritizing initiatives that build [solidcore]'s reputation as the leader in lifestyle, wellness and fitness space resulting in growing our national brand awareness.
Manage the PR agency: set annual strategy, run day-to-day agency relationship, and hold the team accountable to KPIs and deliverables.
Serve as PR's steward within marketing activation planning, identifying where and how PR can play a bigger role across campaigns and moments to generate conversation and amplify overall impact.
Drive proactive earned media, pitching and securing placements with fitness, wellness, and business press; build and maintain relationships with key reporters and editors.
Develop press materials with partnership with our PR agency — press releases, briefing documents, talking points, and executive messaging — for internal opportunities, studio openings, and brand moments.
Own executive and spokesperson positioning, preparing leadership for media opportunities and ensuring consistent messaging across appearances.
Lead crisis communication in partnership with crisis PR firm: act as the point of contact for rapid, coordinated response when issues arise.
Track PR performance against KPIs (coverage volume, tier, sentiment, share of voice), report results to leadership, and adjust strategy based on what's working.
Develop and execute market-specific opening strategy, using demographics, existing brand awareness, and market type (urban vs. suburban) to shape the activation approach, channel mix, and partnership selection for each studio.
Own the NSO brand activation playbook, coordinating activation and messaging across PR, partnerships, and local marketing.
Work with the partnerships team to source and integrate local and national partnerships that build awareness for new studios.
Drive local activation initiatives with field leadership to build awareness and generate leads pre- and post-opening.
Partner closely with the field, building relationships and alignment to effectively execute NSO initiatives
Serve as brand lead for new modality launches, owning strategy and activation execution for new offerings from concept through launch working in close partnership with the brand team and New Business ventures lead.
Onboard international partners to the [solidcore] brand, setting clear expectations on brand standards, tone, and positioning.
Establish and maintain brand guardrails (visual identity, messaging, naming conventions) that international partners operate within, adapting for local market nuance where needed.
Review and approve brand, marketing, and creative outputs from international partners to ensure consistency before they go to market.
Run ongoing check-ins with international stakeholders to stay aligned on brand health, flag risks early, and course-correct as needed.
Advise on localization strategy for international markets, balancing global brand consistency with what needs to flex for local relevance.
Translate market and consumer insights into recommendations that inform new modality strategy.