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

Who We Are: 

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 aren't for the faint of heart! 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.

And the industry notices: We were recently named an Inc. Best Workplace 2026 and landed on the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies for 2026!
 

What We Do: 

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.

Our Dream Team Member:

• Resourceful, committed, and deliberate
• Organized to a fault (in a good way) and naturally detail-oriented
• Proactive and comfortable taking ownership without waiting for direction
• Curious about new tools, AI, and technology, and quick to try them to make work faster and better
• A creative thinker who brings fresh pitch angles and isn't afraid to trend-jack
• A strong communicator who asks questions early and often
• A real media person with relationships worth something and a pitch that lands
• A steady mentor who develops junior staff instead of just assigning them work
• Passionate about staying ahead of trends in the CPG and F&B space

Position Overview:

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.

Responsibilities:

Client Management:

• 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

Media Relations:

• 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

Awards:

• Lead client media awards programs, including research, recommendations, submission applications, and deadline management

Team Leadership:

• 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

Creative Ideation:

• Lead brainstorms and bring fresh angles for campaigns, product launches and brand moments
• Contribute ideas before the client asks for them

Project Management:

• 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

Technology & AI:

• 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

Events / Activations:

• Lead virtual and live media and influencer press events, creative media mailers, and more, from planning through execution

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
• Preferred: affiliate platform experience (LTK, ShopMy, Impact) and experience in baby, parenting, toys or wellness categories

Benefits:

• Unlimited PTO
• Paid time off between Christmas and New Year's
• Fabulous Fridays, the office closes at 3 pm!
• 401K with a 3% company match, after your initial 3 months
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Medical and Dependent Care FSA
• Company-paid Life Insurance
• Company-paid Long Term Disability

SALARY:

$70,000 - $95,000

This role includes a six-month performance review. Employees who meet all agreed-upon goals are eligible for a $5,000 base salary increase.