Associate Vice President, Public Relations

KLG Public Relations is seeking an Associate Vice President to join its award-winning team. This leadership role is ideal for a strategic, entrepreneurial communications professional with deep experience in wine and spirits, strong media relationships, and a passion for building brands that shape culture and conversation.

The Associate Vice President will serve as a senior client counselor, team leader, and strategic partner responsible for driving impactful communications programs across a portfolio of clients. The role requires exceptional leadership, media relations expertise, presentation skills, business acumen, and the ability to consistently deliver results in a fast-paced agency environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serve as a trusted advisor, providing senior-level strategic counsel and recommendations.
• Lead day-to-day account management while ensuring exceptional client service and measurable results.
• Manage multiple accounts simultaneously, balancing priorities, deadlines, budgets, and deliverables.
• Oversee account budgets, scopes of work, retainers, and resource allocation, ensuring programs are delivered efficiently and within agreed parameters.
• Identify opportunities to grow existing client relationships through expanded scopes, new initiatives, and strategic recommendations.
• Lead and mentor junior team members, fostering professional growth and strong account performance.
• Provide day-to-day direction and oversight to account teams, ensuring clear delegation, accountability, and driving results.
• Drive proactive and reactive media relations efforts across consumer, trade, business, and lifestyle media.
• Cultivate and maintain meaningful relationships with journalists, influencers, industry leaders, and key stakeholders.
• Lead creative brainstorming sessions and develop compelling story angles, partnerships, and campaign concepts.
• Collaborate with the digital team to provide strategic direction on social media posts and influencer partnerships, ensuring these initiatives align with broader client objectives and communications strategies.
• Oversee the development and execution of events, activations, and strategic partnerships, from concept development through implementation.
• Identify trends, cultural moments, and competitive insights that create opportunities for clients.
• Develop presentations, strategic plans, media strategies, messaging documents, and client-facing materials.
• Contribute to agency growth through new business development, thought leadership, team leadership initiatives, and the development of scopes of work and budgets.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 10+ years of public relations experience, including a minimum of three years in the wine and spirits industry. Hospitality experience a plus.
• Celebrity and talent experience preferred.
• Strong media relationships across wine, spirits, lifestyle, hospitality, and business media.
• Proven success developing and executing strategic communications campaigns that deliver measurable results.
• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong writing and editing abilities, with experience developing and overseeing polished, client-facing communications materials.
• Strong leadership, client service, project management, and organizational abilities.
• Experience managing account budgets, scopes of work, retainers and client financial expectations.
• Experience contributing to new business development, including pitch presentations, proposals and RFP responses.
• Proven ability to manage, mentor and develop junior team members while overseeing multiple account teams.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced agency environment while managing multiple priorities and stakeholders.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a proactive, solutions-oriented approach.

ABOUT KLG PR:

Founded in 2016, KLG Public Relations is an award-winning communications agency specializing in lifestyle brands across wine & spirits, hospitality, culinary, wellness, and beauty. The agency represents category leaders, emerging brands, celebrity-founded businesses, and iconic craft producers, helping clients drive awareness, relevance, and business growth through strategic communications.

With more than a century of combined leadership experience, KLG PR has built a reputation as one of the industry's most respected agencies, delivering business-driving results through earned media, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, social media, and integrated communications programs.

The agency has been recognized as a Top 100 PR Agency by PR Net, PRNEWS, and PR Daily, while its campaigns have earned honors from the Bulldog Awards, SABRE Awards, John Barleycorn Awards, and The Drinks Business.

LOCATION:

New York City (HYBRID 2 days in office) 

BENEFITS:

• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• 401(k)
• Generous PTO and agency holidays
• Professional development opportunities
• Cold brew on tap
• Opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands, founders, and personalities in wine, spirits, hospitality, beauty and lifestyle