Associate Director of Media Relations

Cooley is seeking an Associate Director to join the Communications team.

Position summary: Working closely with the Director of Communications, communications team, other functional and administrative leads and firm leadership, the Associate Director of Media Relations will help to promote, enhance and safeguard the firm’s reputation and positioning through the design and implementation of strategic, integrated external communications programs. Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Position responsibilities:   

External Communications

• Manage a firmwide team of in-house and outside PR professionals responsible for cultivating, building, and maintaining Cooley’s relationships with key media contacts

• Work closely with firm and practice group leadership to devise and implement strategies for raising brand visibility in key markets and promoting the differentiating strengths of the firm and its practice groups, offices, and individual attorneys, aligned with business goals

• Firm spokesperson and point of contact for press inquiries

• Provide crisis counseling, media training, and guidance to firm representatives

• Develop key messages and anticipated Q&As from the media

• Write or edit press materials (talking points, pitches, press releases, etc.), as well as certain other firm communications

• Lead implementation of proactive external communications strategies and campaigns positioning Cooley’s attorneys as thought leaders, and utilizing a comprehensive range of tactics, including traditional earned media, social media, and content promotion.

• Oversee the firm’s awards and recognitions programs, including advising on strategy, process and the development of priority firm submissions  

• Help to develop and maintain team reporting, policies, protocols and materials

Other Responsibilities  

• Serve as direct supervisor and mentor to direct reports

• Provide day-to-day supervision of direct reports, ensure compliance with assigned work hours and monitor for compliance with all firm and department policies

• Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities

• In collaboration with immediate supervisor and HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination and other employee lifecycle events

• All other duties as assigned or required

Skills and experience:  

Required:

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications

• Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours, as required

• Ability to travel, as required

• 8+ direct years of experience (e.g., communications, public relations experience with B2B clients and at a management level)

• Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications, Marketing, Business or related field

• Track record of performing elevated responsibilities within the current role providing intrinsic leadership & strategic direction to team

• Seasoned experience in managing teams, hiring, training, assigning work, managing performance, and providing performance counseling and coaching

• Ability to translate complex legal and business concepts into plain English

• Strong working knowledge of and contacts within National print, broadcast and online media. Strong handle on financial markets and business concepts and related subject matter

• Experience with crisis and issues management communications

• Understanding of digital marketing, social media strategies, and content creation best practices

Preferred:

• Experience working in a law firm, professional services, PR agency environment, and/or in government service/political realms

• Supervisory experience

Competencies:  

• Strong executive presence and ability to build credibility and trust with partners on strategy and execution of communications objectives

• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal

• Exceptional writing skills and strong attention to detail

• Ability to lead others in developing and executing on initiatives and large-scale projects. Ability to motivate others and build effective and cooperative work teams.

• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to negotiate challenging situations and grasp internal politics

• Judicious, fast-thinking and able to excel under pressure

• Ability to consistently meet deadlines, including self-set and multi-tasked

• Ability to develop professional relationships both internally (with department members, lawyers and firm business professionals) and externally (with industry/regional associations, etc.)  

Cooley offers a competitive compensation and excellent benefits package and is committed to fair and equitable employment practices.

EOE.

The expected annual pay range for this position with a full-time schedule is $195,000 - $245,000. Please note that final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience and skillset of the candidate.

We offer a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, long-term care coverage, backup care for children and/or adults and other parental support benefits. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive firm-paid life insurance, AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as 25 days of Paid Time Off (“PTO”) and 10 paid holidays each year. We provide generous parental leave and fertility benefits. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources.