Account Manager

AKA are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Account Manager, with a genuine love of the luxury lifestyle (restaurants, bars and hotels). The ideal candidate will have a creative mind for pitching and a level-headed approach to client management.

You will be responsible for strategically managing your own group of accounts and should be adept at looking after personalities and reputations within the restaurant and bar sector. You should have good working relationships with relevant journalists, and have the management skills to ensure monthly deliverables are achieved.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate exceptional organisation skills, attention to detail and an energetic proactive nature who will thrive in a fast-paced agency environment; someone who is hungry to advance their passion for writing; print, digital, broadcast and social media; luxury lifestyle (restaurants, bars and hotels).

This role is to drive client accounts, ensuring that strategies and activities are undertaken to the highest standard, that objectives are being met and that accounts are well managed.

Job Description:

• Provide strategic and tactical support to the Directors
• Day to day client contact and manage client expectations
• Generate feature placement in appropriate titles
• Maintain regular day to day contact with key press
• Manage PR campaigns for diverse restaurant clients from conception to completion
• Work with our in-house events team to manage launch events for media and influencers
• Proposal writing and presentation skills
• Line managing entry and junior level team members to ensure they meet targets
• Be brand champion, an expert on restaurant and hotel world knowledge and build key relationships
• Deliver coverage across online, offline and blogs, and leverage added value from all PR activity
• Promote AKA and its brands, campaigns, activities and events to the media, general public and external audiences globally
• Own all media relations and to continue to develop and maintain relationships with key journalists
• Monitor AKA brand placement/exposure, ensuring all communication and activity are on-brand
• Work closely with the digital marketing team and brief on all events and launch initiatives

The Ideal Candidate:

• Proven experience operating an entry to mid level position within the hospitality or travel industry, or a likeminded industry with transferable skills
• Proven commercial experience with working in a fast-paced environment
• Management experience is highly desirable
• Proven track record of creating a positive impact on business through implementation of a PR strategy
• Discreet, professional and well spoken, with excellent communication skills
• Extremely well-organised, methodical and efficient, with a good dose of common sense and initiative
• Pro-active and able to show initiative/ideas to constantly promote the AKA offering
• Creative and strategic thinker
• Strong established UK lifestyle press contacts (including critics and broader bar and lifestyle media)
• International press contacts are also desirable
• Strong experience of event management
• Strong presentation & superb writing skills
• Able to identify communication opportunities across multiple media platforms
• Strong MS Word skills; working knowledge of PowerPoint and Excel

About AKA Communications:

Here at AKA Communications we live and breathe great stories about food & drink, travel and lifestyle.

Our progressive full-service communications agency works across the hospitality industry, with clients big and small in food and drinks brands; travel and wellness; and restaurants and bars.

This is a varied and exciting role within a dynamic and respected comms agency on an upwards growth curve. Our restaurant clients include Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Oblix at The Shard, Mondrian Shoreditch, Riding House Cafe, Mandarin Oriental, Booking Office 1869, Sushi Samba, Duck & Waffle, Mr Foggs, La Bodega Negra and Farm Girl.

Fun, social and dynamic team working out of Soho offices. Excellent perks