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Manager of Public Relations
2 years ago
About Skillz:
Skillz is the leading mobile games platform connecting players in fair, fun, and meaningful competition.
The gaming industry is larger than movies, music, and books, with more than 2.7 billion gamers playing monthly and 10 million developers worldwide. Mobile is the fastest-growing segment of the gaming market, expected to increase from $86 billion last year to $161 billion in 2025.
As the first publicly-traded (NYSE: SKLZ) mobile esports platform, Skillz has pioneered the future of the gaming industry. The Skillz platform helps developers build multi-million dollar franchises by enabling social competition in their games. Leveraging its patented technology, Skillz hosts billions of casual esports tournaments for millions of mobile players worldwide, and distributes millions in prizes each month.
Through its philanthropic initiatives, Skillz has harnessed the power of its platform to transform the way nonprofits engage with donors, enabling anyone with a mobile device to support causes such as the American Red Cross, Susan G. Komen, American Cancer Society, and NAACP by playing in Skillz tournaments.
Skillz has also earned recognition as one of San Francisco Business Times’ Best Places to Work, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, a two-time winner of CNBC’s Disruptor 50, one of Forbes’ Next Billion-Dollar Startups, and the #1 fastest-growing company in America on the Inc. 5000.
Job Overview:
You are the ultimate people person and can relate to anyone that sits next to you. You enjoy a mission-driven, fast paced environment where you may be juggling multiple tasks at once but always get the job done. You are tech savvy, can identify talent and qualifying candidates who can add value to our already stellar team. You like to learn about different roles and departments within our organization so that you can relate to anyone that interviews with our company.
What We’re Looking For:
Skillz is looking for a world-class PR and communications professional to play a crucial role in growing the company’s external profile. This proactive, collaborative individual should be a creative storyteller who will explore both new and established approaches to achieve our goals. The role will focus on media relations, including developing and executing media strategies that advance the company narrative. This individual should be passionate about driving coverage through compelling storytelling and relationship building with reporters, editors, and producers. The ideal candidate will also possess experience driving measurable results in a fast-paced environment.
What You Will Do:
- Develop and execute media strategies and outreach initiatives surrounding product features, game launches, partnerships, and other news that advance the company narrative
- Create engaging narratives about Skillz and its products, partners, and customers, driving proactive stories even without a specific announcement hook
- Find strategic, innovative ways to turn data into consumer-friendly stories
- Manage inbound press inquiries, working closely with the Communications leadership team and cross-functional stakeholders
- Be a key player in the department’s media relations function, delivering exceptional results that effectively position Skillz in the broader industry
- Maintain strong working relationships with consumer gaming, lifestyle, and tech media
- Leverage both earned and owned channels to ensure that the Skillz story is properly positioned, amplified, and valued in the eyes of our players, partners, employees, the media, investors, influencers, and other industry stakeholders
- Closely follow industry trends and seek impactful opportunities for Skillz to contribute and drive discussions
- Skillfully manage programs from strategic planning through tactical execution, including proactive and reactive media relations and ideation around brand activations
- Maintain a strong understanding of the competitive marketplace and industry trends, positively positioning Skillz to consumer, technology, business, and trade media
- Manage and motivate agency partners on development of media tactics and execution of campaigns to achieve results
Your Skillz:
- 6+ years of work experience achieving media relations results in fast-paced, high-growth business and technology environments
- Strong media relations skills, including strategic planning and the ability to story-mine
- Solid media contacts and proven ability to establish strong, new media relationships
- Experience developing and executing effective consumer storytelling strategies, including brand journey, culture, value proposition, and creative content
- Proven ability to run and deliver results on large-scale, complex projects under tight deadlines through rigorous planning and ruthless prioritization
- Excels at leading and executing awareness-building strategies in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment
- Ability to expertly understand and translate complex technology and platform concepts to varying consumer audiences
- Exceptional organizational, verbal, and written communication skills, as well as attention to detail and accuracy
- Foundational experience in journalism and media relations is desirable, as is the combination of PR agency and in-house roles
- Experience with crisis communications and ability to maintain calm under fire
- An intuitive and effective manager capable of mentoring and growing junior team members
- Entrepreneurial and a hands-on style with a strong bias for action and results while working effectively in an innovative, unstructured environment that values collaboration without ego
- Operates at a high level of intensity, acting with a sense of urgency without sacrificing excellence
- Enthusiastic team player who works well with internal cross-functional and external partners, as well as executives and leadership teams
Skillz embraces diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to diversifying our workforce, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status, and we operate in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance .
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