JOB SUMMARY
The Senior Manager, Communications is an exciting, fast-paced role at the forefront of planning, managing and measuring the success of earned media in South Korea. The successful candidate will play an integral role in driving increased awareness, consideration and advocacy of Marriott International’s portfolio of hotels in South Korea, and further the company’s corporate narrative with a focus on growth, employer branding and social impact.
Based in South Korea, the successful candidate will communicate key global, regional and local announcements and initiatives in the local language. They will cultivate strong relationships with local media across different genres and social media KOLs to successfully communicate Marriott International’s storytelling and strengthen its brand positioning. Supported by a local PR agency, the individual will work closely with the Area Director of Marketing to activate various marketing plans. The successful candidate will also support other markets in Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC), especially the Philippines and Vietnam where necessary.
The candidate will lead the development and execution of Marriott International’s corporate communications strategy in South Korea including but not limited to PR for Marriott Bonvoy, Partnerships, B2B and Development. The individual will also be the local PR lead for crisis communications, and work with local property teams and the APEC office should crises arise.
The candidate will report to the Area Director of Marketing for South Korea, Vietnam and Philippines Area team, and Director Communications from the regional APEC Communications team based in Singapore. As such, fluency in both written and verbal English and Korean is required, as is the ability to travel for work. Experience in the hospitality/ travel industry would be advantageous.
CANDIDATE PROFILE
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Communications, PR, or Marketing.
- Minimum 6 years of experience in PR, Communications and/ or Marketing, in agency or inhouse roles.
- Experience in hospitality/ travel industry, with strong knowledge and understanding of Marriott International brands and Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program preferred.
- Verbal and written proficiency in English and Korean.
- Strong media relationships would be a plus.
Skills and Competencies
- A skilled and experienced Communications/PR specialist, able to build and maintain media relations to generate positive earned media coverage for Marriott International’s corporate positioning, portfolio of hotels and loyalty program Marriott Bonvoy.
- Ability to conceptualize and execute a comprehensive communications strategy for multiple brands.
- Strong track record in meeting, if not exceeding PR deliverables and objectives of high share-of-voice, quality media coverage and key message penetration.
- Understanding how market segments are analyzed in order to determine communication strategies.
- Collaborative team player and able to work effectively across different disciplines, and with multiple internal and external stakeholders, including PR agencies.
- Proactive, problem solver, capable of working independently with minimal supervision.
- Quantitative/financial skills desirable.
- Proficient in using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- Must be keen and available to travel.
CORE WORK ACTIVITIES
Brand PR
- Helps develop PR strategies to enhance campaigns for brands, or F&B initiatives, including supporting PR efforts in B2B, loyalty, and development.
- Develops PR toolkits for different brands and corporate initiatives.
- Uses the editorial calendars of prominent travel or trade media to pitch news stories in advance.
- Plans and arranges media events and familiarization trips in APEC.
- Creates reports and summaries of media events and familiarization trips in the APEC.
- Collaborates with business or media partners to create joint promotional campaigns.
- Coordinates media sponsorships and promotional activities.
Corporate PR
- Keeps media lists up to date for our region, including travel, lifestyle, trade, and business publications (both online and print).
- Creates strategic press releases to promote regional, brands, loyalty, F&B, and B2B campaigns.
- Updates corporate press kits with current fact sheets, boilerplates about Marriott, its brands, and ensures information on new hotels and key executives' bios are up to date.
- Plans and organizes media events and announcements for Marriott, such as hotel openings, new marketing initiatives, visits by key executives, and other media-related activities.
- Manages Executive profiling of senior leaders, including speaking opportunities, media engagements and social media accounts.
- Responsible for managing crises by keeping a current list of crisis management contacts and the updates with APEC Communication team.
- Manages promotional and media initiatives for the Marriott International’s ESG platform, Serve 360.
- Produces newsletters as required.
Reporting
- Oversees the monitoring of media impressions. Creates monthly PR report for South Korea, Vietnam and Philippines
- Monitors media coverage.
- In charge of administrative duties such as managing purchase orders, coordinating contracts, and submitting invoices.
- Keeps a current list of Marcom/PR contacts for both existing and upcoming hotels within the company.
- Manages and monitors the budget for all AP PR activities, events, and familiarization trips.
Training & Development
- Supports Area Director of Marketing in providing guidance and training for new members of properties
- Supports Director of Communication in APEC, and Area Director Marketing in providing crisis training for Hotel PR team where necessary.
MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES
| Leadership |
- Adaptability - Maintains performance level under pressure or when experiencing changes or challenges in the workplace.
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- Communication - Conveys information and ideas to others in a convincing and engaging manner through a variety of methods.
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- Problem Solving and Decision Making - Identifies and understands issues, problems, and opportunities; obtains and compares information from different sources to draw conclusions, develops and evaluates alternatives and solutions, solves problems, and chooses a course of action.
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- Professional Demeanor - Exhibits behavioral styles that convey confidence and command respect from others; makes a good first impression and represents the company in alignment with its values.
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| Managing Execution |
- Building and Contributing to Teams - Participates as a member of a team to move toward the completion of common goals while fostering cohesion and collaboration among team members.
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- Driving for Results - Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; assumes responsibility for work objectives; initiates, focuses, and monitors the efforts of self and/or others toward the accomplishment goals; proactively takes action and goes beyond what is required.
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- Planning and Organizing - Gathers information and resources required to set a plan of action for self and/or others; prioritizes and arranges work requirements to accomplish goals and ensure work is completed.
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| Building Relationships |
- Coworker Relationships - Interacts with others in a way that builds openness, trust, and confidence in the pursuit of organizational goals and lasting relationships.
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- Customer Relationships - Develops and sustains relationships based on an understanding of customer/stakeholder needs and actions consistent with the company’s service standards.
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- Global Mindset - Supports employees and business partners with diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and/or cultural perspectives; utilizes differences to drive innovation, engagement and enhance business results; and ensures employees are given the opportunity to contribute to their full potential.
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| Learning and Applying Professional Expertise |
- Applied Learning - Seeks and makes the most of learning opportunities to improve performance of self and/or others.
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- Business Acumen - Understands and utilizes business information to manage everyday operations and generate innovative solutions to approach business and administrative challenges.
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- Technical Acumen - Understands and utilizes professional skills and knowledge in a specific functional area to conduct and manage everyday business operations and generate innovative solutions to approach function-specific work challenges.
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- Communications: use knowledge of communication strategies to effectively convey and disseminate information in a way that enables understanding, “buy in,” and action.
- Communications and Media-Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
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- Basic Competencies: computer skills, mathematical reasoning, written and oral comprehension.
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Marriott International is an equal opportunity employer. We believe in hiring a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive, people-first culture. We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, such as disability and veteran status, or any other basis covered under applicable law.
Marriott International is the world’s largest hotel company, with more brands, more hotels and more opportunities for associates to grow and succeed. Be where you can do your best work, begin your purpose, belong to an amazing global team, and become the best version of you.