Senior Account Director, Travel PR (CT/ET Preferred)

Job Description

Praytell is a creative communications agency built by strategic minds and spirited hearts who believe original storytelling, unexpected ideas and an instinctive recoil from anything remotely boring can shape culture and make people… well, give a sh!t. We partner with brands to create timely, integrated and headline-worthy campaigns across social, earned, digital, experiential and emerging platforms, all rooted in smart strategy, creative excellence and a deep understanding of what’s resonating right now.

We’ve been doing this for just over a decade and have picked up some pretty cool awards along the way, including PRWeek’s Best Place to Work (8x and counting), Agency of the Year and even a few your mom might recognize - even if she doesn’t fully get what you do for a living.

Our work is collaborative, fast-moving and driven by curiosity, grounded in how we show up for our clients and for one another. If you’re looking to join an ambitious, deeply supportive team that’s focused on doing great work with great people and doesn’t take itself too seriously, we’d love to hear from you.

The Opportunity

Praytell is seeking a Senior Account Director with 9-11 years of experience and deep expertise in the travel and tourism industry - bonus points for big airline experience - ideally within an agency environment. This role will lead integrated communications programs across earned, influencer and social, serving as a senior strategic partner to clients while guiding brand storytelling, campaign development and cross-channel initiatives that drive measurable business impact.

The Senior Account Director will oversee multiple client relationships and large-scale accounts with substantial budgets, mentor and develop teams and ensure work is executed at the highest level while identifying opportunities for innovation, organic growth and long-term partnership.

This role must be based in the Central or Eastern time zone. The ideal candidate brings strong business acumen, creative thinking and the ability to navigate complex client environments while delivering thoughtful counsel, executive-level presence and forward-thinking ideas.

Responsibilities include:

• Client Service
• Start with ‘Yes’: Drive optimism while balancing the realities of execution and client needs.
• Spidey Senses in Tune: Anticipate market trends and client challenges, positioning teams to adapt proactively.
• No Ego, No B.S.: Build trust and efficiency by cutting through unnecessary complexity to focus on impactful results.
• Trust & Transparency: Establish long-term trust by balancing strategic candor with empathy and professionalism.
• Sense of Humor & Short Memory: Model resilience and positivity, setting the tone for teams and clients during challenging times.
• Spirit of Partnership: Shape enduring partnerships by strategically aligning agency and client priorities for shared success.
• Account & Team Management
• Brand & Business Expertise: Act as a senior-level strategic advisor, providing high-level insights and recommendations to elevate client campaigns.
• Time & Budget Tracking: Monitor portfolio-wide budgets, identifying opportunities for efficiency and improved ROI.
• Workflow Management: Oversee complex, multi-channel campaigns, ensuring seamless integration across PR, influencer, and social efforts.
• Staffing: Support organizational planning, aligning team structure and resources with agency goals and client demands.
• Employee Development: Develop and implement training programs for team leads, preparing them for future leadership roles.
• Effective Communication
• Client Communication (Emails/Status Calls): Guide client relationships at a senior level, handling complex conversations and providing strategic counsel.
• Written Materials: Drive the creation of thought leadership pieces and overarching campaign messaging, ensuring alignment with broader business objectives.
• Deck Development: Shape the strategic narrative of client-facing decks, ensuring they effectively communicate campaign vision and results.
• Presentation Skills: Represent the agency in major client meetings, adapting communication styles to engage and persuade senior stakeholders.
• Strategic Planning
• Channel Audits (Earned, Social, Influencer): Provide senior-level oversight for audit processes, ensuring insights are actionable and forward-thinking.
• Target Audience Analysis (Earned, Social, Influencer): Define advanced audience frameworks and leverage research to drive innovative strategies for clients.
• Channel Fluency & Strategies (Earned, Influencer, Social): Deliver high-impact, integrated strategies that position clients as leaders across earned, influencer, and social channels.
• Creative Thinking 
• Newsjacking/Trend-to-Earned Ideas: Provide creative oversight for trend-based campaigns, ensuring they resonate across earned, influencer, and social channels.
• Earned Media: Drive innovation in media event concepts and seasonal campaigns, focusing on differentiation and earned potential.
• Influencer or Talent Partnerships: Champion high-level partnerships with influencers or talent, introducing groundbreaking concepts to clients.
• Social Media: Lead the development of agency-wide creative frameworks for social campaigns that prioritize innovation and engagement.
• Brand Campaign Concepts: Deliver comprehensive campaign visions, tying together multi-disciplinary creative strategies.
• Execution 
• Earned Media: Define earned media priorities at a strategic level, identifying opportunities for client growth and thought leadership.
• Influencer: Oversee high-profile influencer programs, providing contract oversight, and ensuring innovative partnerships elevate brand awareness and impact.
• Social Media: Lead strategic social media efforts, balancing creative vision with data-driven insights and performance metrics.
• KPI, Merchandising & Reporting 
• Data Analysis & Interpretation: Oversee complex analyses that inform cross-channel strategies and insights.
• Strategic Recommendations: Develop holistic recommendations that integrate data with broader client objectives, which may include working with speciality teams to identify vendors and data partners that might uniquely answer brand challenges and provide stronger endorsement of our insights into our results.
• Stakeholder Communication: Act as a trusted advisor, framing insights to support executive-level decisions.
• Goal Alignment & Performance Metrics: Define long-term performance metrics and ensure consistent alignment with client goals.

Benefits

We offer a growing list of benefits and perks, including:

• Salary: $125,000 - $145,000 (This range reflects the minimum and maximum compensation. We typically offer salaries within the 25th to 75th percentiles and cannot exceed the listed maximum. Final offers depend on experience, skills and qualifications.)
• Comprehensive health care (Medical, Dental, Vision)
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) with annual shares of Project Worldwide, our parent company
• Traditional and Roth 401(k) options with an annual employer contribution based on company performance
• Flexible Time Off (FTO), company holidays and mental health days
• Flexible work locations within the US - remote is a-ok! We also have physical hubs and offices in LA, SF, Austin, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York
• Flex Fridays, designed to keep Fridays meeting-free for focused work and to give you space to support your personal wellbeing while delivering great client service
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with mental health, family, career, legal and financial support
• Paid parental leave and fertility support
• Training and team-building programs
• Camp Praytell, our company offsite (eligibility based on start date)
• Employee Resource Groups (BEACON, Compañeros, elevAsian, Herizon and Prism)
• And more!

Interview Process

Please note that due to the high volume of applications we receive, while we’re incredibly grateful for your interest, we’re not able to respond to each one individually. We’ll be in touch with candidates we’re moving forward with. We know how hard it can be to wait and wonder, especially in today’s job market, so if you don’t hear from us within 5 business days, it means we’ve moved forward with other candidates for this role. We truly appreciate the time and care you put into applying and will keep your application on file for future opportunities.

Our interview process typically takes 4-6 weeks, and here’s what you can expect along the way:

• Submit Application
• Phone Screen w/ Head of Talent (30 Mins)
• Team Interview (30 Mins - 1 Hour)
• Leadership Interview (30 Mins)
• TBD: Short, Client-Agnostic Take-Home Test (Paid via Electronic Gift Card)
• Offer (Target Start Date: May 2026)

Who We Are

We are an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all people and do not discriminate - period. All qualified applicants will receive consideration in accordance with federal, state and local laws. We prohibit any form of workplace harassment based on any protected class and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace in every location where we operate.