Director of Communications

Director of Communications Reports to: SVP, Brand + Marketing

WHO WE ARE: Hotels done differently. It's not just a slogan or catchphrase, it is who we are in everything we do. We believe in the power of People, Place + Character, ensuring our hotels are a place where individuals are valued and celebrated as a tribute to the neighborhoods and the people of the communities in which we operate; elevating our associates' pride in who they are, where they live and who we serve. Aparium has been named to Travel + Leisure's Top 25 Hotel Brands in the World. Driven by the belief that all hospitality experiences should be fueled by the poetics of their surroundings, Aparium was born with an intense focus on unearthing the amazing moments unique to every city. Since its founding, Aparium has grown into a new kind of hotel brand, one that ventures off the beaten path, both geographically and philosophically. It is a sophisticated hotel brand known for its singular ability to combine the business acumen of large hospitality companies with the charm of boutique hotels, bringing disparate forces together in bustling, smaller markets. WHO YOU ARE: You are a talented and highly effective PR and communications leader who loves to build upon and elevate an existing infrastructure to be the best it can be. You have the immense responsibility of driving Aparium’s PR and communications strategy in collaboration with our Brand, Lifestyle and Marketing team during the accelerated growth of our portfolio. This position will lead and drive our larger storytelling strategy, brand & property PR agencies and hotel executive teams to deliver a unified and well thought out owned, shared, and earned channel strategy. A strategic and tactical leader is required for this role, the position must be a doer and technically perform the aspects they oversee and lead. You are humble and understand the need to work side by side with others; and you take feedback to make things better seriously. You are confident in your abilities to be a General (strategic thinker) and a Soldier (tactical doer). You have connections within our industry's top publications, and most likely, they are in your circle of friends due to your long-term relationships. You are passionate about collaboration and communication with the ability to guide others to be the very best they can be through instilling a sense of self discipline, ownership, and accountability to all that they do. THE ROLE: The Director of Communications is based in Chicago and will lead the public relations and communications efforts for Aparium to include our 10 independently branded and soft-branded hotels and over 20 independently branded restaurants + bars. The role will lead all strategic PR, internal and external communications, and storytelling initiatives by working directly with the HQ and property teams to achieve results. The role requires a leader who can pivot from being the strategic leader to understanding the day-to-day role of the PR and storytelling to support all facets of the role. You can lead these teams because you have done these jobs at the highest level. You understand the balance of delivering targeted strategy from an agency perspective, you have compassion for the hustle and balance of priorities of our property field leaders, and you believe that storytelling is a tool that connects the world through powerful stories. You manage dynamic tasks and projects with ease and are skilled in critically evaluating, developing, and evolving strategic plans to maximize results. The role requires a collaborative relationship with the Marketing team, Aparium Senior leadership team, lifestyle and Brand teams and Hotel General Managers, fostering a shared strategic vision with defined objectives on how to position hotels, drive revenues and improve performance at the hotels. This role offers unlimited paid time off, competitive compensation, and health benefits beginning day one. If you are known to have grit that is associated with an entrepreneurial spirit, then we invite you to your next career opportunity. WHAT YOU WILL DO:

• Uphold and role model the company's principles of People, Place and Character; and ensure your team and peers are also modeling the way of our values that drive collaboration, intuition and translocal hospitality
• Build and maintain a trusting and transparent relationship with all stakeholders, specifically taking the time to develop rapport and respect with the Aparium Marketing and Brand Team and property leaders.
• Lead the PR and communications strategy and execution through all paid, owned, shared, and earned channels, while ensuring all initiatives at Aparium and at hotel level align with brand vision and positioning.
• Define how you measure success of the PR and storytelling efforts - establish KPI’s and goals tied to all paid, owned, shared, and earned channels.
• Establish regular PR meetings with the agency and property teams to evaluate performance and support the critical business needs with KPI tracking and reporting to validate all efforts.
• Review and enhance all existing SOP’s and reporting to ensure the team has all the resources and guidelines to effectively operate within defined parameters.
• Oversee, negotiate, and contract agencies and business partners, setting expectations, instilling accountability with ongoing engagement to ensure successful partnerships.
• Demonstrates a high degree of drive and determination and the willingness to complete task and projects as assigned by SVP of Brand + Marketing

External Communications:

• Define public relations strategy and approach for Aparium brand and its portfolio of hotels and restaurants; articulate the brand pitch to strengthen the Aparium brand.
• Engage, cultivate, and manage high-level strategic media relationships by being a conduit between all agencies; and coach and train General Managers and Executive teams on how to best manage and develop local or regional PR partnerships with third-party agencies for each hotel.
• Assist properties with sourcing and vetting local or regional agencies and deliver and support the onboarding process for new agencies to ensure they are fluent in each hotel's people, place, and character.
• Partner with Marketing, Brand, and Lifestyle to ensure an integrated, cohesive strategy and drive consistent messaging and storytelling across audiences, with a strong focus on sentiment and share of voice of portfolio and protect and communicate brand reputation.
• Be the conduit between Headquarters, agencies, and hotels by identifying cross-promotional opportunities, ensuring public relations and storytelling perspective is represented and shared for portfolio-wide initiatives.
• Assist HQ and hotel's Director of Lifestyles in identifying and coordinating influencer strategy efforts in conjunction with campaigns and evolve Aparium's understanding and practices of utilizes social media influencers within the marketplace or region of a hotel's location.
• Guide PR agencies during a hotel's pre-opening process; review press releases and coordinate required information with key Aparium stakeholder.
• Develop an awards strategy for Aparium and the hotels, including recommended awards per hotel and HQ, tracking national awards calendar to ensure timely and stand out submissions for all applicable properties and projects.
• Develop, measure, and report best practices by exploring the appropriate systems and platforms that better measure agency ROI (i.e., TrendKite); and implement platform(s) to track performance with influencer strategy: IZEA, Klear, Influence Kit.

Internal Communications

• Identify and implement internal communication channel(s) for Aparium to communicate to the company's portfolio of hotels key messages, updates, and announcements.
• Provide counsel as needed to executives to improve content delivery, which may include assistance in writing talking points, scripts, speeches, email announcements, or general presentations to a variety of stakeholders.
• Collaborate with People + Culture and Brand to identify the company's tone and voice for communications to the people of the hotels and headquarters.
• Contribute storytelling content towards the company's social media platforms of LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook to ensure the relevance of current messaging and voice.
• Set-up or provide media relations training to relevant stakeholders to communicate crisis management strategies.

The list of responsibilities above is just the beginning of the adventure. Be prepared for more exciting challenges! You might be called on to tackle extra duties or tasks not listed here, all to meet the ever-changing needs of the organization. WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Ability to be comfortable in your skin, know who you are, have a point of view, and can articulate a perspective or opinion with substance and clarity.
• Demonstrated professional proficiency of the English language in reading, writing, and verbal communication that enable the ability to captivate an audience.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt interpersonal skills and communication style to connect to local stakeholders, ownership, opinion makers, business executives, and employees.
• Attained a bachelor's degree or have relevant seven (7) years of experience within the PR and communications field.

HOW YOU LEAD:

• Engage others in general conversation tactics to build rapport quickly; leading and adapting communication and presentation tactics to engage your audience; displaying adaptable interpersonal skills for a wide range of audiences and stakeholders.
• Approach fact-finding and discovery missions in a collaborative effort; valuing input and experiences of others that creates additional insight to uncover deeper issues that may need to be addressed or removed as a barrier to implementation.
• Value the importance of making decisions with integrity, maintaining confidentiality across internal workgroups, and knowing how to use discretion when appropriate; knows how to keep a secret by understanding the difference between transparency and confidentiality.
• Be highly analytical in thought and recommendations; although never acting like the smartest person in the room; and continually seeking out the facts; able to express a point of view without it being driven by your ego.
• Demonstrate business acumen and practice sound financial decisions by ensuring the actions and plans put into place support the achievement of operational goals and budgets.
• Passionate in driving results of their effort and others; can influence others to take direction to execute on strategy through tactical methods; and is comfortable in prioritizing their work and that of others.
• Support open communication and operates in a circle of trust to encourage the exchange of ideas with all counterparts

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Aparium Hospitality Services celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment and a sense of belonging for all employees. We do not discriminate and believe every individual should be proud of who they are, where they come from, and take pride in who we serve. Aparium is an E-Verify employer. Pay rate: $120K- $140K

Benefits: Aparium offers a variety of benefits to include medical, dental, vision 401(k), short term disability, long term disability, life insurance, commuter benefits, discounted parking, travel benefits and more.