Executive Vice President, Consumer Practice Lead

As a key member of the Chicago office leadership team, the EVP, Consumer Practice Lead will play a pivotal role in growing the Consumer Practice at Golin HQ in both organic and net new revenue while nurturing talent to create the best work of our lives.

The primary responsibility of this role is to drive growth through acquiring new clients.   

Golin has been on a winning streak of recognition: Provoke Media’s Global Agency of the Year, PRWeek’s Large Agency of the year and winning two Grand Prix at Cannes. Riding the wave of recognition and award-winning work, the Consumer Practice leader has an incredible opportunity to grow the consumer practice exponentially in Chicago and keep Golin on top. 

It’s an exciting time for the agency to continue to deliver impactful earned work that builds brands and reputations, and we know other brands can benefit from the award-winning work we create. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of winning business, networking & advocating within the industry, influencing and leading teams, experience in award-winning campaigns and being able to identify exceptional talent.

This role demands a leader who can 'raise the bar' and set new standards of excellence. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Drive growth by acquiring new clients and increasing revenue from existing clients.  
• Implement and promote best practices within the Consumer Practice: elevating the culture, the skills and the end work product to deliver impactful results. 
• Develop and launch process improvements across the Consumer practice. 
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop new, value-add offerings to all clients.  
• Work with marketing to develop thought leadership, campaigns, or social media activity to advance business development objectives. 
• Lead the development of RFP responses, serving as a key contributor to and reviewer of proposals, in collaboration with the Head of Growth and relevant Account Teams. This includes working hand-in-hand with pitch captains to run smooth new business processes, ensuring decks are written in ways that will break through and secure new business wins.  
• Be a visionary. See where the consumer market is moving before others and help Golin stay ahead of the curve.  
• Diversify the Golin Chicago client roster by identifying new categories we can credibly pursue.  
• Actively engage in the PR ecosystem and represent Golin in the business community at industry and client events. Identify events and secure spots on stages to speak at on behalf of Golin.  
• Nurture, develop and continuously train talent with a focus on strategic succession planning, high retention rates and recognition.  

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing, communications, journalism, or related field.
• Minimum of 15 years of experience in a similar role within an agency with a focus on driving growth, with preferably 5+ years in senior leadership roles. 
• Proven ability to influence and lead teams, strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills. 
• Experience identifying and tracking specific KPIs to achieve business development goals. 
• Experience in furthering DEI initiatives through both active leadership and development of own team and participation in office- and agency-level initiatives. 
• Expert at leading and pitching new business, proven success in new business development, with a deep professional network and demonstrated ability to win new clients.  
• Elite business growth and business acumen skills, with a history of evolving consumer business and practice. 

About Golin: 

Golin is a progressive public relations agency designed to reach a profoundly diverse global market. Our ambition is to not only adapt to the rapidly evolving landscape of AI but to lead the charge. We are committed to upskilling our workforce and integrating AI into our daily work to maximize the value we deliver to our clients. 

Together, we discover powerful human truths that bind us, create with bravery, and collaborate inclusively and obsessively. Golin’s 1700 global employees operate across 50+ offices worldwide, allowing us to provide our clients with comprehensive solutions for multi-market, regional and global communications programs.  

We’re especially committed to going all in for our people. We challenge our employees to be courageously happy and have empowered them to do so by offering our LifeTime benefits program. LifeTime offers flexible time off, enhanced family care, generous health and wellness benefits, workplace hybrid flexibility, and a monthly LifeTime stipend for the gym or hobbies.  

Our expertise ranges from brand-building and cutting-edge digital content to corporate reputation, healthcare advocacy and measurement. Golin aligns earned-first, data-driven creative with the customer journey through our collaborative G4 Model to deliver maximum impact for clients. Our roster includes many of the largest CPG, retail, food, healthcare technology and consumer service companies in the world.    

Salary range: $185,000 - $350,000 

Golin has included the base salary range or hourly rate for this role. Actual compensation offered within the range will depend upon, among other factors: a candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience; actual ranges for current or former employees in the role; and market considerations. 

Any request to schedule an interview and any legitimate offer of employment will only come from an authorized representative of Golin. We will never require an applicant to provide sensitive personally identifiable information in order to conduct an interview. 

Golin is an Equal Opportunity Employer – M/F/Veteran/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. 

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