Career guide
Public Relations Job Description: Template, Duties and Levels
A public relations job is about earning attention and trust for an organization: pitching stories to journalists and creators, writing press materials, preparing spokespeople, watching coverage and handling issues before they grow. Below is a PR job description template you can adapt, the duties at each level from coordinator to director, and how the work is measured.
Key takeaways
- A public relations job earns attention and trust for an organization through media relations, press materials, spokesperson preparation, monitoring and issue handling.
- Public relations job descriptions differ most by level: coordinators support and track, specialists pitch and write, managers own the plan, and directors own reputation.
- In-house PR roles focus on one organization's story, while agency PR roles spread the same work across several clients with billable hours and client reporting.
- Good public relations job descriptions measure the role on the quality of coverage and its effect on the business, not on the raw number of press mentions.
- The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
What does a public relations professional do?
A public relations professional helps an organization earn coverage, attention and trust from the people who matter to it: journalists, customers, investors, employees and the communities it works in. The Public Relations Society of America’s definition is the one most people in the field use: PR is "a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics."
In practice, the work falls into a handful of areas, and most PR jobs lean on two or three of them:
- Media relations. Building relationships with reporters, editors, podcasters and creators, and pitching them stories they’ll want to run.
- Writing. Press releases, pitches, briefing documents, talking points, bylined articles, executive posts and website newsroom copy.
- Spokesperson preparation. Getting executives ready for interviews: key messages, likely questions and the answers to the hard ones.
- Monitoring and reporting. Tracking coverage and conversation, and explaining what it means for the business.
- Issues and crisis communication. Spotting problems early and helping leaders respond quickly and honestly.
- Events, awards and partnerships. Launch events, speaking slots, award entries and partnerships that create stories.
PR sits next to marketing but isn’t the same job. Marketing usually pays for attention; PR mostly earns it. Our PR vs marketing guide explains where they overlap.
Public relations job description template
Copy this and replace the [brackets]. Say which part of PR matters most for this hire, because a media relations specialist and a corporate communications lead are different people.
Job title: [Public Relations Coordinator / Specialist / Manager], [Focus: e.g. Consumer, Corporate, Tech, Healthcare] About [Company] [Two sentences: what the company does, who it serves, and why earned media matters to it now, e.g. a launch, a new market or a funding round.] About the role We're hiring a [title] to [one-sentence purpose, e.g. earn national and trade coverage for our product launches]. You'll report to [title] and work closely with [marketing / product / leadership / our PR agency]. In your first six months you'll [one concrete goal, e.g. build our media list for the [industry] trade press and land coverage for the spring launch]. What you'll do - Pitch stories to journalists, podcasters and creators in [beats or outlets], and build lasting relationships with them. - Write press releases, pitches, media alerts, briefing documents and talking points. - Prepare spokespeople for interviews, including key messages and likely questions. - Monitor coverage and conversation about [company] and [competitors], and flag issues early. - Report coverage and results to [audience] each [week / month], with what to do next. - Support [launches / events / award entries / speaking opportunities]. - [For managers: own the PR plan and budget, manage [number] people or our agency, and advise leadership on reputation and issues.] What you'll bring - [X]+ years in public relations or communications, in house or at an agency. - Coverage you can point to, and the story behind how you earned it. - Strong, fast, clean writing; you'll be asked for a writing sample. - Relationships with, or a clear plan to reach, reporters covering [beat]. - Calm judgment when a story moves fast. - Familiarity with [tools: e.g. a media database, a monitoring tool, social listening]. Nice to have - Experience in [industry or type of company]. - [A specific skill: e.g. crisis communication, executive visibility, analyst relations, influencer partnerships]. How we'll measure success - [Metric 1: e.g. coverage in priority outlets] - [Metric 2: e.g. share of voice against named competitors] - [Metric 3: e.g. key messages carried in coverage] - [Metric 4: e.g. traffic, sign-ups or inquiries tied to coverage] Pay and benefits [Salary range], [benefits], [location / hybrid / remote].
Notes for hiring managers using it:
- Name the beat. “Consumer tech” or “healthcare trade press” tells candidates far more than “media relations”.
- Say how much is writing. Some PR roles are mostly pitching; others are mostly content. Candidates plan their writing sample around it.
- Say whether there’s an agency. Managing an agency is a different job from doing the pitching yourself.
- Include the pay range. A growing number of US states require one in postings; Cooley’s summary of state pay transparency laws is a useful starting point.
What does a PR job involve day to day?
A PR week mixes writing, phone and email time with reporters, internal meetings and a steady eye on the news. A typical week for a specialist might look like this:
| When | What’s happening |
|---|---|
| Monday | Read the news on your beat; update the coverage report; plan the week’s pitches |
| Tuesday | Write and send pitches for an upcoming announcement; follow up on last week’s |
| Wednesday | Draft a press release and talking points; get approvals from legal and the product team |
| Thursday | Brief a spokesperson and sit in on their interview; send the reporter what they need afterward |
| Friday | Track the week’s coverage; flag a developing issue to your manager; update the media list |
News doesn’t keep office hours, so some evenings and weekends come with the job, especially around launches and when something goes wrong.
How does a PR job change by level?
The core skills stay the same while the scope and the judgment calls grow. Entry-level PR people support and track; senior PR people decide what the organization says and when.
| Level | Typical scope | What they’re trusted with |
|---|---|---|
| PR coordinator or assistant | Media lists, coverage tracking, drafting releases, event logistics | Accuracy, speed and spotting problems early |
| PR specialist or account executive | Pitching, writing, managing a set of reporters or a client’s daily work | Landing coverage and writing well under deadline |
| PR manager or account supervisor | The PR plan for a brand or product, a small team or an agency | Choosing which stories to tell and getting results |
| PR director or VP of communications | Reputation, executive visibility, crisis response, the whole team | Advising leadership and making the hard calls |
Our guides to the public relations manager role and how to become a PR specialist go deeper on each step.
How do in-house and agency PR jobs differ?
The skills transfer both ways, but the day looks different. In house, you tell one organization’s story in depth and spend a lot of time getting internal approvals. At an agency, you do the same work across several clients, track your hours against each one, write regular client reports and help pitch for new business.
| In-house PR | Agency PR | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | One organization, in depth | Several clients at once |
| Who you answer to | Your manager and leadership | Your agency lead and each client |
| Pace | Set by launches and the news cycle | Set by client deadlines and billable hours |
| Typical titles | Coordinator, specialist, manager, director | Account coordinator, account executive, account supervisor, account director |
Agency PR is a common place to start, because you learn fast across many stories. Our in-house vs agency guide covers the trade-offs, and billable hours explains how agency time tracking works.
What skills does a public relations job need?
PR hiring managers look for clear writing, good news judgment and steady relationships. These are the skills that show up in most postings:
- Writing. Pitches that get opened, releases that get read, talking points a spokesperson can say naturally.
- News judgment. Knowing what a reporter will find interesting, and what they won’t.
- Relationships. Being someone reporters trust to send useful, accurate stories.
- Composure. Thinking clearly when a story moves fast or turns negative.
- Organization. Many pitches, reporters and approvals in motion at once.
- Measurement. Explaining what coverage did for the business, beyond counting clips.
- Social and creator awareness. Many stories now break on social platforms or through creators before they reach a newsroom.
How is PR work measured?
On the quality of coverage and its effect on the business, rather than the number of mentions. A single story in the outlet your customers read can beat dozens of mentions nobody sees. Common measures:
- Coverage in priority outlets, and whether it carried the key messages.
- Share of voice: how much of the conversation in your category is about you compared with named competitors.
- Tone: positive, neutral or negative coverage over time.
- Business signals: traffic, sign-ups, inquiries or search interest that rose alongside coverage.
- Issues handled: problems spotted early and stories corrected or kept accurate.
Older metrics like “advertising value equivalency” still appear in some postings, but many PR teams have moved toward outcomes like the ones above. If you’re interviewing, ask which outlets matter most to the business and how coverage is reported to leadership.
How do you use a PR job description when applying?
Read the posting for its beat, its level and its biggest goal, then show coverage and results that match.
- Find the beat and the audience. Consumer, trade, corporate, tech, healthcare; it’s usually in the first lines.
- Match your best coverage. For each priority, a resume line with the story, the outlet type and what happened next. Our public relations resume guide shows how.
- Prepare a writing sample. A release or pitch you wrote, cleared for sharing, or a fresh one written for the company.
- Expect a pitch exercise. Many PR interviews ask you to pitch a story about the company on the spot. The public relations interview questions page walks through it.
The pitch exercise can feel nerve-racking, but you’ll be on familiar ground: you get to talk about a story you think is worth telling. Read their newsroom and recent coverage the day before and you’ll walk in with ideas.
Recon can help with step 2: paste the posting and your resume, and it suggests line-by-line rewrites that use only facts already on your resume.
FAQ
What qualifications do you need for a public relations job?
Most postings ask for a bachelor’s degree, often in communications, journalism, PR or marketing, plus experience that matches the level. Coverage you’ve earned and writing you can show carry more weight than the degree subject.
What’s the difference between public relations and communications?
They overlap heavily. “Communications” usually covers PR plus internal communications, executive communications and sometimes social media. Our guide to the communications manager role explains the broader job.
Is public relations a stressful job?
It can be, mostly around launches and issues, when timing is tight and the news is out of your hands. Good planning, clear approval processes and a calm team make a big difference, so ask about them in interviews.
What does a public relations specialist job description include?
The specialist version focuses on pitching, writing and reporter relationships, with less ownership of strategy and budget than a manager. Use the template above and set the level to specialist.
What does a PR coordinator do?
A PR coordinator supports the team: building media lists, tracking coverage, drafting releases, scheduling interviews and handling event logistics. It’s the most common first job in PR, in house or at an agency.
How much does a public relations specialist make?
It varies with location, industry and experience. Our PR specialist salary and PR manager salary pages have US government figures by percentile and state.