The senior vice president of corporate communications leads an agency’s corporate practice group, which is the team that develops PR and communication programs for leading corporate brands. They must have a demonstrated track record of developing and executing successful PR campaigns.

This leadership role includes new business proposal development and presentations, and research for new business leads. The senior vice president develops and executes successful PR campaigns, maintains a relationship with senior- level client contacts, manages media relations strategies, and pitching processes, often dealing with media responses. There is also research involved in this position, and maintaining and growing business prospects. Expect the scope of work to expand given different projects, and there will often be convergence assignments.

The person in this position manages and delegates the responsibilities of daily workflow for the firms accounts while driving consistent media results, while at the same time supervising work responsibilities of the staff.

Average Salary: $164,000

Average Hours (per week): 50 plus hours per week with substantial travel at times. Plus, a senior VP must work well under pressure and thrive on meeting deadlines and goals.

Union: No

Certifications: B.S/B.A or masters degree in public relations or a related field; at least eight to 10 years of PR experience. The Public Relations Society of America offers a certification program for public relations practitioners based on years of experience and performance on an examination.

Training Period: It can take as many as ten years or more to become a senior level PR practitioner.

Strongest Market(s): The best service-providing industries include communications firms and financial institutions; professional, scientific, and technical services; public and private educational services; finance and insurance; government and healthcare.

There is also a trend today for public relations jobs to be dispersed throughout the United States, but traditionally PR jobs have been concentrated in large metro areas like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

Top Salary: $200,000 plus.

Entry Level Salary: $20,000 to $40,000.

Job Growth Forecast: Overall employment of communications and public relations is expected to increase by 13 percent through 2018.

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