Careers

If you bring out-of-the-box thinking with a dash of hustle and a pinch of agency pedigree, but you’re looking for a new agency home that thinks differently, then we should connect.

We are always looking to expand our team with marketing leadership minds and kind, good souls. Come join our spool of marketing leaders.

Open Positions

Account Supervisor

Spool is looking for an Account Supervisor to join our team in Chicago, IL. This role will work with clients within the food, beverage and CPG spaces and will be responsible for managing key accounts and supporting others. This role will have a high focus on consumer media relations and story development for brands within the food, beverage and CPG spaces.

Our ideal candidate is highly proficient and enthusiastic about all aspects of media relations, with the ability to find, develop and tell a strong and engaging story that hooks media – and consumer – interest on behalf of our clients. You’ll both run key accounts and support some others, allowing you to work across Spool’s exciting client portfolio and alongside awesome colleagues. You’re able to manage both up and down and be a trusted leader for our clients to work with closely. You will be a strong writer, trend spotter and creative brainstormer who isn’t afraid to share ideas and opinions, and you will also be a great team player who knows how to link arms and work across practices and disciplines to develop great work together (and have some fun and laughs along the way!).

Role Overview:

Brings value to clients by passionately and professionally representing Spool on a day-to-day basis.
Trusted partner and point of contact for clients partnering with account leadership to deliver operational discipline and deliver excellence, speed to market, resource optimization, and profitability management to their business(es).
Strong commercial abilities and business and financial acumen.
Highly organized and accountable account leaders, who are able to build relationships and collaborate with/draw on the expertise of all Spool’s capabilities.
Constantly striving to solve our client’s larger business problems, not just the immediate request at hand.
Acts courageously and with conviction and collaborates with/draws on the expertise of all Spool’s capabilities.
Manages client objectives, expectations and timelines and communicating changes/directions to internal team members
Influences the efficiency and quality of work and advocates for the agency/client relationship
Effectively presents work, plans and recaps in a live and digital way
Understands staffing and scoping requirements
Supports the client budget to manage costs and deliverables as well as staffing resources
Owns project management/workflow system data entry and reporting
Identifies potential project risks and develops contingency plans
Serves as a mentor/coach and/or direct manager to more junior team members and supports the development of these team members.
Demonstrates the ability to supervise and delegate tasks appropriately.
Develops and maintains high levels of team effectiveness (trust, communication, collaboration, productivity, diversity, engagement)
This includes supervising staff to ensure balanced workload across the team, along with all information needed to complete tasks by deadlines, along with growth opportunities
Effective writer who leads execution of press materials such as press releases, Q&A’s, executive leadership communications, statements, etc.
Serves as the liaison and point of contact for all interagency teams (social, creative, media buying)
Supervise media for issue awareness and coverage on key topics and provide updates to key executives

Requirements:

Minimum of 6 years of relevant experience in communications and public relations
Bachelor's degree preferred
Prior experience in an agency environment strongly preferred
Strong business acumen and familiarity with the food and CPG and beverage brands
Track record of expertly counseling clients across a range of food and beverage subsets to manage issues and meet business goals based on a deep understanding of the media, regulatory and stakeholder landscape.
The ability to act as a daily client contact and to be responsible for client-related finance management, including managing large projects within budget.
Demonstrates excellent writing, editing, and presentation-development skills; project management skills; and consultative skills (including effective questions, critical thinking, client management and framework and methodology application)
Possesses strong understanding of how to communicate with teams and work from both client and agency sides
Strong track record of leading programs across internal and external channels (e.g., media relations, social, owned)
Solid knowledge of industry best and emerging practices
Experience or aptitude for methodology or service development

Apply Now »

Senior Account Executive

Spool is hiring a Sr. Account Executive to join our team in Chicago, IL. This role will work within the food, beverage and CPG spaces and will be responsible for supporting and managing key accounts. This role will be have a high focus on consumer media relations and story development for brands within the food, beverage and CPG spaces.

Our ideal candidate is highly proficient and enthusiastic about all aspects of media relations, with the ability to find, develop and tell a strong and engaging story that hooks media – and consumer – interest on behalf of our clients. You’ll both manage key accounts and support some others, allowing you to work across Spool’s exciting client portfolio and alongside awesome colleagues. You’re able to manage both up and down and be a trusted leader for our clients to work with closely. You will be a strong writer, trend spotter and creative brainstormer who isn’t afraid to share ideas and opinions, and you will also be a great team player who knows how to link arms and work across practices and disciplines to develop great work together (and have some fun and laughs along the way!).

Requirements:

Develops a strong understanding of Spool’s clients’ business and target audience, and work with client team to create and deliver solutions that meet program objectives
Monitor media outlets, understand industry issues that directly and indirectly affect the client, and analyze and distill meaningful insights from media coverage
Generate story ideas and topic angles, draft media materials, and pitch media to land earned coverage
Develop strategic messaging for clients and support creation of media plans and proposals that take an integrated approach to driving awareness with target audiences
Leverage influencers (e.g. advocates, bloggers/vloggers and other relatable voices) to impact clients, their brands and marketing goals
Provide thoughtful recommendations for content creation and distribution across multiple channels to support paid, owned and earned channels
Ability to conduct quick, thorough research
Ability to develop and write C-suite ready research summaries
Support creative ideation on a consistent basis
Serve as a role model to team members
Daily trend-spotting across food and beverage, innovation, sustainability, wellness, tech and other relevant topics
Manages vendors to ensure budget adherence and value of services purchased
Demonstrates ability to troubleshoot and to facilitate discussions between client and agency billing departments
Actively participate in agency development and assist with new business

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
3+ years' of relevant experience
Organized and able to multi-task
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Prior experience in an agency environment strongly preferred
Strong business acumen and familiarity with the food and CPG and beverage brands
The ability to act as a daily client contact and to be responsible for client-related finance management, including managing large projects within budget
Demonstrates excellent writing, editing, and presentation-development skills; project management skills; and consultative skills (including effective questions, critical thinking, client management and framework and methodology application)

Apply Now »

Internship

Marketing
Consultant

Account Director

Spool is looking for an Account Director to join our team in Chicago, IL.

Role Overview:

Ability to effectively project manage, delegate, and oversee a large volume of short-term and longer-term/complex assignments on projects, teams, and agency-growth initiatives.
Client-facing in an account, strategy, and growth standpoint.
Strong client counselor with proven ability to demonstrate the role Spool and our services plays within their growth, marketing, and communications efforts
Manages client partnerships and cross functional agency partners, as well as deploy teams in the most efficient and productive way to execute flawlessly and be a supportive coach
Strong understanding of entrepreneurial mindset, business acumen, industry, category and competitive knowledge for clients and Spool accounts
Spool Advocate - ear to the ground listening for opportunities to help Spool grow and garner visibility for the company
Experience in storytelling to B2C and B2B media on a wide range of topics across multichannel media platforms
A demonstrated ability to digest and understand a wide variety of clients businesses, specifically, their business products, markets, personnel, outside influencers among other aspects, and succinctly translate and develop this to growth-minded strategies and executions.
Passion for and experience in supervising/mentoring junior team members
A proactive self-starter with excellent organizational and project management skills, and the ability to adapt to change and meet deadlines
Excellent writer, organized, effective communicator, manages up and down
Provide client service administration, including preparing client status and activity reports, attending meetings and conference calls, compiling media and competitor coverage, coordinating press pitching, scheduling and logistics
Supports staffing and scoping management
Manages multiple projects for multiple clients from concept to completion by anticipating challenges, troubleshooting problems, proposing solutions, offering client counsel, overseeing quality, and ensuring deadline and budget adherence
Develops network of industry contacts; participates in relevant professional associations
Actively participate in agency development and assist with new business

Requirements:

Minimum 7 years of experience in communications and agency environment (preferred)
Bachelor's degree preferred
Proven track record of growing specific accounts through focused activity and relationship building
Strong business strategy, acumen and familiarity with the brand and corporate space
Strong ability to communicate, assess situations and build relationships with multiple individuals
Sound experience in spotting opportunities, pro actively sharing solutions and engaging the best resources and teams to bring vision to life
The ability and confidence to lead conversations at a Senior Level
A natural ‘people’s person’ with the ability to connect with a variety of individuals with colleagues or clients
Personable and relatable, someone who can adapt to any given situation in a professional manner
Motivated with a strong desire to achieve, and is outcome focused

Apply Now »

VP, PR

Requirements:

Business-minded steward of the client relationship and is entrusted and empowered to ensure both the clients’ and agency’s business objectives are met.
Effectively identify and anticipate business problems and help clients solve them through applying deep industry and tactical knowledge.
Manage a team as well as mentor mid- and junior-level staff and will embrace the role as an officer of Spool
Day-to-day lead on a variety of clients and programs, responsible for managing their teams’ performance as it relates to client service and quality control.
Lead planning, development and implementation of comprehensive, integrated campaigns with a specific focus on thought leadership, media relations, executive visibility and corporate storytelling
Develops a strong client partnership rooted in open dialogue, mutual understanding, and respect
Assembles and builds teams, driving collaboration and creating seamless integration across disciplines and bringing the right holistic thinking to deliver against client goals
Proactively identifies business problems that our clients are looking to solve, ensures they are understood by team and anticipates future needs
Demonstrates proficiency in writing skills to craft internal and client correspondence, communications plans, press materials, client presentations
Develops and oversees accurate team, client and project budgets
Oversees work quality and operational performance, ensuring timeline management and deadline adherence and ensuring plan execution maps to client objectives within budget
Builds network of industry clients and participates in relevant professional organizations and networking activities that will grow Spool’s visibility
Manages down, across and up by working closely with teams and by ensuring team members meet approval deadlines and stay on track with deliverables
Drives new business, including leading RFP responses and proactively identifying and cultivating opportunities

Preferred Qualifications:

8+ years of experience in communications, public affairs, issues management and/or related fields of communications or business advisory services
Bachelor’s degree
Experience within the food and beverage, CPG, emerging markets
Strong media relations experience; ability to leverage the news cycle to help promote client stories
Ongoing interest in current events, including global and domestic business trends and the evolving food/beverage/CPG space
Strategic planning experience with integrated content, including earned/owned content, social media and paid content such as articles and social media influencers
Experience managing and leading integrated teams
Track record of leading profitable programs that have advanced client business goals
Experience successfully managing resources and budgets as well as helping to win new business
Relationship builder, demonstrating an ability to listen and respond to a wide variety of constituencies.
Candid communicator who can clarify and communicate complex ideas quickly, succinctly, and accurately
Comfortable taking appropriate risks and making tough decisions when necessary

*If you do not meet 100% of the qualifications for but believe you could be successful within, please apply anyway. Data shows men will apply for jobs when they meet approximately 60% of a position's criteria, yet women and other people systematically marginalized tend to apply only if they meet every requirement. At Spool, we want builders, dreamers, workers and doers (we’re not big fans of box-checkers and mover-on’ers).

If you believe you can thrive in this role, even if you don't check every box of the position's criteria, please apply. We are committed to considering all candidates including those with diverse employment backgrounds and experiences (and tell you what, we'd hire someone who worked retail or hospitality over a fancy schmancy internship any day). Whether you're new to PR and marketing or returning to the workplace after a gap, or you're ready for the next chapter in your career, we would love to consider you as part of our team at Spool.

Please send us a note to tell us about your passions, your skills, tell us how working at a non-for-profit would fit perfectly in the role we're hiring for- again, we're out-of-the-box thinkers here at Spool and we'd be fools to not consider people who bring out-of-the-box experiences to the agency.

Apply Now »

Art Director, PR

Spool is searching for an art director with 3 to 4 years of experience. We’re looking for visual aficionados who are big dreamers, and change-makers that embody an entrepreneurial mindset. Someone who will harness past experiences and reimagine new ways of thinking and building.

The Type of Work You'll Be Doing

Providing art direction and design support of digital and print materials, including but not limited to presentation design, photoshop mockups, social media graphics, event collateral, signage, invites, newsletters, magazines, social impact materials, and campaign identity.
Setting up, leading, and participating in creative brainstorms
Collaborating with a copywriter, creative director, account lead, and integrated teams to see projects from idea to activation
Clearly articulate ideas in internal reviews and craft compelling creative presentation decks for clients.
Push for creative ideas that can break through in pop culture, and be compelling enough that a journalist would consider them newsworthy
Owning the art direction and development of Spool’s brand identity
Mentorship of junior-level creatives

Need To Haves

Great grasp of the design fundamentals
Great grasp of the adobe design suite but especially PSD
Social media savvy - Understanding social trends and what design works well on social
Strong communication skills
Ability to work collaboratively and independently
Low ego and big on laughs
Passion and respect for all types of creative - traditional, PR, experiential, street art, fine art, fashion, film, typography - all of it.
The ability to follow a process but also suggest how we can improve a process
Problem solver, not a problem creator
A breadth of cultural reference points

Nice To Haves

Animation
Illustration
Photography
Videography
Video editing skills

Preferred Qualifications

BA or BFA in graphic design or related field
3-4 years experience (preferably in an agency/design firm setting)
A portfolio that features excellent art direction and design across digital, print, and social

*Please include a portfolio link in your application

*Thank you for your interest in working at Spool. As you look at open positions, if you see any that you may not meet 100% of the qualifications for but believe you could be successful within, please apply anyway.

Data shows men will apply for jobs when they meet approximately 60% of a position's criteria, yet women and other people systematically marginalized tend to apply only if they meet every requirement. At Spool, we want builders, dreamers, workers and doers (we’re not big fans of box-checkers and mover-on’ers). If you believe you can thrive in this role, even if you don't check every box of the position's criteria, please apply. We are committed to considering all candidates including those with diverse employment backgrounds and experiences (and tell you what, we'd hire someone who worked retail or hospitality over a fancy schmancy internship any day).

Whether you're new to PR and marketing or returning to the workplace after a gap, or you're ready for the next chapter in your career, we would love to consider you as part of our team at Spool.

Apply Now »

Spool's Team Pledge

We work each day to ensure we’re not like the last place you may have worked. Part of that entails signing the Spool Pledge, which each and every member of our team accountable. If this sounds like you, we’d love to talk!

As you take a look at open positions, if you see any that you may not meet 100% of the qualifications for but believe you could be successful within, please apply anyway.

Data shows men will apply for jobs when they meet approximately 60% of a position’s criteria, yet women and other people systematically marginalized tend to apply only if they meet every requirement. At Spool, we want builders, dreamers, workers and doers (we’re not big fans of box-checkers and mover-on’ers). If you believe you can thrive in this role, even if you don’t check every box of the position’s criteria, please apply. We are committed to considering all candidates including those with diverse employment backgrounds and experiences (and tell you what, we’d hire someone who worked retail or hospitality over a fancy schmancy internship any day).

Whether you’re new to PR and marketing or returning to the workplace after a gap, or you’re ready for the next chapter in your career, we would love to consider you as part of our team at Spool.

Please send us a note to tell us about your passions and skills; tell us how working at a nonprofit would fit perfectly in the role we’re hiring for. Again, we’re out-of-the-box thinkers here at Spool and we’d be fools to not consider people who bring out-of-the-box experiences to the agency.

Expectations

Our Spool Pledge which everyone signs and agrees to uphold:

We live our values every single day and we will always strive to live and work ‘above the line’ (i.e. to uphold this pledge and all it entails).
Authenticity
Curiosity
Agility
Impact
Ego and gossip has no home at Spool and won’t be tolerated. Both create hostility, negativity and are a waste of time and energy.
We always assume people are doing their best (colleagues and clients alike).
As a learning culture, we receive feedback with openness, not defensiveness; share feedback with empathy and purpose.
We embrace the “I have my way, you have your way, there’s not a right way or a wrong way” of working and learn from one another. So long as the work is getting done, people are able to work through their styles.
We are respectful of everyone’s time and ask questions after we’ve already done work in trying to find the solution.
We’re not box-checkers and hard workers, but rather, we are thinkers, curious and *smart* workers who do everything in our power to deliver exceptional work each and every time.
We have our teams’ backs 110% of the time.
We are accountable for our work and the role we play at Spool.
Flexibility in our work styles ultimately derives from the accountability of our work and support for our teams.
We commit to doing our best, every day, both in work and throughout our communities to make it a better place for all.

About Spool

In 2021, Spool was named the fastest-growing agency among over 250 global agencies. Spool was founded on the belief that the world doesn’t need another agency, but perhaps it could use a new type of agency. We embrace a startup mindset that pushes our work and its impact for our clients’ growth. We also have a lot of fun along the way. If you’re ambitious and eager to grow your career, there’s no better time or place than at Spool. We have always offered lots of flexibility (well before Covid), lots of time off, paid holidays (20 in 2022), Summer Fridays, benefits and access to profit sharing.

Why Spool?

We put our people before profits. Seriously. We’ve resigned toxic clients and expect as much from them to be partners as we do from every employee at Spool.
We also believe in being a positive force in this world and strive to do that through our work, our ideas and how we as an agency run.
We strongly encourage people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities to apply. As an equal-opportunity employer, Spool is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and welcomes everyone to our team. We welcome you to note which pronouns you use (For example – she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, etc). Should you require reasonable accommodation at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.
We provide competitive salary and benefits, including:

Health, dental and vision benefits (BCBS)
401k / retirement
Generous PTO, unlimited sick days and 16 annual paid holidays; summer Fridays (half days)
Paid parental leave (12 weeks for full time and family leave bonuses for PT/Contractors)
Gym membership (including Peloton)
VP levels and up able to earn equity into Spool
Profit sharing
Bonuses (discretionary)

Careers

Open Positions

Account Supervisor

Senior Account Executive

Internship

Marketing
Consultant

Account Director

VP, PR

Art Director, PR

Spool's Team Pledge

Fill out this simple form to apply.

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Open Positions

Account Supervisor

Account Supervisor

Senior Account Executive

Senior Account Executive

Internship

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Marketing Consultant

Marketing Freelancer & Consultants

Account Director

Account Director

VP, PR

VP, PR

Art Director, PR

Art Director, PR

The Type of Work You'll Be Doing

Need To Haves

Nice To Haves

Preferred Qualifications

Spool's Team Pledge

Fill out this simple form to apply.

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Thoughts

Marketing
Consultant