The PR & Influence Manager, UK will define and lead the PR and influence strategy for the UK market, aligned with the brand's key moments and overarching objectives. You will own influence activations end to end, from strategy and talent partnerships through to content co-creation, special operations and performance, ensuring everything is consistent with the brand's DNA and our social media platforms.

On the PR side, you will drive UK press strategy and earned media coverage in close collaboration with the retained PR agency, acting as the internal point of contact and ensuring alignment between agency activity and the brand's wider influence and social strategy.

You will manage the UK influence budget, identify the right talent and build high-value, long-term relationships that drive brand awareness. The ideal candidate is a creative, autonomous self-starter with deep knowledge of the UK influence landscape, comfortable both shaping strategy and leading hands-on execution. You will partner closely, as a strong duo, with the UK Marketing Manager, ensuring all actions are aligned and mutually reinforcing toward a common goal: making Merit a strong beauty brand in the UK.

Responsibilities:

• Drive UK press strategy and earned media coverage in partnership with the retained PR agency, acting as the day to day point of contact
• Define and deliver the UK influence strategy, ensuring consistency between activations, the brand's DNA and our social platforms
• Identify relevant profiles and build high-value, long-term influencer partnerships
• Manage talent and co-create content:
• Brief, negotiate, contract and manage influence collaborations
• Co-create impactful content aligned with performance KPIs
• Act as the key point of contact for talent, ensuring a smooth, high-quality relationship
• Design and deliver immersive influence experiences and special operations, including events and seeding to amplify organic visibility
• Track KPIs across both press and influence, using insights to adjust campaigns and maximise impact
• Monitor trends, emerging talent, formats and platforms, and conduct competitor monitoring
• Manage the UK influence budget and coordinate with internal teams and external partners
• Partner closely with the UK Marketing Manager to ensure all actions are consistent with audience and country strategy

Qualifications:

• 5 to 7 years of experience in PR and influence strategy, ideally in a beauty brand or agency environment
• Experience managing PR agency relationships and driving earned media strategy
• Excellent knowledge of the UK influence landscape (talent, platforms, mechanics)
• Strong, proven creative flair and a solid grasp of branding and marketing challenges
• Comfortable with project management, performance analysis and tracking tools
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with autonomy, rigour and a proactive mindset

Location: London

Contract type: Permanent (full-time)

Reports to: EMEA Marketing Director