PR Managing Director - Fractional

Disrupt PR | Up to $75-$100/hr DOE | Part-time contract, Mon–Thu
This isn't a coast role. We need a senior PR operator who still writes the pitch, chases the follow-up, lands placements every week, and makes the team around them better everyday.
ABOUT DISRUPT PR
We're an Austin-based boutique PR agency, named #1 Best Boutique PR Agency 2025. We were journalists; now we win at PR. Our team pitches newsrooms we used to work in, and our campaigns have generated enough coverage to crash client websites.
We work with ambitious brands in biotech, health media, proptech, manufacturing, cannabis and financial advisory. Our team is fully remote and small: CEO, COO and an Account Manager. Every person on it moves the needle. Let's Disrupt!
THE ROLE
You're our Managing Director, on a fractional basis. You own earned-media results across our client roster: the angles, the pitch writing, the follow-up, the client relationship, client zoom meetings and the coaching that turns our account team's work into placements.
WHAT YOU'LL OWN
• Placements. Earned media across 5–7 active accounts, working toward our standard of 2–4 quality placements per client per month.
• Follow-up discipline. Run a real cadence with top reporters, with second and third touches, until it's a yes or a clear no.
• Pitch writing. Write the strongest pitches yourself and boil every story down to one or two sentences.
• Angles & newsjacking. Turn a client's weak spot into a story, and turn breaking news into a pitch the same day. When news breaks at 8am, the pitch should be out before lunch.
• Media lists. Build and sharpen targeted lists (health and biotech trades, business press, tier-one, broadcast, podcast).
• Client leadership. Lead client calls, come prepared, and push back when needed. Set expectations based on how newsrooms actually work, and get the assets and approvals in on time so stories don't die waiting.
• Crisis calm. When it hits, stay calm: write the simple narrative and the holding statement fast.
• Roadmaps. Keep a short, actionable 4–8 week roadmap for each account. Plans should drive action, not sit in a doc.
• Your Account Manager. Edit their drafts, explain the edits, and coach them on angles and follow-up. Nothing should wait on you.
• Visibility. Pitch from shared Disrupt PR systems and accounts so the team sees every outbound pitch and reply. No single-person logins, no black-box inboxes.
MUST-HAVES (non-negotiable)
• 8+ years of client-facing PR, across at least two agencies, or running your own shop.
• You've run an agency, or run 5+ accounts at once while managing multiple clients and account managers.
• You're still pitching and landing now. We'll ask for links to 3 placements you personally secured in the last 90 days.
• A strong pitch writer with a proven follow-up system. You can name a placement you won on the third touch.
• Senior enough to lead client calls and push back.
• You like editing and coaching junior work.
• Deep hands-on skill in media list building, client communication, and spotting timely angles.
• You're fast and an exceptional communicator: you answer the same day, write tight, and lead with a recommendation.
• Reliable, consistent availability of 10–12 hours a week, Mon–Thu, overlapping with US Central business hours. The team shouldn't have to schedule around you.
NICE-TO-HAVES
• Former journalist or producer.
• Placements in health/biotech trades and business press (think STAT, Fierce, Bloomberg, Fortune), or in tech and finance.
• Relationships with podcast bookers, and broadcast booking chops.
• You've run an awards and speaking program.
• Crisis comms and media training experience.
• Fluent in Muck Rack, Podchaser and AI tools.
PROBABLY NOT A FIT IF…
• Your most recent placements are more than a few months old.
• You pitch volume and skip the follow-up.
• You'd rather manage the people doing the pitching than pitch yourself.
• Your strategy docs are long but don't lead to action.
• You need a 24-hour runway to react to news.
• You want a retainer you can coast on.
SCHEDULE & RATE
• Fractional: 10–12 hours a week, typically Monday–Thursday
• Remote (US)
• $75-$100/hr, independent contractor
• Steady weekly hours, not project-to-project
HOW TO APPLY
Apply here on LinkedIn and answer the screening questions. If you're very interested in the role, you can get a jump on things by emailing [marin@disruptpr.com] with the subject line "Fractional MD – [Your Name]" and include:
1. Links to 3 placements you personally landed in the last 90 days, with one line each on the angle and how you got it. Flag any you won on a follow-up.
2. Your current load: how many fractional clients or roles you're carrying now, and your weekly hours.
3. One timely angle you'd pitch a biotech/AI drug-discovery client (client I coming out with injection "cure" for acne) this week, plus the outlet/reporter(s) you'd send it to first. 3–5 sentences max.
Applications without the 3 links won't be reviewed.
Let's Disrupt.

Work arrangement
Yes