Overview

This is a strategic leadership opportunity focused on building influential partnerships that can accelerate social impact and organizational growth. The Talent Relations Strategist will define and lead the strategy for engaging celebrities, influencers, creators, and other high-profile voices. The role combines talent relations, public relations, partnership development, campaign strategy, and cultural intelligence.

You will build trusted relationships across the entertainment and influencer ecosystem while translating organizational priorities into high-impact external collaborations. Working across Communications, Development, Programs, and Engagement, you will help turn cultural influence into measurable outcomes such as audience growth, fundraising, policy progress, and campaign victories. The position offers significant autonomy and the opportunity to shape a growing function within a fully remote, globally distributed organization.

Accountabilities

• •Define, own, and lead the organization's celebrity, influencer, and talent engagement strategy, aligning priorities with quarterly objectives and long-term organizational goals.
• •Identify, evaluate, prioritize, and activate high-impact partnerships that can advance advocacy campaigns, policy objectives, movement-building, brand awareness, and public engagement.
• •Serve as the internal subject matter expert on celebrity and talent relations, establishing best practices, decision-making frameworks, standards, and risk-management protocols.
• •Develop functional plans, contribute to budgeting and resource allocation, and assess investment and return across talent engagement initiatives.
• •Build, expand, and maintain a high-value network of celebrities, digital creators, publicists, agents, managers, and other influential industry stakeholders.
• •Lead negotiations and partnership structures with talent and representatives, ensuring collaborations are mutually beneficial, authentic, strategically relevant, and aligned with organizational values.
• •Design and execute integrated campaigns that leverage influential voices to expand reach, shape public conversations, and accelerate campaign and policy outcomes.
• •Monitor cultural moments and news cycles to identify timely opportunities for positioning important social issues within mainstream conversations.
• •Lead cross-functional teams and external partners in developing and delivering high-profile talent initiatives.
• •Collaborate with Engagement, Development, Programs, Communications, and senior leadership to integrate ambassadors and talent into major organizational priorities, campaigns, fundraising initiatives, and signature events.
• •Advise senior leaders on high-profile partnership opportunities, reputational considerations, emerging cultural trends, and sensitive stakeholder situations.
• •Partner with digital and content teams to maximize the reach and long-term value of celebrity-driven media and evergreen content.
• •Establish brand and partnership standards that promote consistency, authenticity, credibility, and mission alignment.
• •Develop and maintain strategic talent databases, engagement systems, and partnership tracking processes.
• •Define and monitor success metrics such as media value, audience growth, donor impact, engagement, and campaign outcomes.
• •Continuously refine strategies based on performance data, industry developments, cultural trends, and organizational priorities.

Requirements

• •7 to 10 years of significant professional experience in celebrity relations, public relations, talent management, influencer marketing, or a related field, ideally within nonprofit, advocacy, social-impact, or purpose-driven environments.
• •Proven track record of developing and executing high-impact celebrity or influencer strategies that generated measurable results across areas such as media visibility, audience growth, fundraising, advocacy, or policy influence.
• •Deep understanding of entertainment, media, influencer, and creator ecosystems, including how cultural narratives are developed, amplified, and translated into public engagement.
• •Established relationships with high-profile celebrities, creators, publicists, agents, managers, and other industry stakeholders, with demonstrated ability to develop and maintain high-trust partnerships.
• •Strong experience negotiating and managing high-profile relationships while navigating reputational risks, competing priorities, confidentiality, and sensitive situations.
• •Exceptional strategic thinking and judgment, with the ability to translate broad organizational objectives into focused priorities, partnership strategies, and actionable plans.
• •Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, take initiative, solve ambiguous problems, and move complex projects from strategy through execution.
• •Experience working cross-functionally within complex organizations and aligning diverse stakeholders around shared objectives.
• •Experience contributing to strategic planning, budgeting, resource allocation, goal setting, measurement, and return-on-investment evaluation.
• •Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and external stakeholders effectively.
• •High emotional intelligence, discretion, and strong relationship-management instincts when working with public figures and their representatives.
• •Ability to translate complex social-impact and advocacy issues into compelling, accessible narratives for broad audiences.
• •Familiarity with talent databases such as IMDbPro or comparable platforms, CRM systems, and project-management tools such as Asana and Slack.
• •Authentic alignment with the mission of advancing animal protection and an understanding of how cultural influence can contribute to meaningful systemic change.
• •Must be authorized to work in the United States and able to perform the role from within the United States or a U.S. territory.
• •Willingness to travel domestically at least three times per year; proximity to New York City or Los Angeles is preferred.

Compensation and Benefits

• •Annual salary range of $113,864 to $138,737 USD, determined through a structured compensation framework based on role scope and relevant experience.
• •Transparent, no-negotiation salary policy designed to support internal equity and consistency.
• •Full medical coverage, with optional dental and vision plans.
• •401(k) retirement plan with employer matching.
• •Up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave for eligible employees.
• •Paid sick leave and holidays.
• •Flexible vacation time.
• •Wellness benefits and pet care and prescription discount programs.
• •Professional development opportunities and support for continued learning.
• •Fully remote work environment within the United States.
• •High level of autonomy and the opportunity to shape and develop a strategic talent-relations function.