Job Description

JOB SUMMARY

The Vice President, Public Relations, Communications & Activations, CALA, is a senior continent leader responsible for setting the strategy and operating model for public relations, executive communications, internal communications, activations, reputation management, and earned-media storytelling across the Caribbean and Latin America. The role serves as a strategic advisor to the Chief Commercial Officer, CALA senior leadership, Global Communications & Public Affairs, brand leadership, owners, and market teams to ensure CALA's narrative advances Marriott International's enterprise priorities, regional growth agenda, and commercial performance objectives.
This leader translates global enterprise, brand, loyalty, development, and commercial strategies into locally relevant communications platforms, market activations, and visibility plans that support demand generation, owner and franchisee value, hotel openings and conversions, customer engagement, loyalty growth, and CALA's portfolio priorities across Luxury, Premium, Select, All-Inclusive, and emerging brand segments.

The Vice President leads the CALA PR and discipline, including the Public Relations Center of Excellence, agency ecosystem, budget governance, measurement framework, and team capability. The role is accountable for setting clear priorities, building scalable resources and standards, strengthening executive and market counsel, and delivering measurable impact through earned media, share of voice, reputation, engagement, and business contribution.
Location: CALA Continent Office in Plantation, FL or other CALA Countries.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in public relations, communications, journalism and/or marketing required; advanced degree in Business or related area preferred
MBA or similar advanced degree a plus
15+ years of progressive experience in public relations, international consumer marketing, social media and/or field operations/marketing required
International and US media relations required
International marketing experience preferred
Demonstrated ability to balance the interests and demands of multiple senior-level stakeholders
Proven experience leading teams, agencies, budgets, and senior stakeholder engagement in a complex, matrixed, multi-market organization
Experience providing communications counsel to senior executives and influencing enterprise, continent, owner, and property stakeholders preferred
Continent or global experience across diverse markets and cultures strongly preferred; hospitality, travel, luxury, lifestyle, or consumer brand experience a plus
Strong knowledge of hospitality industry preferred; on-property experience a plus
Excellent oral and written English and Spanish skills required. Portuguese language proficiency a plus.

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES
Set and lead the continent-wide strategy, priorities, governance, and operating model for PR, communications, executive visibility, activations, and reputation management in alignment with Marriott International and CALA business priorities.
Serve as a senior strategic communications advisor to the Chief Commercial Officer, CALA President, senior continent leaders, Global Communications & Public Affairs, and other enterprise stakeholders on media strategy, reputational risk, stakeholder priorities, and executive positioning.
Translate global enterprise, brand, loyalty, development, and commercial strategies into CALA-relevant narratives, communications platforms, media opportunities, and market activations across the region.
Lead reputation-building, earned media, executive visibility, influencer engagement, partnerships, and brand storytelling initiatives that strengthen Marriott's leadership position and relevance across CALA.
Support Luxury, Premium, Select, All-Inclusive, Loyalty, Partnerships, and Development growth strategies by shaping differentiated communications platforms, brand narratives, executive storytelling, and market visibility plans.
Partner across Sales, Marketing, Revenue Management, Loyalty, Development, Owner & Franchise Services, Operations, and property leadership to connect communications, PR, and activations to demand generation, hotel openings, conversions, owner priorities, development momentum, customer engagement, and revenue growth.
Oversee activations to effectively support commercial priorities, brand strategy, customer engagement, loyalty growth, and market-level business objectives.
Lead internal communications and executive communications efforts across the region, positioning CALA senior leadership as industry voices through interviews, development news, and broader CALA business storytelling.
Lead regional crisis, issues management, and reputation response in partnership with continent, global, legal, HR, operations, ownership, and property stakeholders.
Serve as a senior communications partner and PR advocate with owners, General Managers, GSO, and property leaders, providing counsel and strategic guidance on reputation, visibility, and brand storytelling opportunities.
Liaise with GCPA, global Government Affairs, and Corporate Social Responsibility to ensure alignment with HQ communications and amplify the region's business, community, sustainability, and social impact narratives.
Utilize a strong network of media, travel industry, business, and partner contacts to identify and expand visibility opportunities for the region.
Oversee the CALA Public Relations Center of Excellence, agency ecosystem, communications resources, and own the Communications + PR budget, setting priorities, strengthening capabilities, managing performance, and ensuring consistent execution across markets, brands, and properties.
Build, coach, and develop a high-performing communications and PR organization, ensuring talent depth, clear accountability, succession readiness, and effective collaboration across markets, disciplines, agencies, and enterprise teams.
Establish disciplined resource, agency, and budget governance to ensure investment decisions are aligned to CALA's business priorities, market opportunities, brand standards, and measurable impact.
Establish, track, and report KPIs for the discipline, including earned media, share of voice, awareness, engagement, reputation, and commercial impact.

MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Leadership
Adaptability - Leads through ambiguity, complexity, and change across a highly matrixed, multi-market environment; anticipates shifts in business priorities, market dynamics, stakeholder needs, and reputational risk; and mobilizes teams and resources with clarity, resilience, and speed.
Communication - Demonstrates executive presence and communicates with clarity, credibility, and influence across senior leaders, owners, enterprise partners, media, agencies, and market teams; shapes complex issues into compelling narratives that build alignment, confidence, and action.
Problem Solving and Decision Making - Makes sound, timely decisions on complex business, communications, and reputation matters by balancing data, enterprise priorities, market realities, owner and customer impact, risk, and long-term brand value; gains alignment and drives disciplined execution.
Executive Presence and Professional Demeanor - Represents the company and the continent with confidence, discretion, judgment, and credibility; models Marriott's values and builds trust with senior executives, owners, partners, associates, and external stakeholders.

Managing Execution
Building and Leading Teams - Builds, aligns, and inspires high-performing teams across disciplines, markets, agencies, and enterprise partners; creates clarity of purpose, accountability, collaboration, and shared ownership of continent-wide priorities.
Driving for Results - Sets clear priorities, measures progress, removes barriers, and delivers outcomes that advance CALA's business, commercial, reputation, brand, owner, and customer objectives; holds self and others accountable for disciplined execution and measurable impact.
Planning and Organizing - Establishes integrated plans, governance, resources, and operating rhythms that translate strategy into execution across the continent; prioritizes investments, agency support, market needs, and stakeholder engagement to deliver against the highest-value opportunities.

Building Relationships
Enterprise and Coworker Relationships - Builds trusted, productive relationships across continent, global, discipline, property, and corporate teams; influences without direct authority and creates alignment across diverse priorities, functions, and geographies.
Customer, Owner, and Stakeholder Relationships - Develops and sustains relationships grounded in a deep understanding of customer, owner, franchisee, partner, and market needs; uses stakeholder insight to shape communications strategies that strengthen trust, relevance, and business value.
Global and Continent Mindset - Operates effectively across cultures, languages, markets, and business models; leverages diverse perspectives to strengthen innovation, engagement, reputation, and performance while ensuring CALA priorities are connected to Marriott's enterprise direction.

Generating Talent and Organizational Capability
Organizational Capability - Designs and evolves the communications, PR, and activation operating model, team structure, agency ecosystem, processes, and governance to support business growth, scalability, consistency, and performance across the continent.
Talent Management - Attracts, develops, coaches, and retains diverse talent; builds succession strength, leadership capability, and clear accountability across teams; creates an inclusive environment where associates can perform, grow, and contribute to CALA's priorities.

Learning and Applying Professional Expertise
Applied Learning - Demonstrates curiosity and disciplined learning; applies insights from business performance, media trends, customer behavior, owner feedback, technology, and market dynamics to improve strategy, capability, and outcomes for self and others.
Business Acumen - Uses financial, commercial, customer, owner, brand, loyalty, development, and market insights to shape strategy, prioritize resources, assess tradeoffs, and deliver communications and activation plans that support business growth and enterprise value.
Technical Acumen - Applies deep expertise in public relations, executive communications, internal communications, media relations, reputation management, issues/crisis response, activations, storytelling, agency governance, and measurement to advance CALA and Marriott International priorities.
o Communications and Media - Maintains senior-level understanding of the evolving media, digital, social, influencer, business, travel, and consumer landscape; uses this knowledge to shape reputation-building, executive visibility, and storytelling strategies that are locally relevant and globally aligned.
o Executive Expression and Comprehension - Listens actively, interprets complex business and stakeholder needs, and communicates with precision, creativity, and judgment across written, verbal, visual, and executive forums.

Executive Functional Competencies - Demonstrates the advanced judgment, analytical discipline, digital fluency, communication excellence, and stakeholder management capabilities required to lead a senior, continent-level function.
o Digital and Technology Fluency - Uses relevant digital, communications, collaboration, analytics, and AI-enabled tools to improve productivity, storytelling, measurement, governance, and decision-making.
o Analytical Reasoning - Interprets performance data, media metrics, customer and owner insights, financial indicators, and market trends to identify opportunities, evaluate impact, and guide strategic decisions.
o Listening and Stakeholder Insight - Listens for business context, stakeholder priorities, risk signals, and market nuance; uses insight to shape strategy, messaging, counsel, and engagement.
o Comprehension and Judgment - Quickly understands complex written materials, business issues, policies, market context, and stakeholder perspectives; applies sound judgment to synthesize implications and determine appropriate action.
o Executive Writing - Produces clear, concise, audience-appropriate written communications for senior leaders, owners, associates, media, partners, and enterprise stakeholders; adapts tone, message, and format to purpose and audience.