Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
Browse all 229 roles Brief us on a seatFlat 15% of first-year base · shortlist in 10 working days
A communications manager owns the communications plan: what the company announces, when and to whom, across press, customers, employees and partners, kept in one voice. Polished writing samples hide who edited them, so we screen for announcements that went out on the planned date, issues handled and messages spokespeople actually repeated.
A new communications manager is judged on whether the company says one thing, on time, to the right people, and whether leaders stop being surprised. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 to 3
Every audience mapped: press, customers, employees, investors and partners. Past announcements, coverage, issue notes, spokespeople and approval rules reviewed with legal and the CEO's office.
On track looks like a one-page map of audiences, owners, channels and approval steps, and a list of what is missing, shared with the CMO or CEO.
How we test for it before you meet them
A communications audit in our screen: a company's recent announcements and coverage. We score what they notice about consistency before they propose a plan.
Weeks 4 to 6
A calendar for the next two quarters with announcements, owners and lead times, message pillars agreed with leadership, and a spokesperson list that says who speaks on what.
On track looks like a plan leaders have signed off, a message document the team uses and a calendar that product, sales and HR add to.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a plan they wrote and how many of its dates held. A former CMO or CEO confirms the account.
Weeks 7 to 10
A launch or company announcement run end to end: draft, approvals, timing, outreach to press, analysts or customers, and a review of coverage and response afterward.
On track looks like an announcement out on the planned date, approvals finished in the window and a short written review.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask them to walk an announcement from draft to coverage: who approved it, what changed in review and what they would redo.
Weeks 11 to 13
A response plan for the likely bad day: holding statements drafted and approved, spokespeople briefed, and an internal channel so employees hear company news first.
On track looks like holding statements on file for the three most likely issues, with named approvers, and employees hearing announcements before the press does.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they handled a real issue. A reference from a former executive or agency lead tells us whether they stayed calm and accurate.
After day 90
Strong communications managers review coverage and message pull-through monthly, retire stale messages and tell leaders early when a story is moving.
On track looks like a short monthly review of coverage, messages carried and open risks, and leaders who are never surprised by a headline.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask what they measure and what they ignore. A short list tied to the business predicts someone who reports signal, not volume.
Five responsibilities. If the seat is mostly media relations, it is closer to a PR manager; if it sets the company’s position and story, it is a brand strategist.
What the company announces, when and to whom, with owners and lead times.
The core messages and the style every spokesperson and writer uses.
Relationships with reporters and analysts, announcements and replies to inquiries.
What employees hear and when, and the words leaders use in all-hands, memos and posts.
Holding statements, approvals and spokespeople ready before they are needed.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a communications search ends with a press contact who cannot set a plan, or a planner nobody in the press returns calls to.
That seat ownsThe company’s position: buyer and competitor research, the brand promise and the story every team builds from.
Hire it instead whenthe problem is what the company stands for, not how it announces things.
That seat ownsMedia relations: press lists, pitching, announcements and coverage.
Hire it instead whenthe gap is coverage and relationships with reporters.
That seat ownsThe brand in market: identity standards, campaigns, agencies and how the brand shows up across channels.
Hire it instead whenthe issue is a brand that looks and sounds different from campaign to campaign.
The title stays the same; the company does not. Pick the one that matches your setting.
Builds the first communications plan with little team behind them, often with some agency support.
Works with legal, investor relations and executives under approval rules and fixed timing.
Runs press, analyst and customer communications around a steady release calendar.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Writing and judgment | Polished samples with no account of who edited them. | Samples they wrote and the decisions behind them, confirmed by a former manager. |
| Press and stakeholder relationships | A contact list with no sign anyone answers. | Reporters, analysts or customers who will confirm the working relationship. |
| Issue handling | Has never handled an issue. | A real issue described plainly, with the outcome confirmed by an executive or agency lead. |
| Planning and approvals | Plans with no record of dates that held. | A communications calendar they owned, and how many dates held. |
| Fit with your company | A different audience, size or regulatory setting. | Has communicated for a company like yours in size, audience and approval rules. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Communications manager pay is mostly base: Salary.com’s employer-reported band is $110,271 to $132,455 with a median of $122,380, and its total cash average is $146,876. Built In has no page for the title, so the public relations specialist is shown as the seat below. Company size, industry and whether the seat manages people move the number most.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Median base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
Communications Manager
Salary.com base, total cash average
$110,271 to $132,455 base$146,876 average total
PR Manager
Salary.com base, total cash average, neighboring seat
$123,104 to $147,496 base$145,238 average total
Public Relations Specialist
Built In, self-reported, the seat below
$60,000 median base$65,767 average total
Public relations managers
BLS, all industries, wages include commission
$106,580 to $204,520
Bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Rings for Communications Manager and PR Manager: Salary.com total cash compensation average (base plus annual incentives), as of October 1, 2026. Public Relations Specialist dot and ring: Built In median base salary and average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 6, 2026. Public relations managers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 11-2032), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A communications manager owns what the company says and when: the plan for announcements, the core messages, press and analyst relationships, internal and executive communications, and the response when something goes wrong. The measure is that audiences hear consistent news from the company first, on the planned date, so we check calendars that held, issues handled and messages that spokespeople actually repeated.
Salary.com puts a communications manager at $110,271 to $132,455 base, with a median of $122,380 and total cash averaging $146,876 (October 2026). Built In has no page for the title, so there is no self-reported total to compare. Company size, industry and whether the seat manages people move the number. Ask for the full package, including any bonus.
A PR manager works the press: lists, pitches, announcements and coverage. A communications manager owns the wider plan: external and internal messages, executive communications, issue response and consistency across all of them, with press as one channel. A company that needs coverage hires a PR manager; one whose messages differ by team or audience hires a communications manager. Many seats combine both, so we write the brief down first.
When announcements go out late or in different words depending on who wrote them, or when a leader is answering press questions with no plan. A communications manager needs access to leadership, a clear approval path and news worth telling. If the main gap is coverage in one market, an agency or a PR manager may be enough; if the gap is a position or a story, start with a brand strategist.
We ask candidates to walk through an announcement from first draft to coverage, run a short audit exercise on a company’s recent announcements, and check an issue they handled with a former executive or agency lead. Writing samples are discussed for the decisions behind them, not just the polish. Every candidate is scored on the five criteria on this page, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included.
Either can work; the difference is access. Agency communicators bring range and speed across clients but may not have owned approvals, leadership relationships or internal communications. In-house communicators know the cost of a wrong word but may have worked for one audience. Match the background to the gap: in-house experience when the work is leadership and issues, agency experience when it is launches and coverage.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates, each with a communications audit scored and an announcement walked through end to end. Interview speed decides the rest: communicators with a record usually have several processes open, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them.
Tell us who the company talks to, what is coming up and who speaks today. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for brand and communications roles, or send your CV and we will come to you, in confidence, when a seat opens.
The communications manager is one of six seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.