Media Relations Associate, Corporate Communications

The Mindset: We are serious about candidates who are serious about disruptive thinking, especially as it applies to traditional communication approaches. You’re a communications professional itching to help solve complex communication issues in a globally connected world and fast-evolving news media landscape that is outgrowing traditional media relations tactics. You are someone excited by a challenge to truly engage media through strategic planning, and you’re a big picture thinker who is prepared to help bring media along in the journey to empower investor success.

You’re not afraid to pick up the phone and talk to media or Morningstar experts, dig into detailed research to better under the challenges our industry and investors, or try different methods in order to get results. Your values align with ours, and you want to be part of an entrepreneurial Corporate Communications team at a company that puts independence and transparency first.

The Team: The Corporate Communications team is part of Morningstar’s Marketing & Communications function and is responsible for protecting Morningstar’s reputation, strengthening the company’s brand awareness, and amplifying Morningstar’s mission to empower investor success.

The Role: We’re looking for a passionate communications professional who can partner with all areas of the business to tell our story externally and support financial journalists who rely on Morningstar for context and independent opinions. You should ideally have connections with the financial services and fintech industries, but know that we want more than a walking contact list. We are looking for someone who can understand complex businesses and mine them for stories that reporters and editors want. As Media Relations Associate, you’ll be supporting our communications team to help share our data- and research-driven insights with media to help educate investors, strategize and execute global media campaigns, shape our organization’s narratives, and train our team of 200+ researchers and other spokespeople throughout Morningstar to represent the company. We are seeking strong, strategic minds who can diagnose communication needs and serve as a liaison to media with excellent writing and editing skills. This position offers a terrific opportunity for growth and is based in Chicago.

Responsibilities:

• Work closely with director of corporate communications and U.S. media relations lead to own and develop new and existing internal relationships, cultivate new external media contacts, and serve as a primary contact for U.S. media
• Provide communications counsel to our business partners with confidence, including counsel on interacting with broadcast, print, online press and social media commentators 
• Draft wide-range of materials with minimal editing help – from press materials, PR plans, to support business and reputation objectives, and talking points 
• Bring a creative and non-traditional approach to the development and execution of PR campaigns 
• Balance a large and varied workload while building excellent working relationships with business partners and teams across the company

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree with 2-4 years of experience in corporate communications and media relations
• Industry experience in financial services communications strongly preferred
• Exceptional writing, editing, proofreading, and verbal communication skills
• Strong leadership qualities; ability to take initiative as a roll-up-your-sleeves leader and “doer” 
• Employ a strategic approach to determining the right mix of communication channels
• Passion for Morningstar’s mission of creating great products that help investors reach their financial goals 
• Excellent time management skills to balance high volume of inbound media queries with proactive media campaigns and long-term projects 
• Please submit a cover letter and 2—3 writing samples in addition to your resume. Submissions without writing samples will not be considered.