Senior Principal, North America Media Relations, NYC

Information about benefits can be found here.

Become a Part of the NIKE, Inc. Team 

NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

At Nike, the Global Communications function is responsible for creating authentic connections with audiences around the globe through sport and athletes. We are a community-minded and purpose-driven team focused on delivering breakthrough innovative brand stories. Together, we inspire action, drive conversation, craft new and engaging ways to motivate athletes* and communities, and protect our corporate reputation and Nike’s brand equity.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for a Senior Principal of Media Relations, North America who can lead with speed and strong strategic instincts in a high-volume, constantly evolving environment. This person will shape audience-right media strategies and breakthrough storytelling that strengthen Nike’s leadership in sport and culture, reach new audiences and build lasting influence for the brand.

This is a media relations leader with deep experience navigating the North American media landscape and a strong, active network across traditional media, new media, creators and other influential voices. They know how to build trusted relationships, identify the right messenger for each story and translate access, insight and narrative into meaningful coverage, conversation and advocacy.

The ideal candidate is a decisive, highly organized operator who can manage multiple priorities at once, move seamlessly between long-range strategy and real-time execution and maintain excellence under pressure. They bring a narrative-first mindset, strong editorial judgment and the ability to uncover stories, build compelling worlds around them and sustain momentum beyond a single announcement or launch.

This leader will champion North America’s media relations strategy, and will use insights, social listening and on-the-ground intelligence to shape conversations, identify emerging opportunities and connect Nike’s priorities to the people and communities influencing sport and culture.

Successful candidates will be proactive, collaborative and solutions oriented, with the confidence to advise senior leaders, align cross-functional teams and agency partners and make clear decisions amid ambiguity. They will bring curiosity, cultural fluency, a passion for sport and an instinct for what makes a story credible, relevant and worth sharing.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

You will lead media relations strategies for Nike’s North America priorities, with responsibility for turning business, brand, product, athlete and sport objectives into clear narratives and compelling stories. You will work across written, oral, visual, digital and experiential communications to ensure each priority begins with an audience insight and a strong narrative, not simply a launch plan.

You will build relationship-powered influence and develop influence maps, cultivating both established and emerging voices, creating differentiated engagement strategies and designing access and experiences that deepen understanding, generate advocacy and sustain conversation over time.

You will operate across multiple workstreams at pace, balancing proactive priorities with timely cultural, media and reputation opportunities. You will contribute at every stage of planning, from insight and narrative development through execution and measurement, while providing senior-level counsel, preparing and staffing spokespeople, managing agency partners and helping the broader communications team move with clarity, consistency and impact.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH

You will work closely with communications peers across consumer, product, brand, corporate and employee communications, as well as Nike’s integrated, brand and sports marketing teams. You will partner with global and geography communications teams, senior leaders, athletes, designers, collaborators and external agency partners. As a key member of the North America media relations team, you will help connect strategy and execution across the matrix and represent the needs, insights and opportunities of the North American media landscape.

WHAT YOU BRING

•  Bachelor’s degree in Media Relations, Communications, Business or a related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training.
• 10+ years of professional experience in fast-paced, high-profile media relations, corporate communications or public relations roles supporting global brands.
• Extensive media relations experience and a strong, active network of relationships across North American media, storytellers, creators and influential voices in sport, business, culture, lifestyle and consumer media.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously, prioritize effectively, meet tight deadlines and deliver high-quality work in a fast-moving environment.
• Proven experience developing narrative-first, audience-right media strategies that translate business and brand priorities into relevant stories, experiences and sustained conversation.
• Strong editorial judgment and a track record of identifying timely opportunities, shaping compelling pitches and securing meaningful earned coverage and advocacy.
• Deep understanding of the evolving media ecosystem, including social, digital, print, broadcast, podcasts, newsletters, creator platforms and AI-powered discovery.
• Experience using audience insights, data, social listening and cultural intelligence to inform communications strategy and real-time decision-making.
• Excellent strategic planning, issues management, budgeting, agency management and project leadership skills.
• Proven ability to influence and align senior leaders, peers and cross-functional partners across a complex global and regional matrix.
• Experience counseling, media training and staffing senior executives, athletes, designers, collaborators and other spokespeople.
• Demonstrated ability to initiate and lead ideation, bringing creative, innovative and business-minded communications solutions forward at the concept stage.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and communicate with clarity, confidence and precision.
• High cultural fluency and curiosity, with a strong understanding of sport, style, footwear, apparel, entertainment and popular culture.
• Experience working on high-profile consumer brands; company or agency spokesperson experience preferred.

We offer a number of accommodations to complete our interview process including screen readers, sign language interpreters, accessible and single location for in-person interviews, closed captioning, and other reasonable modifications as needed. If you discover, as you navigate our application process, that you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please complete the Candidate Accommodation Request Form.