Associate Manager, Communications

Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles.

Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.

A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry's commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.

About Kate Spade New York:

Since 1993, Kate Spade New York has believed that style is a language of optimism, with the power to spark joy that spreads. Today, we’re creating a world that feels uplifting, where luxury and warmth coexist. Our handbags, clothes, shoes, jewelry and more are classics with a twist, balancing craft with a playful spirit through thoughtful function, intentional color, and unexpected details—they’re pieces made to live with easily and love endlessly. In everything we create, we ignite a spark, turning the everyday into something more beautiful. Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry house of brands.

Job Title: Associate Manager, Communications

Primary Purpose: The Kate Spade New York Communications Associate Manager will dually report into the Senior Manager, PR, and Senior Manager, Influencer. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to leverage their creativity and innovative thinking to drive brand buzz, enhance brand desirability, and shape cultural conversations that resonate with key audiences. The Associate Manager will play a key role in supporting the team’s integrated communications efforts across media relations, influencer and creator engagement, event execution, VIP partnerships, owned social media initiatives, and social impact activations.

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Communications to support the below [but noted limited to] areas:

Media Relations, VIP & Influencer:

● Support in managing external PR & VIP agency partners.

● Develop press materials – look books, collection product decks, pitching collateral and more.

● Identify and support crafting storytelling angles to pitch culturally relevant outlets and build fashion credibility with target audiences.

● Support the development and execution of Communications-led events, including guest lists, spearheading event assets, results recaps, and more.

● Partner cross-functionally on creative briefs and global requests.

● Identify and vet new VIP talent partners who reflect brand values and reach target audiences.

● Recommend seasonal product priorities for VIP dressing opportunities.

● Lead product orders to support Press, VIP & Influencer dressing requests.

● Handle administrative tasks including but not limited to: research/data needs, scheduling, general department organization, meeting notes, etc.)

Product/Sample Responsibilities:

● Support external PR agencies in day-to-day activities ranging from sample requests, image requests, credit requests, copy requests, and more

● Manage and communicate PR sample calendar needs and priorities with cross-functional teams

● Lead seasonal sample ordering for Domestic PR and VIP, and collect/track seasonal sample orders from Global teams

● General upkeep and organization of the Communications team product samples and sample inventory/life cycle

● Oversee all gifting initiatives for Communications initiatives (inventory of product, allocation, packaging, partnership with cross-functional & agency partners)

Reporting/Data Management:

● Liaise with Global Marketing & PR teams to gather press clips (create, file, maintaining archives)

● Maintain global VIP records and archives

● Lead all global reporting requirements (weekly recaps, quarterly reports, project specific recaps, etc.), working with global teams to track press wins and meet reporting related deadlines

● Implement product gifting, sample pulling, shipping, and tracking with influencers and content creators.

● Run analysis and make recommendations on creators and be able to source benchmarking.

Budget Management

● Co-Manage Communications team budget, process and track all invoices.

● Manage back-end administrative tasks with finance and legal teams including contracts, invoices, reports, and budget tracking.

Education, Experience & Technology Requirements:

● College degree; 3-5 years of relevant work experience in Communications, PR or Marketing (in-house and/or agency)

● Sharp instinct for evolving fashion, social & digital landscape

● Strong written and verbal communication and cross-team collaboration

● Excellent judgment, problem-solving, strong attention to detail and organization in a fast-paced environment

● Strong interpersonal skills and proactive contributor to team brainstorms and department initiatives

● Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Launchmetrics, Traackr & Sprinklr

An outstanding professional will have…

● A strong understanding of the evolving fashion/retail industry, up-and-coming trends, and what drives cultural conversations amongst target audiences.

● An excitement for creative thinking and bringing new ideas to the table as we work to push our brand’s boundaries and think outside-the-box.

● The ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and contribute to group discussions. We love to hear all perspectives!

Our Competencies for All Employees

● Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.

● Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.

● Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.

● Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.

● Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.

● Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

● Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.

Our Competencies for All People Managers

● Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately;