Operations
PR agencies team roles: seven delivery capacities
PR agencies team roles mapped across seven delivery capacities, from client factual authority to media, privacy, claims, rights, security and accessibility.
What to take away
- This guide maps PR agencies team roles across seven capacities in a bounded service: client factual authority, media-work coordination, privacy and PECR decisions, claims and disclosure review, rights and licensing, security and incident response, and accessibility and acceptance.
- Assign each capacity to a named holder and deputy, with a written decision boundary and conflict route.
- An unfilled capacity produces a HOLD, and renaming an existing job title does not fill it.
- Where one person drafts and approves the same item, record the reason and add an independent check.
Mapping roles to capacities
These are seven distinct capacities, not a prescribed number of people or a fixed set of job titles. One person may hold more than one, but each capacity needs a named primary holder and deputy, with a recorded decision boundary and conflict route.
| Capacity | Typical job title | Deputy |
|---|---|---|
| Client factual authority | In-house communications lead or named spokesperson | Subject-matter expert for the claim |
| Media-work coordination | Account director or press office manager | Senior account executive |
| Privacy and PECR decisions | Data protection lead | Privacy counsel or DPO |
| Claims and disclosure review | Marketing compliance manager | Client-side brand or legal reviewer |
| Rights and licensing | Rights or licensing manager | Production or studio lead |
| Security and incident response | Operations lead or security manager | On-call incident deputy |
| Accessibility and acceptance | Accessibility lead or front-end lead | QA tester using assistive technology |
Titles vary by employer. A decision boundary says what a holder may approve, reject or escalate. If the holder drafted the item or has another conflict, approval passes to the named deputy who did not draft it; if no independent deputy is available, the work stays on HOLD until one is appointed.
What client factual authority owns
This holder confirms what the organisation knows, which evidence supports it, and who may speak for it. They approve the exact factual wording and own corrections to client-controlled material, but do not replace the separate claims review or clear unsupported advertising claims.
The CAP code section on misleading advertising supports documentary evidence for objective claims in advertising, and the same discipline covers non-advertising accuracy.
Media-work coordination
The coordinator scopes research, drafting, outreach and enquiry handling, then records the approved pitch and the recipient basis. They may coordinate only within the agreed scope and use the approved pitch; factual questions route back to the client, and the coordinator cannot change client-approved wording or decide privacy or claims clearance. Journalists are treated as recipients rather than delivery resources. Our guide to testing Vuelio, CisionOne and ResponseSource sets out what to check before a media list is used.
Privacy and PECR decisions
An account manager cannot make this call. The ICO's B2B marketing guidance shows why corporate and individual subscribers cannot be treated as one population. The holder maps purposes, data sources and retention, then rules on transparency, objections and suppression. Their decision is limited to documented purposes, sources and retention; if these or the applicable subscriber treatment are unresolved, outreach stays on HOLD. A database label does not transfer the decision.
Claims and disclosure review
The reviewer checks claim evidence, payment, sponsorship, creator involvement and commercial recognition. The CMA's brands guidance places practical responsibility on brands and intermediaries for incentivised content. The reviewer may reject a draft and clears only claims supported by evidence and appropriate disclosure; the deputy must be able to reject it too, and regulated-sector claims go to a sector specialist.
Rights, security and accessibility
The rights owner records creator, ownership, licence, territory and expiry, with permitted acts and credit logged alongside; use does not proceed until the required rights are recorded. Security sits with the operations lead, who owns incident evidence and restart authority; work stays on HOLD until that authority approves restart. Accessibility approval is separate, and the accessibility lead owns required formats and acceptance criteria and may withhold acceptance until they are met.
Where tools draft or check material, our guide to bounding AI applications with facts, rights and human review sets the boundaries to agree first.
Example: the draft-and-approval conflict
Suppose an account director writes a launch statement and also holds claims review on that account. The draft says the client's average response time halved (illustrative example), but the evidence file holds only an undated internal estimate. Because the same person wrote and reviewed the sentence, it goes to the named deputy for an independent review, not back to its writer.
The named deputy, a client-side marketing compliance manager, checks the record and finds no dated source. That sentence takes a HOLD and stays out until the client supplies a dated record; if the deputy were also conflicted, the work would remain on HOLD until an independent reviewer is appointed.
Assigning holders before launch
- Name a primary holder for each of the seven capacities.
- Name a deputy for every primary holder.
- Write the conflict route each holder follows.
- Record what each capacity may approve, reject or must escalate.
- Record the reason for any combined draft and approval.
- Require an independent check where the consequence warrants it.
Fix those answers in the project plan before the first pitch. Scope, charges, change and exit sit with the commercial owner. Our guide to the six commercial contract decisions for legal review lists what to put in front of a solicitor before signature.
Common questions
Can a small agency cover all seven capacities?
Yes. The seven capacities can be covered by two or three people, as long as each has a named holder and deputy. Combining capacities is workable, and the route to keep open is an approver who did not write the item.
What happens if a capacity has no holder?
An unfilled capacity produces a HOLD on the work it governs. The work waits until a holder is appointed with the authority and the evidence.
Who approves a claim the agency drafted?
The client's factual authority approves the wording, and the claims reviewer checks the evidence behind it. Where the writer also holds review, the named deputy performs the independent check.
Do these roles belong in the agency contract?
These are delivery controls rather than a statutory list. Contract terms on scope, data processing and exit are a separate question and belong in legal review before signature.
