Director, Communications

The most valuable communications asset a company like ours has is the credibility of its founders and leaders. In the AI space, people follow people. Your first job is to build that: to develop a genuine point of view with our founders and executives, put it into words in their voice, and place it where the audiences that matter will encounter it. Ghostwriting is core to this role. You will write essays, posts, op-eds, and talk narratives that sound like the person whose name is on them, on a fast cadence, about technically substantive topics. Around that sits the rest of the function: a speaking pipeline that positions us alongside the world’s frontier AI labs, our social and owned channels, and press. Press runs through an agency today and you'll manage it. You'll also be the person who shepherds a response plan if something goes wrong. This role is based in-person at our San Francisco HQ. Proximity to the founders and other thought-leaders is key.

Responsibilities

Executive and Founder Brand: Own development and expression of leaders' public points of view: essays, tweets, op-eds, interviews, and editorial calendar; Ghostwrite at volume and quality; Speaking Program: Own pipeline of conferences, podcasts, panels, and industry moments: sourcing, evaluating, securing, prepping, and coaching; Press and Media: Own media strategy and results, managing agency, launch coverage, reactive and inbound press, relationships with reporters, and messaging discipline; Social and Owned Channels: Own company social presence and editorial cadence; coordinate employee engagement; Narrative for Company Moments: Own story and calendar for announcements, launches, milestones, and coordinated public positions; Crisis and Issues Readiness: Own playbook, escalation paths, holding statements, spokesperson prep, and rapid response; AI-First Practice: Use AI in research, drafting, and measurement, maintaining human authenticity.

Requirements

8+ years in communications, PR, or editorial roles, including time inside a high-growth technology company rather than only agency-side; Exceptional writing craft, specifically ghostwriting. Bring samples you wrote for someone else's byline, with permission to discuss them; A track record building an executive's public profile and social followers, with evidence of what drove the growth; Real press results in technology or enterprise media; Experience securing meaningful speaking placements and prepping people to perform in them; Experience managing an agency well: setting the brief, holding them to results, and knowing when to override them; Sound judgment under pressure. You have handled at least one genuinely difficult public moment; Enough technical literacy to write credibly about AI, search, and infrastructure without embarrassing the person you are writing for.

Nice to have

A journalism or editorial background; Experience in AI, developer tools, or deep technology, and existing relationships with reporters in that beat; Analyst relations experience, since this becomes relevant as we sell more to the enterprise; Experience building a comms function in-house from an agency-first setup; Comfort producing beyond text: video, podcast, or event formats.

Benefits

Health and wellness: Premium medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus a monthly wellness benefit and a monthly commuter benefit for our SF team; Fertility and family planning: Reimbursement for eligible egg freezing and related medical expenses up to a $15,000 lifetime maximum, plus 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for all new parents, whether through birth, adoption, surrogacy, or foster placement; Life at Exa: Lunch and dinner served daily, an office stocked with snacks, coffee, and health supplements, fresh bread from a local bakery every morning, weekly milk tea deliveries, monthly picnics, and parties to celebrate the wins; Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas for exceptional candidates and welcome applicants from all backgrounds and locations.