Director, Communications

Job description

ABOUT EXA We raised a $250M Series C to build the search engine for AIs. Led by a16z, with existing investors Benchmark, Lightspeed, and YC doubling down, the round brings Exa's valuation to $2.2 billion. Exa is building a search engine for the AI era. Our Search API currently powers Agents, Fortune 500s and AI labs as we transform an industry that hasn't been disrupted since the 90s. We're a largely SF-based team of ~100 from Harvard, MIT, Meta, Google Research, ex-founders & dropouts alike. We are rapidly building the most intelligent search engine in history. We're high agency, low-ego, and united by the feeling that this is one of the last problems worth getting right. We are looking for a Director of Communications to build the public voice of Exa and the people who lead it. ABOUT THE ROLE 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. WHAT YOU'LL OWN EXECUTIVE AND FOUNDER BRAND Own the development and expression of our leaders' public points of view: essays, tweets, op-eds, interviews, and the editorial calendar behind them. Ghostwrite at volume and at quality. Success is measured by audience growth, engagement from the people we want listening, and the leaders' own confidence that the words are theirs. SPEAKING PROGRAM Own the pipeline of conferences, podcasts, panels, and industry moments: sourcing, evaluating, securing, prepping, and coaching. Success is measured by the quality of placements accepted and by performance in the room. PRESS AND MEDIA Own media strategy and results, managing our agency today and building the in-house function over time. Own launch coverage, reactive and inbound press, relationships with the reporters who matter in AI infrastructure, and the messaging discipline behind every conversation. Success is measured by coverage that reaches technical and enterprise buyers, not just volume. SOCIAL AND OWNED CHANNELS Own company social presence and editorial cadence: what we say, when, in what voice, and how we amplify the work of our engineers. Coordinate employee engagement to amplify company socials. Success is measured by owned audience growth and by whether developers find our channels worth following. NARRATIVE FOR COMPANY MOMENTS Own the story and calendar for announcements, launches, milestones, and anything that requires a coordinated public position. Success is measured by message discipline across every surface on the day. CRISIS AND ISSUES READINESS Own the playbook before we need it: escalation paths, holding statements, spokesperson prep, and judgment about when to engage versus stay quiet. Be ready with a rapid response when reporters need a soundbite. Success is measured by calm, fast, correct handling when something breaks. AI-FIRST PRACTICE Use AI in research, drafting, and measurement, but show good judgment in keeping human authenticity in our public statements and thought leadership. WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE - Our founders and executives have distinct, credible public voices, with output shipping on a reliable cadence. - Speaking placements are good enough that we turn some down. - Owned channels grow an audience that includes the developers and buyers we care about. - Press coverage lands with technical and enterprise audiences and holds up factually. - Every major company moment lands with one consistent story. WHAT THIS ROLE DOES NOT OWN - Technical blog, benchmarks, and organic discovery content: Technical PMM for Content. - Developer community, hackathons, and evangelism: Developer Relations. - Product positioning and messaging architecture: Product Marketing. - Demand generation, paid channels, and website: Revenue Marketing and Digital Marketing. - Customer case studies and partner co-marketing: Customer & Partner Marketing. WHO YOU ARE - 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 (and each other). - Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas for exceptional candidates and welcome applicants from all backgrounds and locations. Exa is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related conditions, criminal histories consistent with applicable law, or any other basis protected by applicable law.