PR & Communications Manager

Job description

ABOUT AVOCA Avoca is transforming how home service companies engage with their customers. Our AI-powered conversational agents handle every high-value inbound call, from booking jobs, qualifying leads, and driving higher revenue, all at a speed and consistency unmatched by human call centers. We're a Series B startup backed by Kleiner Perkins, Meritech Capital, General Catalyst, and other top-tier investors, with $125M raised and a $1B valuation. We grew 10x in 2025 and have scaled to 130+ employees in under two years across our NYC headquarters and Santa Barbara office. In a $1T+ market where 85% of missed calls go to competitors, we're building the category-defining platform for AI-driven customer engagement, serving the largest brands in home services. With high-energy, in-office teams in both locations, every hire here has an immediate and visible impact. ABOUT THE ROLE As PR & Communications Manager, you will define and lead the entire PR, communications, and social media function at Avoca, from owning the strategy and execution of how we show up to the press, our customers, our team, and across our social channels. Reporting directly to our Director of Brand, this is a senior individual contributor role with the path to Head of Communications and direct influence on category leadership, share of voice, and the trajectory of our brand at the most important moment in the company's history. You will set the vision for how Avoca shows up externally; placing Tier-1 press, building analyst relationships, ghost-writing for our co-founders, running our daily social cadence, and developing the crisis communications infrastructure that protects the brand at scale. Partnering closely with our co-founders, Sales, Product Marketing, and the broader Marketing team, you will operate as the entire communications function, without an outside agency and architect the press, communications, and social outcomes that turn our $1B Series B into durable category leadership. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Define and execute Avoca's PR strategy across Tier-1 business and technology press, including Forbes, WSJ, Bloomberg, The Information, and Stratechery, placing founder profiles, technical AI deep dives, and customer-led methodology pieces. - Own all industry analyst relationships, including Forrester, Gartner, IDC, and G2, building the inclusion roadmap for upcoming MQs, Waves, and category market reports. - Lead the founder communications program, ghost-writing twice-weekly LinkedIn content for both co-founders, authoring quarterly customer letters, and producing the long-form founder essay that anchors the year. - Own the daily company social cadence across LinkedIn and emerging channels, including a recurring live-performance content drumbeat that surfaces real-time brand proof. - Establish trade press relationships across the home services vertical, securing a recurring monthly contributed column and amplifying customer-led methodology pieces in industry publications. - Architect the crisis communications playbook in partnership with the Director of Brand, CEO, and Legal, ensuring the company can respond to incidents with speed, clarity, and rigor. - Run Avoca's awards strategy and submissions across major B2B and AI programs, including Inc. 5000, Fast Company Most Innovative, Forbes AI 50, and Time 100 AI. - Build and maintain the press kit, newsroom, and inbound press response process, ensuring every reporter receives a 24-hour response and the materials they need to land coverage at quality. WHAT YOU'LL BRING - 6-8+ years of progressive experience in B2B PR, communications, or executive communications, including time at high-growth Series A-C startups. AI, vertical SaaS, or services-tech experience is highly preferred. - Demonstrated success driving Tier-1 press placements you've personally placed, including founder profiles in major business or technology publications. Bring a portfolio of specific stories and outcomes. - Deep expertise ghost-writing for executives, with a portfolio of founder LinkedIn content, signed essays, or long-form features that have driven measurable engagement. - Proven ability to build analyst relations programs from scratch, securing briefings with Forrester, Gartner, IDC, or G2, and progressing companies toward inclusion in industry research. - Strong direct, anti-jargon writing voice with the confidence to own social media end-to-end, including content calendar discipline, copywriting at cadence, and reporting on engagement and share of voice. - Comfortable being the entire communications function, building, shipping, and iterating without an external agency to fall back on, and partnering with specialist freelancers as needed. WHO YOU ARE - A builder and operator at heart. You're energized by standing up new functions, systematizing what works, and iterating relentlessly. - A direct, anti-jargon writer who can move between founder voice, customer comms, internal comms, and trade press without losing your tone. - A thoughtful communicator who turns press cycles, social calendars, and crisis moments into clarity rather than chaos. - Deeply collaborative, with a natural instinct for forging alignment with co-founders, Sales, Product Marketing, and the broader Marketing team. - In-office, engaged, and eager to lead from the front at our NYC location full-time. BENEFITS - Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance - Company-sponsored 401(k) through Vestwell - Flexible PTO plus U.S. federal holidays - Company-wide off-sites - Daily in-office lunch through Parkday - Dinner covered when working late - Commuter benefits and late-night rideshare - Standing desks and workspace accommodations available on request - All core tools and software provided Compensation: The expected base salary for this role is $165,000-$190,000 with final compensation based on experience, skills, and qualifications determined during the interview process. Avoca's total compensation package includes base salary, bonus, equity, and a comprehensive suite of benefits and perks. Our Recruiting team will share the full details as you progress through our hiring process. WHY AVOCA At Avoca, you’ll be part of a team that’s building a category-defining company at the center of a massive market opportunity. We’re a fast-moving, collaborative team with a culture designed for builders who thrive on speed, iteration, and impact. Avoca provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.