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Head of Strategic Communications

San Francisco, California, United States

Instawork’s vision is to create economic opportunities for local businesses and skilled hourly workers in communities around the world. With an AI-first approach, we’re supercharging the leading online labor marketplace and looking for exceptional talent to help us build the future of hourly work. Backed by world-class investors like Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator, and more, we want you to help us continue to scale quickly and make an even greater impact.

The Head of Strategic Communications is a key leadership role that will shape and amplify Instawork’s external narrative by demonstrating how AI, technology, and our growing community of Professionals and Partners are transforming hourly work. This leader will ensure Instawork’s distinct voice is represented across media, policy, and industry forums, working closely with the CEO, VP of Marketing, and Chief Legal Officer.

This position blends thought leadership, strategic media relations, and both human and AI‑powered storytelling to position Instawork as the authority on flexible work, labor economics, and workforce technology. The role requires a hands‑on, ownership mindset: being highly engaged, present with the team in our San Francisco office five days a week, and focused on delivering results that advance our vision.

Who You Are:

  • A proven leader with a strategic mindset, willing to roll up sleeves to execute.
  • Deep experience leveraging AI tools for content creation, media monitoring, and data storytelling.
  • 6-12+ years in progressive roles in strategic communications, corporate PR, or journalism, ideally with a tech or data-driven focus.
  • Proven ability to translate complex AI and workforce trends into clear, impactful stories for press, customers, and policy stakeholders.
  • Experience serving as chief spokesperson with strong relationships with tech, business, and labor/economics media outlets (preferred).
  • Exceptional writing and editing skills.
  • Experience handling crisis and/or complex situations with speed and sound judgment.
  • Executive presence and confidence representing the company with media, policy leaders, the board, and investors.
  • Ability to work from our San Francisco office five days per week.

What You'll Do:

  • Communications Strategy
    • Develop and execute Instawork’s comprehensive communications strategy to influence multiple internal and external stakeholders and drive business results.
    • Shape narratives around Instawork’s vision, product innovation, and labor economics research.
  • Media & AI Thought Leadership
    • Build and expand relationships with top-tier media, policy makers, and industry influencers.
    • Translate AI advancements and workforce data into engaging, human-centered stories.
    • Partner with leadership to secure high-profile speaking opportunities, awards, and recognitions.
    • Collaborate with Product and Marketing to highlight AI capabilities in product launches, research, and brand campaigns, positioning Instawork as a leader in applying AI to hiring, workforce optimization, robotics, and economic insights.
  • Data & AI Storytelling
    • Collaborate with marketing to showcase how Instawork is driving economic opportunity and revitalizing local economies, positioning these community-level impacts as compelling stories for media coverage and to promote on owned channels.
    • Leverage Instawork’s Economic Research program to turn raw data and AI-driven insights (e.g., Pay Signal Index, Flexible Workforce Reports) into compelling communications.
    • Package proprietary “data exhaust”, including dashboards, reports, and AI-powered forecasts, into media-ready content.
    • Collaborate with internal teams and Instawork Partners and Professionals, to mine the real human-centric stories that Instawork enables by helping people thrive at work and helping businesses grow more efficiently.
  • Internal Communications
    • Work closely with CEO, HR and other executives to build programs and communications to ensure employees are informed and engaged.
  • Issue Management
    • Serve as senior advisor to the executive team, overseeing communications planning and execution during sensitive or high-stake situations.

For CA based applicants:

  • The base salary for this position is $250,000 - $325,000 
  • This position is eligible for equity in the form of stock options.
  • This position is eligible for Instawork benefits, including:
    • A variety of medical, dental, and vision plans with coverage beginning on the date of hire
    • Flexible paid time off
    • At least 8 paid company holidays annually
    • Phone stipend
    • Commuter stipend
    • Supplemental pay on qualified leaves
    • Employee health savings accounts (HSA) contribution
    • Flexible spending plans
    • 401K plan
    • Perkspot - discount program through Lumity

A variety of factors are considered when determining someone’s compensation including a candidate’s professional background, experience, and location. Final offer amounts may vary from the amounts listed above.

#LI-Onsite

Our Values 

  • Empathy, Trust & Candor
    We put ourselves in the shoes of our colleagues and customers and don’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations, instead building trust through honest and direct feedback.

  • Bias for Action
    We practice high-velocity decision-making, clear-eyed that we often operate with incomplete information. Growing quickly means it’s OK to be wrong, so long as we learn from our mistakes and course correct!

  • Always Be Learning
    We’re a curious bunch, and with AI transforming our workplace we encourage everyone to learn from each other, compounding our knowledge and experience to help us change an entire industry.

  • Act Like an Owner
    We work long, hard, and smart, building products that delight our users and drive growth. Your ability to impact Instawork is limited only by your courage and conviction, not your job description.

About Instawork

Founded in 2015, Instawork is the nation’s leading online labor marketplace for food services, hospitality, light industry, and logistics, connecting more than 7M skilled workers with local restaurants, hotels, warehouses, stadiums, and more. Our AI-powered platform serves thousands of businesses across more than 50 major markets in the United States and Canada. We're not just helping fill shifts, we're supporting local economies—and we're just getting started!

Instawork has been featured by CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press. Forbes included us on their Next Billion Dollar Startups list; RetailTech Breakthrough named us Workforce Hiring Solution of the Year for 2025; and Inc. 5000 recognized us as one of the country's top 10% fastest-growing companies two years in a row. But what matters most is our impact. We're solving real problems for real people, and we’re doing it at scale.

Join our team to help us build something that matters! We’re looking for superstars who want to help us shape the future of work. With hubs in San Francisco, Bangalore, and Chicago, city offices in New York, Phoenix, and Singapore, we're back to working together in-person five days a week because we believe the best ideas happen when great people collaborate face-to-face. We also value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.

Ready to make an impact? Learn more at www.instawork.com/about.

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