Head of Story & Communications

ClickHouse has a lot worth saying. The database has become a platform for real-time analytics, data warehousing, observability, and AI workloads. Many of the most interesting AI and software companies of the last few years run on it. Our founders and leaders hold clear, well-formed views on where data and AI are heading. And every week the customer base produces proof points most companies would build a campaign around. What we have not yet built is the function whose job it is to turn all of that into one story the market hears consistently, and from us. We are looking for a Head of Story & Communications to build that function from the ground up. You'll own the company narrative: what ClickHouse should be known for, how the platform story gets told above the level of features, and how the proof we generate adds up to a thesis. And you'll build the machine that carries it into the world: the announcement calendar, press and media relationships across technology and business media, and executive platforms for our founders and leaders. This is a build role and a player-coach role. You won't inherit a team; you'll hire one as the function grows, directing our agency partners in the meantime and staying in the work yourself. You'll report to the VP of Global Marketing and work closely with the executive team, product marketing, and the people closest to our customers. What You Will Be Doing - Define what ClickHouse should be known for and turn it into a rolling narrative and communications strategy that the marketing and executive teams work from - Lead the communications function: set its priorities, operating model, and investment decisions, own its budget, and hold it accountable for results - Build the communications machine: announcement calendar and tiering, press materials, holding statements, a reporter cadence, and launch amplification, directing agency partners and holding them to outcomes - Own press and media relations across technology and business media, taking the ClickHouse story beyond the tech press and re-educating the market on the full platform - Build executive platforms for our founders and leaders: the themes each owns, the moments and formats worth their time, and a clear way to evaluate inbound podcast, mainstage, and sponsored event opportunities - Shape quarterly release moments and major launches so they earn attention and show up consistently across press, social, community, and the field - Set the standard for how ClickHouse sounds in public: voice, quality bar, and the discipline that every published claim, number, and proof point is approved, current, and consistent - Hire and lead the team as the function grows, and build the planning and review rhythm that keeps narrative, communications, and social aligned What You Bring Along - Experience building or rebuilding a communications function at a growth-stage infrastructure, developer, or data company - Experience hiring, managing, and developing communications team members - Experience owning a communications budget and directing agencies to outcomes, with judgment about what belongs in-house - A record of landing stories in tier-one business media as well as technology press, with the relationships and news judgment to do it again - Experience working directly with a CEO and executive team: shaping their points of view, preparing them, and declining opportunities not worth their time - Media-company operator instincts: you think in themes, arcs, and audiences - Player-coach approach: you write and edit yourself, give useful feedback, and set the bar by example - Comfort with a technical product and a technical audience, including credibility with engineers and developers - Experience directing agencies to outcomes, with judgment about what belongs in-house - Analytical grounding: you track what is landing, form a view on why, and use it to decide where to focus PERKS - Flexible work environment - ClickHouse is a globally distributed company and remote-friendly. We currently operate in over 25 countries. - Healthcare - Employer contributions towards your healthcare. - Equity in the company - Every new team member who joins our company receives stock options. - Time off - Flexible time off in the US, generous entitlement in other countries. - A USD$500 Home office setup if you’re a remote employee. - Global Gatherings – We believe in the power of in-person connection and offer opportunities to engage with colleagues at company-wide offsites. CULTURE - WE ALL SHAPE IT As part of a rapidly scaling start-up, you will be instrumental in shaping our culture. Are you interested in finding out more about our culture? Learn more about our values here https://clickhouse.com/company/careers. Check out our blog posts https://clickhouse.com/blog or follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/clickhouseinc/life/0c1ee7f4-2129-488d-b413-e7f6270659fd/?viewAsMember=true to find out more about what’s happening at ClickHouse. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY & PRIVACY ClickHouse provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type based on factors such as race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Please see here https://clickhouse.com/legal/applicant-privacy-notice for our Privacy Statement.