Senior Director, Thought Leadership, Strategic Content, and Communications

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Elastic is a free and open search company that powers enterprise search, observability, and security solutions built on one technology stack that can be deployed anywhere. From finding documents to monitoring infrastructure to hunting for threats, Elastic makes data usable in real-time and at scale. Thousands of organizations worldwide, including Barclays, Cisco, eBay, Fairfax, ING, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, The Mayo Clinic, NASA, The New York Times, Wikipedia, and Verizon, use Elastic to power mission-critical systems. Founded in 2012, Elastic is a distributed company with Elasticians around the globe. Learn more at elastic.co.

This seasoned professional will drive the company’s ability to create differentiated thought leadership programing that supports the philosophical underpinnings of the company and growth trajectory for the business.
This newly-created role, reporting to the vice president, global communications, will accelerate establishing Elastic’s thought leadership programming by developing  marquis campaigns and original content to become an “always-on” engine of content that reinforces the company’s distinct perspectives on hot-topic issues, spanning culture, business and technology.
This role is both strategy and execution, and the candidate will serve as a strategic advisor for the team, the editor in chief for all thought leadership content, will oversee research and planning and will help to solidify the priority themes, develop key strategies for brokering and managing partnerships with leading third parties (i.e., academia, think tanks, associations, media properties, etc.,) develop robust content plans and produce assets to bring the concepts to life in compelling ways (i.e. panel presentations, fireside chats, keynotes, videos, bylines) for a variety of audiences, such as IT decision makers, industry and financial analysts, industry influencers, and practitioners.
This bold thinker must also be able to absorb new concepts quickly and break down complex ideas in a simple way and execute the work using data and analytics to guide the strategy. The senior director must possess strong collaboration and interpersonal skills, and be an organized, creative self-starter. This role manages a team of six editors/writers and must have experience balancing the daily demands of an editorial services team with long-term, strategic projects and campaigns. A portfolio of work demonstrating success working with high-growth companies or the high-growth divisions of established companies is strongly preferred.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and execute groundbreaking thought leadership programs to demonstrate and support Elastic’s business and strategic content pillars.
• Serve as the editor in chief of thought leadership content, inclusive of customer testimonials, white papers, op-eds, videos, infographics, animation, social posts, digital activations and executive presentations and keynotes.
• Develop partnerships with credible, leading third parties to help validate our views. Manage these relationships for exploration to completion.
• Develop, package and present research, learnings and insights to position the organization and key executives with a unique and meaningful point of view and establish success measures and metrics to continually refine and evolve programs for optimal results and outcomes.

On day one, you will bring: 

• Thought Leadership Experience: A proven track record of creating and implementing signature thought leadership programming and content that address timely and relevant social, technology and business issues
• Leadership:Demonstrates leadership skills for a growing team; sets example for others to follow. Effectively coaches others in developing their skills and abilities. Ability to direct and manage to ensure objectives and KPIs are met.
• Writing:Strong writing and editing skills; ability to write for a variety of audiences across multiple communication channels and vehicles and the ability to translate complex issues into compelling communications
• Content Creation:Proven success in delivering content in multiple formats such as: video, podcasts, long-form brand journalism, and executive keynotes
• Expertise:Deep understanding of PR and communications strategies and tactics in the technology industry and ability to identify emerging trends
• Collaboration:Ability to manage internal cross-functional teams, external agencies and relationships with third-party research firms and academic institutions/think tanks. Requires proven senior leadership skills with ability to inspire trust and confidence, including ability to influence directly and indirectly.
• Project Management: Experience working in a global, distributed environment, and experience building a traffic management system to ensure all stakeholders are aware of the creative rationale for each asset, as well as the milestones for delivery.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in communications, journalism or related discipline
• At least 15 years of experience creating and managing high-performing teams and working in thought leadership, brand journalism creative planning, journalism, and/or advertising in-house or at an agency – or a combination of both.

Additional Information - We Take Care of Our People

As a distributed company, diversity drives our identity. Whether you’re looking to launch a new career or grow an existing one, Elastic is the type of company where you can balance great work with great life. Your age is only a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college or your children are; we need you for what you can do.

We strive to have parity of benefits across regions and while regulations differ from place to place, we believe taking care of our people is the right thing to do.

• Competitive pay based on the work you do here and not your previous salary
• Health coverage for you and your family in many locations
• Ability to craft your calendar with flexible locations and schedules for many roles
• Generous number of vacation days each year
• Double your charitable giving - We match up to $1500 (or local currency equivalent)
• Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love
• Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave

Different people approach problems differently. We need that. Elastic is committed to diversity as well as inclusion. We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to the principles of affirmative action. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation. If you require any reasonable accessibility support, please email candidate_accessibility@elastic.co.

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