Internal Communications Lead

About this role

<div class="content-intro"><p><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><strong>The Community You Will Join:&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Airbnb is a mission-driven company dedicated to helping create connection and belonging. The company was born with a creative spirit, much like the environment at the Rhode Island School of Design where Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia — two of its co-founders — went to college together. This creative spirit is one of the defining parts of Airbnb's culture.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our Internal Communications team aims to build a strong and enduring culture by connecting more than 8,000 employees around the world to Airbnb's mission, community, and core values through storytelling and shared experiences. Our charter is simple and demanding: share high-quality, concise, relevant communications that inform and inspire.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><strong>The Difference You Will Make:</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are seeking an experienced communicator who is, first and foremost, an outstanding writer, and who can apply that craft to some of the most technical and consequential work happening at the company. The ideal candidate takes an entrepreneurial approach, both setting high-level direction and getting hands-on with tactics. You proactively influence, drive for clarity, and keep an eye on the details. You are an avid researcher and messaging strategist. And you’ll bring your skills to bear in a fast-moving environment involving multiple projects, deadlines, and personalities.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our technology organization and its leadership team are evolving rapidly, with a growing volume of executive content. You will absorb complex material, help decide what matters, and turn it into moments and messages employees remember. You will be the internal communications partner to a set of VP-level leaders, with a particular focus on AI and data science. You will also help raise the editorial bar across the team as a trusted creator and reviewer for our company-wide channels. You will set and steward our internal voice and style, and contribute to the editorial direction of our practice.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><strong>A Typical Day:&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Act as a strategic partner to your client leaders, providing counsel, feedback, and presentation coaching, and collaborating primarily during Pacific Time core hours.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Develop quality executive materials: leader-voice Slack posts and email notes, thought leadership, all-hands narratives, org change communications, and short-form scripts with a heavy emphasis on emerging technology topics.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Translate deeply technical work into compelling messages for both technical and non-technical employee audiences.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shape and align functional narratives to broader company priorities, so that Tech's story connects to where Airbnb is going.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Own the design and production of high-impact connection moments for your client orgs (all-hands, forums, leadership offsites), including defining the narrative, building presentations, and coaching presenters.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Serve as a trusted editor for the wider team, strengthening channel standards, shaping how we plan and measure content, and helping quality scale beyond any one reviewer.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lead or support change management, crisis communications, and special projects.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Your Expertise:</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">10+ years in strategic internal communications, editorial, or journalism, with a relevant degree (Journalism, Communications, PR, or related field) and a track record of producing work to a consistently high standard.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Exceptional writer and editor above all else (creative, concise, and hyper-clear) able to take a dense or messy draft and make it sing under deadline.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Demonstrated fluency with AI and other technical subject matter, with genuine curiosity about product development and how things work.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Proven counselor to senior leaders, with strong editorial judgment and news sense, including an instinct for what is relevant to a given audience.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">End-to-end communications practitioner and operator: develops and executes tailored messaging and campaigns (planning, research, writing, editing, distribution, measurement) and designs effective comms programs and channels.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Strong presentation and interpersonal skills, with fluency in Google Slides and Keynote to convey complex topics simply for employees.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Self-directed and collaborative with strong analytical problem-solving skills.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Comfortable picking up a new subject area or client org and learning its nuances quickly.</span></li> <li style="font-family: