Head of Communications

Omidyar Network • Full-time • San Francisco, California, United States • $216k - $270k / year • 3h ago

Organization

Omidyar Network (ON) is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to bend the arc of the digital revolution toward shared power, prosperity, and possibility. Digital technology is a powerful and ubiquitous force that, harnessed wisely, makes wondrous things happen. We believe in working together to guide tech's trajectory intentionally. Our vision is for our shared humanity to steer our digital future.

So far, we have committed more than $1.94 billion to initiatives that share our vision. We engage, partner, and fund some of the world's brightest thinkers and innovators to guide our digital future toward the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Opportunity For Impact

Omidyar Network is seeking an experienced, highly collaborative, and adaptive Head of Communications to advance the firm’s impact through strategic campaigns, thought leadership, and narrative storytelling. This leader will bring strong political acumen and technology fluency to refine and execute ON’s influence strategy while strengthening its reputation and visibility across key audiences. They will shape the organization’s voice and engagement with policymakers, funders, civil society and grassroots organizations, tech and business leaders, media and cultural influencers, academics, technical experts, board members, staff, and other key stakeholders.

The Head of Communications will report to the President with a dotted line to the Chief of Staff, and will partner closely with the CEO, Senior Vice President - Programs and Policy, legal counsel, and program and policy leads working across a wide range of responsible technology issues.

Why you’ll love working here:

You’ll help shape public narratives on some of the most consequential issues of our time — from responsible technology to democratic resilience.
You’ll join a community of brilliant, generous, thoughtful, and genuinely kind leaders working collaboratively toward meaningful societal impact.
You’ll have the opportunity to build and strengthen ON’s influence strategy while partnering with cross-functional peers who value shared ownership over rigid hierarchies.
You’ll work in a culture defined by curiosity, humility, experimentation, and humor where people bring ideas forward, test them quickly, and iterate together.

Role and Responsibilities

Communications Strategy

Lead ON’s comprehensive communications and influence strategy across campaigns, media, narrative, and thought leadership, ensuring clarity, purpose, and political awareness.
Brings a strong and modern point of view on communications, influence, and the evolving media ecosystem.
Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the President, CEO, and Executive Team on influence strategy, organizational positioning, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement.
Shape ON’s presence with key audiences including policymakers, funders, grassroots partners, tech and business leaders, academics, media, and philanthropic peers.
Translate complex program and policy insights into compelling storytelling and develop core messaging frameworks and positioning documents that ensure consistent, values-aligned communication.
Leverage media assets, partnerships, and the broader information ecosystem to amplify ON’s voice and impact,
Lead executive visibility initiatives that elevate ON leadership as trusted experts on the intersection of technology and social impact.

Campaign Leadership, Stakeholder Management, and Rapid Response

Collaborate closely with the Executive and Programs & Policy team to develop and execute integrated campaigns that advance the firm’s influence, deepen engagement, and support the work of our partners.
Maintain and strengthen a culture of cross-functional collaboration, where communications is an enabling function, driving partnerships with program leads, policy experts, and other teams whose work naturally intersects with comms.
Partner closely with legal and programs and policy teams to manage reputational risk in moments of scrutiny and ensure ON’s perspectives are represented accurately and responsibly.
Uphold the organization’s entrepreneurial energy by showing up prepared, writing quickly and clearly, and engaging actively across teams during moments of urgency.

Team and Operational Leadership

Partner with the programs and policy teams to understand their strategies, sharpen messages, and “right-size” ambitious ideas into actionable communications plans.
Facilitate alignment across a flat, highly collaborative organization, helping diverse teams articulate tradeoffs, prioritize audiences, and unify around shared influence goals.
Help structure and guide collaborative decision-making around campaigns, ensuring clarity on objectives, audiences, tactics, and success metrics.
Lead and mentor a small but high-performing communications team while collaborating with colleagues nationally across issue areas
Manage the communications budget and oversee relationships with communications agencies, consultants, and technology platforms across media relations, digital, crisis communications, and campaigns.

Qualifications

15+ years of communications experience with significant leadership responsibility in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.
Possesses a clear point of view on how to leverage press and media to advance the cause of a mission-driven organization.
Demonstrated expertise managing complex communications challenges, including crisis communications, reputational risk, and high-pressure response to politically sensitive contexts.
Strong political awareness with the ability to navigate polarized environments shaped by tech, policy, and public opinion.
Tech fluency and an ability to translate complex technology or policy concepts into accessible narratives for diverse audiences.
Experience operating within dynamic environments (e.g. tech companies, policy-forward organizations, or other fast-moving mission-driven entities).
Exceptional writing and editing skills with the ability to synthesize complex information and move quickly from ideas to crisp content.
Proven ability to work in highly collaborative, matrixed, and non-hierarchical environments; demonstrated comfort with ambiguity and shared decision-making.
Deep alignment with ON’s mission, values, and commitment to advancing a more inclusive, equitable future.

Compensation

This is a full-time, salaried position that features competitive pay and benefits, including health care (medical/dental/vision), paid time off, and a generous employer 401k contribution. The salary range for this role is $216,000 - $270,000. ON manages pay equity seriously and new hires generally start at the midpoint of this range.

Location

This position will be based out of our San Francisco office. We are currently working in a hybrid capacity and require staff to work in person 2 days per week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Employees are required to reside within 100 miles of ON’s office location. Candidates must have a current U.S. work authorization to be considered.

Omidyar Network is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes people from all experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply.We fundamentally believe that people are inherently capable but often lack opportunity. We know that a diverse workforce reflecting a broad range of backgrounds and views allows us to see problems in more nuanced ways, creating the thought leadership needed to elevate humanity and evolve the culture, governance, and business of technology. We actively recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a broad candidate pool.