Strategic Communications Director

Responsibilities

• Media — Reporter relationships, inbound press handling, briefings, and embargo management. You are the person national and trade press call first.
• Public Relations — Announcement strategy and execution for major company moments, reactive and issues response, and stewardship of Hadrian's standing narrative in the press.
• Copy & Voice — Day-to-day ownership of how Hadrian sounds in earned and executive channels, working within the voice frameworks set at the SVP level. You're the standard-bearer for the function's copy, not the sole writer of everything.
• Speeches & Public Comms — Executive speeches, talking points, prepared remarks, and Q&A prep. You are the primary support for Hadrian's CEO and other executives in public settings.
• Internal Communications (in partnership with HR) — HR owns internal distribution and the employee relationship; you supply the message and voice that keep thousands of technicians and engineers across Hadrian's factory network aligned with the company's direction and momentum.
• Team Leadership — Build and manage a team capable of carrying this workload without you in the room for every piece of work. Strategic Comms is currently load-bearing and under-resourced; part of this role is fixing that.
• External Partners — Select, manage, and hold accountable the agencies, PR firms, speechwriters, and other outside consultants who extend the team's capacity. You set the brief, own the budget and performance of these relationships, and ensure external work meets the same bar as work produced in-house.

Requirements

• 15+ years of communications experience in tech, defense, aerospace, or a related field, with real fluency in how each of those worlds talks to the press, to government, and to itself
• Demonstrated experience managing a team, including external consultants and agencies — you've hired and developed direct reports, and you've also run agency and freelance relationships with a clear brief, budget, and accountability for results
• A relentless focus on mission — you understand why reindustrializing the United States matters and can translate that conviction into a story that lands with reporters, policymakers, and the public
• Executive presence and judgment — comfortable advising a CEO in high-stakes moments, with the instinct to know when something is genuinely sensitive versus when it isn't
• Sharp writing and editing instincts, and the ability to hold a company's voice steady across dozens of moving pieces
• Proactive and collaborative — you propose into the external affairs and internal communications calendars rather than waiting to be handed work, and you build real partnerships with peers who own adjacent pieces of the story
• Willing to travel — regularly, and often on short notice, to be on the ground for factory visits, executive appearances, and press moments across Hadrian's sites
• Ability to obtain a U.S. national security clearance preferred
• A sense of levity . You take the mission seriously and yourself less so, without ever letting standards slip

Preferred

• Ability to obtain a U.S. national security clearance preferred
• A sense of levity . You take the mission seriously and yourself less so, without ever letting standards slip
• Willing to travel regularly, and often on short notice, to be on the ground for factory visits, executive appearances, and press moments across Hadrian's sites
• Executive presence and judgment — comfortable advising a CEO in high-stakes moments, with the instinct to know when something is genuinely sensitive versus when it isn't
• Proactive and collaborative — you propose into the external affairs and internal communications calendars rather than waiting to be handed work, and you build real partnerships with peers who own adjacent pieces of the story
• Sharp writing and editing instincts, and the ability to hold a company's voice steady across dozens of moving pieces
• Demonstrated experience managing a team, including external consultants and agencies — you've hired and developed direct reports, and you've also run agency and freelance relationships with a clear brief, budget, and accountability for results
• 15+ years of communications experience in tech, defense, aerospace, or a related field, with real fluency in how each of those worlds talks to the press, to government, and to itself

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees
• 401k
• Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.
• Flexible vacation policy
• Equity