Director, External Communications

CCC Intelligent Solutions•Chicago, IL

1d•$157,418 - $190,000•Remote

About The Position

CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc. (CCC) is a leading cloud platform for the multi-trillion-dollar insurance economy, creating intelligent experiences for insurers, repairers, automakers, part suppliers, and more. At CCC, we’re making life just work by empowering more than 35,000 businesses with industry-leading technology to get drivers back on the road and to health quickly and seamlessly. We’re pushing boundaries with innovative AI solutions that simplify and enhance the claims and repair journey. Through purposeful innovation and the strength of its connections, CCC technologies empower the people and industry relied upon to keep lives moving forward when it matters most. Learn more about CCC at www.cccis.com. The Role This is a high-ownership role for a seasoned communications professional who has built earned media programs from the ground up and has stood in the room — or led the room — during a real crisis. You will be responsible for the company’s external reputation across press and industry channels, architect and maintain our crisis communications capability, and manage a supporting analyst relations function. This role sits inside a lean, high-functioning corporate communications team that includes internal communications, content and thought leadership, and CSR. Creative, digital, events, and measurement sit in shared services — meaning your job is strategy, relationships, and execution, not production management. You’ll work closely with marketing and product marketing through a unified editorial calendar and shared message framework that corporate communications owns. The right person for this role is equally comfortable pitching a trade journalist, drafting a holding statement at 10pm, and advising a CEO on what not to say. You are a practitioner, not just a manager.

Requirements

12+ years of communications experience, with at least 6 years focused on B2B technology PR
A track record of earning meaningful coverage, including placements in trade and business press that moved perception
Direct, hands-on experience owning or co-leading crisis communications response, including at least one live, high-stakes situation
Experience managing external PR agencies with high standards and clear accountability
Strong executive communication skills — you can advise the C-suite under pressure and push back when the instinct in the room is wrong
Comfort operating in a lean team where you are both the strategist and the executor
Familiarity with the insurance, financial services, or enterprise software sectors preferred; direct insurance industry experience a meaningful plus
Experience with analyst relations at any level; deep AR expertise is not required but intellectual curiosity about the function is

Responsibilities

Lead all earned media strategy across trade, business, and technology press, with fluency in both the insurance carrier and collision repair markets the company serves
Build and own relationships with key journalists, editors, and producers at priority publications and outlets
Drive a proactive thought leadership placement program in close partnership with the content team: bylines, contributed articles, executive interviews, and feature coverage
Own spokesperson readiness through training and maintenance programs
Own a press release and media monitoring process that delivers internal visibility on news going out the door and coverage secured from PR and thought leadership activities
Own the PR agency relationship, including setting the strategy, managing priorities, holding the agency accountable to outcomes, and escalating when performance warrants it
Establish and maintain a PR measurement framework tracking share of voice, narrative alignment, and coverage quality
Serve as a standing contributor to the unified corporate editorial calendar, ensuring PR activity is coordinated with content, internal comms, and marketing
Architect, maintain, and continuously improve the company’s crisis communications playbook, including escalation protocols, spokesperson guidance, holding statement libraries, channel-by-channel response frameworks, and post-incident review processes
Serve as the primary communications lead during active crisis situations, working in direct partnership with legal, HR, and executive leadership
Conduct regular readiness reviews and tabletop exercises to ensure the company can respond quickly and credibly when it matters
Serve as an ongoing advisor on reputational risk and issues management — identifying and flagging emerging concerns before they reach crisis threshold
Ensure customer-facing and employee-facing crisis communications are coordinated and sequenced correctly, in partnership with internal communications
Maintain active relationships with relevant industry analysts covering insurance technology, insurtech, and adjacent enterprise software / AI categories
Own strategic engagement with key analysts that work to advance our corporate positioning. Partner with the key leaders on advancing CCC’s position in the insurance sector
Track analyst coverage, reports, and sentiment; ensure key analysts have accurate, current information about the company’s direction, differentiation, and customer outcomes
Flag analyst perspectives that carry strategic relevance for product, sales, or executive leadership