Sr. Director, Global External Communications

Elastic

3d • $200,400 - $380,200 • Remote

About The Position

Elastic is looking for a Senior Director of Global External Communications to lead how we build reputation, relevance, and influence with the external audiences that matter most to our business. This is a senior leadership role within Corporate Communications, responsible for turning Elastic's company story and strategic priorities into a coordinated global external communications strategy spanning corporate and technical communications, regional communications, public sector, ecosystem storytelling, and competitive and market moments. A critical part of the role is helping Elastic translate highly technical product innovation into stories that resonate beyond the developer audience. Working closely with Product, Product Marketing, Developer Marketing, and specialist technical communications leads, this leader will help take the technical narratives and proof created for developers and determine how they become compelling stories for IT decision-makers, business and technology media, and other influential external audiences. This leader will move us beyond a traditional PR model built around announcements and media relations toward an always-on external communications engine: one that identifies the perceptions we need to shape, the audiences we need to influence, the stories and proof that will move them, and the most effective ways to make those stories travel. The role reports to the VP, Corporate Communications and will serve as her senior operating leader for global external communications.

Requirements

• Significant senior leadership experience in external or corporate communications within enterprise technology, cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data, developer platforms, or AI.
• Strong technical fluency and genuine curiosity about technology. You don't need to be an engineer, but you must be comfortable engaging deeply with Product and Engineering leaders and understanding sophisticated technical concepts.
• A demonstrated ability to take highly technical products, capabilities, and developer stories and find the larger story that matters to our technical audience of CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, IT leaders, and the market.
• Experience leading specialist technology communications teams and enabling subject-matter experts to operate effectively with Product, PMM, Engineering, and senior business leaders.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading a sophisticated global external communications function rather than simply managing media relations.
• Strong understanding of developer and practitioner audiences alongside technical enterprise technology decision-makers and the important differences in what earns credibility with each.
• Excellent editorial judgment, with the ability to recognize the genuinely interesting story inside complex technology and the confidence to reject activity that isn't likely to create meaningful impact.
• Deep understanding of how reputation and market perception are built through earned media, technical communities, speaking, podcasts, executives, customers, partners, analysts, social channels, and other credible third parties.
• Strong relationships with influential business and technology media.
• Experience leading global and regional teams and managing complex agency ecosystems.
• A data- and intelligence-led approach to communications strategy and measurement.
• A track record of using AI, technology, automation, and new operating approaches to increase communications effectiveness and productivity.
• The ability to operate comfortably with senior executives, challenge constructively, make decisions with incomplete information, and bring clarity when priorities are moving quickly.

Responsibilities

• Lead Elastic's global external communications strategy. Set the strategy for how Elastic builds external reputation and influence across corporate, business, technical, regional, public sector, and ecosystem audiences. Translate company priorities into a focused external communications agenda, making clear choices about where we invest and what we deprioritize.
• Turn technical innovation into stories that influence technology decision-makers. Work deeply with Product, Product Marketing, Developer Marketing, Engineering, and specialist technical communications leads to understand Elastic's technology, roadmap, differentiation, and developer narratives. Identify how technical narratives and proof created for developers can be translated into compelling stories for CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, technology leaders, and the media and influencers who shape their views. This person must be technically credible enough to engage directly with product and engineering leaders, ask the right questions, spot the story inside complex technology, and help their team make it relevant without oversimplifying it.
• Lead and develop specialist technical communications. Oversee communications leads embedded across Elastic's key solution areas. Enable them to operate as strategic partners to their GMs, Product, PMM, Engineering, and Developer Marketing teams, including identifying strong stories within the business, shaping communications strategy for their areas, and translating technical innovation for developer and ITDM audiences.
• Build an always-on earned influence engine. Move the organization beyond a launch-led PR approach to sustained storytelling around the issues and market conversations where Elastic can lead. Create programs that combine technical authority, thought leadership, customer proof, ecosystem credibility, executive voices, and earned media to build sustained influence rather than one-off moments.
• Lead corporate and business communications. Own the earned communications strategy around Elastic's corporate story, business momentum, strategic priorities, major company moments, and reputation. Build and maintain influential relationships with top-tier business and technology media.
• Partner closely with Analyst Relations and Social & Editorial. Work with AR to understand how analysts see our markets, where our positioning is resonating or falling short, and where third-party validation can strengthen our stories. Partner with Social & Editorial to ensure priority external stories are designed for amplification from the outset and can travel across owned and social channels. PR, AR, and Social retain their distinct expertise and ownership while operating against shared company priorities.
• Lead global and regional communications as one system. Own the regional communications operating model and ensure global priorities are translated intelligently for priority markets rather than recreated locally. Build a strong two-way flow in which regional teams activate company stories locally while bringing market intelligence, customer proof, competitive signals, and emerging opportunities back into the global organization.
• Use our ecosystem as a force multiplier. Oversee communications across Elastic's partner and AI ecosystem, identifying opportunities for credible third parties to strengthen our stories, extend our reach, and reinforce Elastic's position in the AI technology landscape.
• Lead global public sector communications. Oversee our strategic public sector communications program, including engagement with government, public sector technology, and policy-relevant audiences in priority markets.
• Modernize the external communications operating model. Build an organization designed for the AI era. Determine where human expertise and judgment create differentiated value, where AI and automation can increase speed and scale, and where agencies provide specialist capability or market leverage. Eliminate low-value activity rather than simply making it more efficient.
• Build an intelligence-led function. Use media intelligence, competitive signals, analyst insight, social listening, audience data, and performance measurement to understand what is landing, where perceptions are shifting, and where Elastic should act. Feed those insights back into the broader story and communications planning process.
• Lead the global external communications team and agency ecosystem. Build and develop a high-performing team of specialist communications leaders. Establish clear accountability, raise the standard of strategic and technical communications thinking, and ensure agencies operate as extensions of Elastic's strategy rather than independent engines of activity.

Benefits

• 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
• Increase your impact - We match up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service
• Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love
• Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave
• company-matched 401k with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6% of eligible earnings
• stock program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed