Communications Manager

Opal

$80K — $120K *
Media
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 3-5 years in PR, communications, or media relations with proven results
  • Experience in a fast-paced startup environment, building communications from the ground up
  • Strong writing skills with the ability to adapt to brand tone
  • Deep knowledge of the media landscape, including influential outlets and personalities
  • Passion for Opal's mission related to digital wellbeing and the attention economy

Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement Opal's PR and media strategy across multiple outlets
  • Establish partnerships with media brands aligning with Opal's mission
  • Collaborate with CEO on media placements and speaking opportunities
  • Create a program for Opal ambassadors from diverse communities
  • Monitor and enhance Opal's media presence and share of voice
  • Collaborate with marketing to highlight community stories
  • Build necessary communication infrastructures like press kits and crisis playbooks

Benefits

  • Remote work flexibility
  • Opportunity for bi-annual travel to Europe
  • Ownership of strategic PR initiatives
  • Direct collaboration with executives and high-profile partners
  • Ability to make a significant impact on global conversations around digital wellbeing
Full Job Description
Who You Will Work With:
  • Manager: Kenneth Schlenker, our CEO
  • Key Cross-Functional Collaborators: our marketing team (socials, brand) and leadership
Location: Remote, East Coast, USA (with bi-annual travel to Europe)

Why This Role and Why Now?

Screen time has become one of the defining issues of our era, affecting more than 5 billion people who carry a smartphone every day.

We are in the middle of a civilization-scale shift in how humans interact with technology, in how we work, learn, focus, and build relationships.

Public awareness is rising fast. Media coverage is accelerating. Regulators around the world are paying attention, and conversations about digital wellbeing now reach parents, students, professionals, educators, and policymakers alike.

The largest technology companies Apple, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, recognize the importance of this space and are increasingly positioning themselves around healthier technology use. Apple just made Screen Time one of the headline features of its upcoming OS release.

Opal is uniquely positioned to become the defining brand of this generation in digital wellbeing and intentional technology use. We've built one of the largest communities in the category, with more than 10 million users, including world-class artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and creators. We have a product people genuinely love, recognized as an Apple Design Award finalist, backed by exceptional investors who have supported us with more than $10 million in funding.

At the same time, partnership, media, and communications opportunities are arriving faster than we can capitalize on them. Inbound requests come from journalists, creators, schools, companies, researchers, and organizations that want to work with us.

We need an exceptional person to own these opportunities, build meaningful relationships, and help shape Opal into the leading global brand for healthier technology use.

This role is central to our journey to reach and positively impact 1 billion people.

Here's why this is the right moment to join:
  • You'll own something real: No playbook to inherit. You're writing it and the story is genuinely good.
  • The moment is now: The cultural conversation around attention, AI, and screen time has never been louder. We're already positioned at the center of it.
  • You'll work at the center of it: Directly with Kenneth, with our brand and growth teams, and with the journalists, creators, and voices shaping how people think about focus and technology.
What You'll Be Doing

As our Communications Manager:
  • Deploy and own Opal's PR and media strategy end-to-end: the right stories, the right outlets, the right moments, across tech and lifestyle press, Substacks, podcasts, and wherever our audience actually pays attention
  • Seek out and build high-profile partnerships with media brands and organizations that align with Opal's mission
  • Work with Kenneth on media placement and speaking opportunities: knowing which conferences, panels, and formats actually move the needle
  • Develop a program of high-profile Opal ambassadors from our community: artists, athletes, creators, and builders who genuinely use and believe in the product
  • Track, amplify, and grow Opal's share of voice across media and social: owning our mentions and presence as a core metric
  • Work closely with our marketing team to surface and spread incredible stories from our community
  • Build the infrastructure we need: press kit, newsroom, response process, and a crisis playbook for when things get loud
What You Bring
  • 3 to 5 years in PR, communications, or media relations: you've built something from early, you know how to move fast, and you have the results to show for it
  • You were early at a company people love. You know what it means to build a communications function when there's no template and high expectations
  • A builder, not a maintainer: you're energized by building up new things
  • You write with a real voice. You adapt to a brand's tone quickly and you'd never sign off something that reads like a press release
  • You follow the media landscape the way other people follow sports: you know who's writing what, which newsletters are growing, which podcasts are actually influential, and which stages are worth the flight
  • The attention economy genuinely bothers you, or genuinely fascinates you: either way, Opal's mission means something to you personally
Bonus
  • Existing relationships with US tech, wellness, or lifestyle press
  • Experience building ambassador or creator programs
  • Experience managing or briefing external PR agencies
  • Bilingual English/French

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