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VP of Communications
3 years ago
About Skillz:
Skillz is the leading mobile games platform connecting players in fair, fun, and meaningful competition.
The gaming industry is larger than movies, music, and books, with more than 2.7 billion gamers playing monthly and 10 million developers worldwide. Mobile is the fastest-growing segment of the gaming market, expected to increase from $86 billion last year to $161 billion in 2025.
As the first publicly-traded (NYSE: SKLZ) mobile esports platform, Skillz has pioneered the future of the gaming industry. The Skillz platform helps developers build multi-million dollar franchises by enabling social competition in their games. Leveraging its patented technology, Skillz hosts billions of casual esports tournaments for millions of mobile players worldwide, and distributes millions in prizes each month.
Through its philanthropic initiatives, Skillz has harnessed the power of its platform to transform the way nonprofits engage with donors, enabling anyone with a mobile device to support causes such as the American Red Cross , Susan G. Komen , American Cancer Society , and NAACP by playing in Skillz tournaments.
Skillz has also earned recognition as one of Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators , San Francisco Business Times’ Best Places to Work , Parity.org’s Best Companies for Women to Advance , Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies , a two-time winner of CNBC’s Disruptor 50 , one of Forbes’ Next Billion-Dollar Startups , and the #1 fastest-growing company in America on the Inc. 5000.
What We’re Looking For:
Skillz is looking for a world-class PR and communications leader to drive strategy and results. Reporting into the Head of Marketing and Communications, the ideal candidate will be a proactive, collaborative, creative, and innovative storyteller who will explore both new and established approaches to achieve our goals. The highly visible role will oversee all communications efforts, including media relations, financial communications, thought leadership, and original content. The ideal candidate will have experience driving measurable results in a fast-paced environment and demonstrated success building, scaling, and managing teams. Public company experience is required. It's critical for this leader to establish credibility at the executive level and be well-versed in championing consensus and approval for cross-functional efforts.
What You Will Do:
- Develop and lead our overall communications strategy ensuring it is aligned with company leadership and overall business strategy
- Partner closely with senior members of the Communications team to develop engaging narratives about Skillz and its products, including the contributions the company makes to society, its meteoric growth, and what makes it a best place to work
- Attract, retain, and cultivate a world-class Communications team
- Lead a robust media relations function, delivering exceptional results that effectively position Skillz – maintaining strong working relationships with business, financial, technology, consumer, and trade media
- Leverage both earned and owned channels to ensure that Skillz is valued appropriately in the eyes of customers, partners, employees, investors, the media, and influencers as an industry leader
- Optimize and advance the strategy and voice for select executive team members, including speaking engagements, media interviews, and internal communications
- Consult and advise executives and the Board on communications matters
Your Skillz:
- Senior communications executive with at least 15+ years of work experience leading and scaling communications teams in fast-paced, high-growth business and technology environments
- Foundational experience in journalism and media relations is desirable, as is the combination of PR agency and in-house leadership roles
- Public company experience is required
- A deep understanding of the startup-to-public technology company journey and culture, and the challenges of evolving a narrative to keep pace with that change
- Experience with crisis communications and change management, and ability to maintain calm under fire
- 8+ years of people management experience, with the demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and retain top talent
- An intuitive and effective team leader, manager, and mentor, who is capable of growing senior communications leaders and junior team members alike
- Proven ability to run and deliver results on large-scale, complex projects under tight deadlines through rigorous planning and ruthless prioritization
- Business development mindset where communications directly contributes to business objectives
- Exceptional writer and dynamic speaker with experience serving as spokesperson
- Entrepreneurial and a hands-on style with a strong bias for action and results while working effectively in an innovative, unstructured environment that values collaboration without ego
Skillz embraces diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to diversifying our workforce, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status, and we operate in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance .
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