Director of Public Relations

Level; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Level is seeking a seasoned Communications leader to own press strategy and day-to-day operations for a major education technology initiative. In this role you will guide senior/national media placements, manage inquiries, draft responses, and coordinate spokespeople across product, research, and marketing teams.

You will drive the transition of PR from agency partners to an in-house function, build direct relationships with reporters in education and policy, and steward Level's confidential

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive PR or communications with ownership of earned media strategy.
• Track record securing senior and national media placements independently.
• Experience transitioning PR from agency to in-house or building in-house PR from ground up.
• Experience in education space with direct relationships to education reporters, editors and producers.
• Strong writing across formats: press releases, pitches, briefs, FAQs, talking points.
• Calm, organized under press pressure; able to brief spokespeople and manage queries under deadlines.
• Hands-on with media-monitoring/outreach tools and translating insights into actions.
• High judgment and discretion; manage embargoes and sensitive pre-launch information.

Responsibilities

• Execute Level’s press strategy and drive senior/national media placements.
• Oversee transition of PR ownership to in-house model and absorb agency relationships.
• Run day-to-day press operations: inbound inquiries, responses, interviews, briefs, and spokespeople.
• Maintain Level’s press toolkit: bios, boilerplate, FAQs, fact sheets, and media assets.
• Build direct relationships with reporters across education space and policy outlets.
• Embed with product, research, partnerships, and marketing to surface story-worthy moments.
• Own editorial calendar and weekly comms cadence with stakeholders.
• Prepare and brief Level spokespeople (excluding CEO/president) for interviews and panels.
• Own media monitoring, social listening, and competitive intelligence; turn insights into recommendations.
• Guard confidentiality and manage embargoes, escalating sensitive calls to leadership.

Skills

Public relations

Media placements

Strategic planning

Story development

Writing skills

Press training

Crisis management

Stakeholder management

Confidentiality

Analytical thinking

Tools

Media monitoring tools

Outreach tools

Job description

What You Will Do

• Press Strategy & Senior Placements (in-house): Execute Level’s press strategy and execution including senior/national media placements. Make day-to-day calls on which stories and opportunities to pursue and personally drive them to placement.
• Agency Transition & In-House Build-Out: Execute the transition of PR ownership from Level’s two current agency partners to an in-house model, absorbing their relationships, institutional knowledge, and functions.
• Press Operations: Run Level’s day-to-day press function. This includes managing inbound media inquiries, considering and triaging inbound requests, drafting initial responses/holding lines, scheduling and prepping interviews, managing briefing docs, and coordinating spokespeople.
• Press Asset Development & Stewardship: Own and maintain Level’s full press toolkit — fact sheets, FAQs, executive bios, boilerplate, product backgrounders, image and B-roll libraries, press kits, and the Level press page. Ensure assets are accurate, on-brand, and ready to deploy.
• Education Press Relationships: Build and maintain direct, senior-level relationships with reporters, editors, and producers covering K-12, edtech, learning sciences, and education policy at U.S. trade and national outlets.
• Internal Storymining & Narrative Development: Embed across product, research, partnerships, and marketing to surface story-worthy moments. These can include research findings, product milestones, partnership announcements, educator and student stories, shaping how they’re framed and pitched.
• Editorial Calendar & Workflow: Own Level’s rolling editorial calendar across PR moments, product launches/updates, marketing campaigns, and partnerships. Run weekly comms operations cadences with internal stakeholders.
• Spokesperson Management & Media Training: Prepare and brief Level spokespeople (other than the CEO and president) for interviews, panels, and conference appearances. Develop talking points, anticipate tough questions, run prep sessions, and advise on media strategy and positioning.
• Monitoring & Tooling Ownership: Own media monitoring, social listening, and competitive intelligence, evaluating and managing whatever tools or vendors are needed. Turn insights into actionable recommendations for the Director and Level leadership.
• Confidentiality & Information Governance: Steward sensitive pre-launch information, embargoes, and reactive scenarios day-to-day. Maintain strict confidentiality protocols across internal and external stakeholders,escalate high-stakes or reputationally sensitive calls to the Director of Communications.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in public relations or communications, including experience operating as the primary or sole owner of an organization’s earned media strategy.
• Demonstrated track record independently securing senior and national media placements.
• Experience transitioning a PR function from agency-led to in-house, or building an in-house PR function from the ground up, including standing up the relationships, tools, and processes an agency would otherwise provide.
• Demonstrated experience in the education space; K-12, edtech, education nonprofit or education policy, with established direct, senior-level relationships among education reporters, editors, and producers.
• Strong writing skills across formats including press releases, pitches, briefing docs, FAQs, talking points.
• Calm, organized presence under press pressure; comfortable serving as a senior point of contact for reporters and making judgment calls on inquiry flow against tight deadlines.
• Hands-on proficiency with media-monitoring and outreach tools and the ability to translate tool outputs into actionable recommendations.
• High judgment and discretion; comfortable holding embargoed and pre-launch information and advising leadership on sensitive scenarios.
• Comfortable operating in a pre-launch environment with strict confidentiality protocols.

Nice to Have

• Experience launching or managing PR for a kid-tech product, in a space with heightened scrutiny around child safety, privacy, and parent trust.
• Prior experience leading PR for a high-profile launch, brand reveal, or major announcement at a startup.
• Experience on the client side managing strategic communications agencies, including having led or supported a wind-down or in-sourcing of agency-owned work.
• Relationships with influencers and creators in the parenting, youth-tech, or education-creator space.
• Experience preparing executive spokespeople for interviews and conference appearances.
• Familiarity with podcast and broadcast-booking workflows.
• Working knowledge of education research, policy, or curriculum standards strong enough to translate technical content for general audiences and shape narrative.
• Experience building press infrastructure (e.g., press page, kits, databases) from scratch.
• Experience hiring, managing, or mentoring junior communications staff as a function scales.