Sr. Specialist, Crisis Communications

Lyft; Nashville (TN); Hybrid; USD 50,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Great medical, dental, and vision

Mental health benefits

Family building benefits

401(k) with company match

Hybrid work schedule in Nashville

Job summary

Lyft\'s Trust and Safety team is seeking a crisis communicator to own end-to-end response for high-severity incidents, coordinating strategy and messaging across Safety, Communications, Legal, and Policy while mentoring specialists.

You will translate incidents into clear guidance for stakeholders and help calibrate team quality, including developing training materials and executive-level briefs. This hybrid Nashville role requires flexibility for non-traditional hours.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in crisis communications or similar
• Proven mentoring experience
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Ability to prepare executive-level communications
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills
• Experience using data to inform reporting

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end response for high-severity incidents across multiple teams
• Serve as point of contact for cross-functional partners on complex cases
• Lead retrospective analyses and drive action items
• Design and own the team\'s quality rubric and calibration process
• Draft and refine executive summaries for senior leadership
• Mentor specialists and provide case guidance and coaching
• Analyze operational data for recurring reports and dashboards
• Identify and close gaps in process, tooling, and SOPs
• Monitor and respond to safety-related media inquiries

Skills

Crisis communications

Executive communications

Cross-functional influencing

Mentoring junior staff

Data-driven storytelling

Job description

At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive.

Lyft's Trust and Safety team is looking for an experienced crisis communicator to own our most complex escalated cases and help strengthen the team's operational maturity. This person will own end-to-end response for high-severity and high-visibility incidents, aligning strategy and messaging across T&S, Comms, Legal, and Policy, while also mentoring specialists, contributing to quality and process standards, and representing the team in cross-functional forums. You'll be a trusted voice in the room when incidents require executive visibility, and a steady presence helping specialists build their own judgment.

You should be comfortable owning ambiguity — leading a case from first alert through resolution and retrospective learning, translating what happened into clear guidance for stakeholders at every level, and knowing when and how to elevate. This role also carries responsibility for strengthening how the team operates: identifying gaps in process, contributing to training materials, and helping calibrate quality across the team.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end response for high-severity and escalated safety incidents, coordinating across Safety, Customer Experience, Communications, Press, and Legal
• Serve as a point of contact for XFN partners on complex or ambiguous cases, exercising independent judgment on strategy and messaging
• Lead retrospective analysis for high-severity incidents, identifying systemic gaps and driving them to owned action items
• Design and own the team's quality rubric and calibration process
• Draft and refine executive-level summaries and briefings on safety incidents for senior leadership
• Mentor and support the development of specialists, including case guidance, feedback, and coaching
• Query and analyze operational data to support recurring reporting and trend analysis, including but not limited to weekly/monthly metrics, safety dashboards, and case tracking reports
• Identify and help close gaps in team process, tooling, and documentation; contribute to SOPs and training materials
• Own or contribute to broader team-wide projects and initiatives that improve how the team operates
• Monitor traditional and social media channels for Lyft and rideshare safety incidents, with a focus on the most complex or highest-risk situations
• Intake and manage safety-related media inquiries; confirm accuracy and sentiment of press statements prior to release
• Develop messaging guidelines, best practices, and talking points for use across the team
• Willing to work non-traditional hours, holidays, and weekends as needed to support communications, press, and safety response

Experience

• 5+ years experience in crisis communications, with demonstrated ownership of high-stakes or high-visibility incidents
• Proven experience mentoring or developing junior team members
• Excellent communicator in written and verbal form, able to flex tone and detail for audiences from frontline staff to executives
• Demonstrated ability and passion for preparing executive-level communications
• Strong track record influencing cross-functionally without direct authority, including with Legal, Comms, and Policy stakeholders
• Comfort working with operational data to identify trends and inform reporting
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent high-severity incidents and set priorities independently
• Experience contributing to or building operational process, quality standards, or training materials
• Ability to maintain composure, sound judgment, and clear communication under high-stress conditions
• High degree of accuracy and attention to detail
• Passion for Lyft and our mission

Benefits

• Great medical, dental, and vision insurance options with additional programs available when enrolled
• Mental health benefits
• Family building benefits
• Child care and pet benefits
• 401(k) plan with company match to help save for your future
• In addition to 12 observed holidays, salaried team members have discretionary paid time off, hourly team members have 15 days paid time off
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave. Biological, adoptive, and foster parents are all eligible
• Subsidized commuter benefits
• Monthly Lyft credits and complimentary Lyft Pink membership

Lyft is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

Lyft highly values having employees working in-office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. This role will be in-office on a hybrid schedule following the establishment of a Lyft office in Nashville — Team Members will be expected to work in the office 3 days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Lyft considers working in the office at least 3 days per week to be an essential function of this hybrid role. Additionally, hybrid roles have the flexibility to work from anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year. #Hybrid

The expected base pay range for this position in the Nashville area is $50,180 - $62,370, not inclusive of potential equity offering, bonus or benefits. Salary ranges are dependent on a variety of factors, including qualifications, experience and geographic location. Your recruiter can share more information about the salary range specific to your working location and other factors during the hiring process.