Technical Communications & Storytelling Lead

Tryavalara; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness benefits

Paid time off

Bonuses for eligible employees

Job summary

Avalara is looking for a skilled communicator who can bridge the gap between technical concepts and business outcomes. The candidate will develop clear narratives for CTO-level strategy and enhance communication across technical teams and executives.

This role involves converting complexity into clarity, producing impactful presentations, and utilizing AI to improve communication processes. The ideal candidate will have a degree in Engineering or a related field and substantial experience in technical communications.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years of experience in technical communications or related fields.
• Strong understanding of software systems, including architecture and APIs.
• Exceptional writing skills and storytelling capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop CTO-level narratives for clarity in technical strategy.
• Convert complex technical concepts into accessible communications.
• Produce presentations that elevate executive messaging quality.

Skills

Technical communication

Storytelling

Technical product development

Collaboration

AI utilization

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

PowerPoint

Job description

What You'll Do

Role Summary – Avalara is at an inflection point in how we evolve and scale our platform, products, and technical strategy. As the complexity of our architecture and the pace of innovation increase, the gap between what is being built and how it is understood—internally and externally—also grows. This role exists to close that gap.

How This Role Elevates Avalara

• Drives clarity and alignment on technical strategy across Product, Engineering, Customer Support and executive leadership
• Strengthens how Avalara communicates platform evolution, innovation, and product capabilities to internal and external audiences
• Improves the effectiveness and impact of CTO‑level communications in high‑stakes moments
• Connects technical investments to business outcomes, enabling stronger prioritization and decision‑making
• Establishes a higher standard and scalable approach to technical storytelling across the organization

Responsibilities

• Create alignment through narrative: develop and own CTO‑level narratives that clearly articulate technical strategy, platform direction, and product evolution, enabling faster and more effective decision‑making
• Translate complexity into clarity: convert complex technical concepts, architectures, and product capabilities into structured, accessible, and high‑impact communications
• Enable executive communication: produce presentations, written narratives, and talk tracks that elevate the quality and consistency of executive‑level messaging
• Connect technology to impact: frame technical work in terms of business value, customer outcomes, and strategic priorities
• Identify and close clarity gaps: proactively surface inconsistencies, ambiguity, or misalignment in technical messaging and drive resolution
• Scale storytelling capability: establish frameworks, templates, and best practices that elevate technical communication across teams
• Bridge technical and business audiences: tailor messaging to engineers, executives, and external stakeholders without sacrificing accuracy or depth
• Increase velocity through tooling: leverage AI and modern tools to accelerate synthesis, iteration, and delivery of high‑quality content
• Partner with internal communication leaders: ensure all messaging is consistent with communications developed and shared by other communications teams internally and externally

12‑Month Success Signals

• CTO and senior leadership consistently rely on this role for high‑stakes communications, including board materials, executive reviews, and external engagements
• Technical strategy and platform narratives are clearly understood and consistently articulated across Product, Engineering, Customer Support, and leadership teams
• Noticeable reduction in rework and misalignment driven by unclear or inconsistent technical messaging
• Executive communications demonstrate a step‑change in clarity, structure, and impact
• Repeatable storytelling frameworks are adopted across teams, improving quality and efficiency at scale
• Technical investments are more consistently linked to measurable business outcomes in leadership discussions
• Increased speed from concept to communication, without degradation in accuracy or quality

Bar Raiser Expectations

• Raise the standard for technical communication across Product, Engineering, and executive leadership
• Improve decision‑making quality by ensuring technical concepts are clearly understood and consistently framed
• Reduce misalignment and rework by identifying and resolving ambiguity in technical messaging
• Elevate team capability by establishing repeatable storytelling frameworks and best practices
• Strengthen cross‑functional alignment by bridging technical and business audiences effectively
• Leave communication systems, frameworks, and organizational clarity measurably stronger

AI Bar Raiser Expectations

• Use AI to significantly accelerate synthesis of complex technical inputs into clear narratives
• Deliver measurable improvements in communication speed, quality, and consistency
• Build and scale AI‑driven workflows that reduce manual effort across storytelling processes
• Elevate how teams use AI for communication, not just individual output
• Establish repeatable patterns for AI‑assisted content development
• Apply strong judgment to ensure accuracy, context, and integrity in AI‑generated content

Qualifications

• Educational requirement: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Communications, or a related field
• 8–12 years of experience in engineering, technical product development, technical communications, or a related field
• Strong understanding of how software systems and platforms are built, including architecture, APIs, and system design concepts
• Demonstrated ability to quickly build deep context and explain products and systems at both functional and technical levels
• Exceptional writing and storytelling skills, with a track record of simplifying complex topics without losing critical nuance
• Advanced PowerPoint and visual communication skills, with strong command of narrative structure and flow
• Experience supporting executive‑level communications, including presentations and talk tracks for senior leaders
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguous, fast‑paced environments and drive clarity across cross‑functional stakeholders
• Strong collaboration and influence skills across Engineering, Product, and executive teams
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI and modern tools to enhance productivity and output quality

Avalara is an AI‑first Company

• You'll bring experience using AI and AI‑related technologies, ready to thrive here
• You'll apply AI every day to business challenges—improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers
• You'll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too

How We'll Take Care of You

• Total Rewards – In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses
• Health & Wellness – Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance
• Inclusive culture and diversity – Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee‑run resource groups, each with senior leadership and executive sponsorship

What You Need To Know About Avalara

• We're defining the relationship between tax and tech
• We’ve already built an industry‑leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real – we're a billion dollar business – and we're not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission – to be part of every transaction in the world
• We're bright, innovative, and disruptive; our culture fuels this spirit and empowers our people to win. Join us, and your career will be too

We’re an Equal Opportunity Employer

Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don't want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, U.S. Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.