VP of Brand & Narrative

Tech:NYC; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Parental leave

Vacation & holidays

Cell phone stipend

Job summary

Tech:NYC seeks a VP of Brand and Narrative to own the organization’s overarching story and positioning. You will lead brand architecture, editorial strategy, and cross-program narrative coherence, guiding a lean team and external vendors.

You’ll define messaging, KPI metrics, and ensure consistency across digital, earned media, and events, while collaborating with the CEO and CSO to shape the company’s public voice. This is a builder role in a fast-moving setting.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to define positioning and brand architecture from a strategic point of view.
• Excellent, hands-on writing and editorial judgement across formats.

Responsibilities

• Define and steward overarching narrative and positioning across ecosystems.
• Lead communications and content as a unified team with editorial standards.
• Own and produce high-stakes content, guiding messaging for newsletters, digital, and social channels.
• Oversee earned media strategy and vendor relationships.
• Integrate events into brand strategy and ensure consistent brand expression.

Skills

Brand strategy

Editorial writing

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

KPI definition

Job description

Job Summary:

Tech:NYC is an engaged network of tech leaders working to foster a dynamic, diverse, and creative New York. We bring together principled New Yorkers to support a successful technology ecosystem, attract and retain top-tier talent, and celebrate New York and the companies that call it home.

The VP of Brand and Narrative will join the team as a new senior role to own the overarching story of Tech:NYC.

In this role, you will lead the development and stewardship of Tech:NYC's brand and overarching narrative, with a focus on positioning, brand architecture, and the editorial strategy that unifies the organization's communications and content across all of its programs, initiatives, and sub-brands. The VP of Brand & Narrative leads the communications and content function as a cohesive unit and serves as the organization's editor-in-chief of its own story: defining what Tech:NYC stands for and ensuring that every program, initiative, and sub-brand ladders up to one clear identity. The VP will manage the existing communications team (Press Secretary and Sr. Communications Manager) as well as our existing PR and Design vendors, with the opportunity to develop a strategy to grow the team and add resources over time.

This person will set the organization's editorial standards and produce its highest-stakes content directly, working as a hands-on leader in a lean environment. The role treats every channel — digital, earned media, and events — as an expression of a single narrative strategy, and involves consistent coordination across teams to ensure a coherent brand and voice.

Reporting to the CEO and collaborating with the CSO, you will bring a genuine point of view and real ownership over how we position ourselves. This is a role for someone who can hold a strong opinion and build consensus around it.

Main Duties:

Brand & Narrative Strategy

• Define and steward Tech:NYC's overarching narrative and positioning across the technology and New York City ecosystems, and make it legible to members, policymakers, funders, partners, press, and the city and state themselves.

• Establish and maintain the organization's brand architecture, clarifying how sub-brands and initiatives – including Obviously NYC, Decoded Futures, and fellowship and education programs – relate to the Tech:NYC master brand.

• Refine audience strategy

• Develop message architecture and guide the sequencing and prioritization of the organization's communications.

• Bring a clear, independent point of view on how Tech:NYC positions itself, developed in partnership with the CEO and executive team.

• Define the KPIs for brand and communications, and report on performance and value to senior leadership and the board.

Communications & Content Leadership

• Lead the communications and content function as a unified team, setting editorial standards and consolidating separate editorial calendars into a single, holistic system.

• Own and produce the organization's highest-stakes content directly, including core messaging and key written materials.

• Further a strategy to communicate with Tech:NYC’s core membership audiences inconclusive of CEOs, VCs, and employees from across the organization’s network of companies and firms.

• Oversee earned media strategy and the organization's press vendor relationship, in coordination with the Press Secretary.

• Provide narrative guidance to Senior Content Manager and executive editing to organization's newsletter, digital, and social channels to ensure a consistent brand voice.

Brand Activation & Events

• Integrate events into the brand and narrative strategy, in coordination with the Chief of Staff and subject-matter leads who manage event logistics and execution.

• Ensure consistent brand expression across all channels and touchpoints, inclusive of collaborations with members and other Tech:NYC partners.

• Lead the brand and narrative integration of Obviously NYC and other initiatives into the broader Tech:NYC story.

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead, manage, and develop the communications and content team, including the Senior Communications & Content Manager.

• Build the team over time, including hiring additional content and mid-level roles as the function grows.

• Integrate existing sub-brand contractor support into a unified team structure.

• Manage design and other vendor relationships, and advise on how Tech:NYC builds creative and design capacity over time.

This is a builder's role at a scrappy, high-influence organization.

Your Skills, Experience, and Interest:

• Get energy from ambiguity and white space, and from being the person who brings coherence.

• Care about the mission. You're excited by New York, by technology's role in the city's future, and by civic impact — enough that meaningful work and real ownership outweigh a bigger corporate paycheck.

• Are resourceful with lean means and know how to get outsized output from vendors, a small team, and your own hands.

• A track record building brand and narrative for an organization or portfolio — ideally in a mission-driven, membership, advocacy, trade association, or public-affairs-adjacent context, though we're open to non-obvious backgrounds.

• Demonstrated ability to define positioning and brand architecture from a strategic point of view, not just execute campaigns.

• Excellent, hands-on writing and editorial judgment across formats and audiences.

• Experience translating brand/comms value to executives and boards, and setting meaningful KPIs.

• Comfort in a small, fast-moving, founder-led environment.

Salary Range & Benefits:

The target range of base salary in this role is $180,000-200,000. In addition to base salary, Tech:NYC considers other key components as part of total compensation, including annual holiday and benefits. Actual base compensation is influenced by a wide array of candidate factors, such as skill set and level of experience.

Tech:NYC provides a generous benefits package including excellent coverage for health, vision, and dental insurance premiums; paid parental leave; time off including vacation, holidays, and sick time; and reimbursement for cellular service.

Additional Requirements:

Tech:NYC operates under an in-person office environment Monday through Thursday, with Friday being reserved for at-home flexible work. This role requires the ability to regularly participate in both breakfast and evening events.

Tech:NYC is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse workforce. It is our policy to recruit, hire, train, and promote without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any protected category.

To apply to this role, please email [e-mail] with “VP of Brand” in the subject line.