Communications Director

$100,000 – $200,000
Full-time
Remote
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The Institute for Law & AI (LawAI) is looking for a Communications Director to join its team to develop, implement, and scale LawAI’s communication strategy. The salary range is $100,000 – $200,000, depending on experience and location. There is flexibility in salary for exceptional candidates with significant experience.

Applications for this role are open through March 31st, 2025.

About LawAI

The Institute for Law & AI (LawAI) is an independent think tank that researches and advises on the legal challenges posed by artificial intelligence. We believe that sound legal analysis will promote security, welfare, and the rule of law. We conduct research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, law, and policy and advise governments, international organizations, public institutions, and private actors. You can review LawAI’s recent publications on our website and learn more about our focus areas in this overview of our Workstreams and Research Directions.

About the role

The Communications Director will craft and execute a strategy to amplify LawAI’s research, programs, and policy engagement. As the first full-time hire for our Communications Team, this role will help position LawAI as a trusted advisor on and source of original research in AI, law, and policy. The exact responsibilities will depend on experience and interests, but will include a subset of the following:

  • Setting LawAI’s communications strategy. In collaboration with LawAI leadership, you will develop and implement a strategy to enhance our brand and ability to reach key decision-makers. You’ll set priorities, identify key relationships, and amplify the impact of our programs, research, and advising among policymakers, academics, journalists, and other stakeholders.
  • Reaching our audience. You will ensure our programs and branding effectively reach and resonate with policymakers, researchers, top law students, academics, and legal professionals particularly in the United States and European Union.
  • Prioritizing strategic impact. You will ensure our research reaches the most relevant decision-makers by identifying who to engage, crafting messaging that resonates with them, and delivering insights with precision.
  • Developing our online presence. You will develop a strategy for growing LawAI’s digital presence and ensure consistent and effective engagement across our website, newsletter, social media, and beyond. This may include sharing research highlights, drafting blog posts, promoting programming, updating our website, and analyzing metrics.
  • Managing key relationships. You will cultivate relationships with partner organizations, journalists, editors, and media outlets to broaden LawAI’s reach.
  • Advising LawAI’s leadership team. You will serve as a strategic advisor to leadership and guide messaging, media relations, and brand positioning while proactively managing risk.

By default, the Communications Director will report to the Chief of Staff and have periodic check-ins with LawAI’s Director, Christoph Winter.

Depending on the background and experience of the candidate, responsibilities could additionally include:

  • Ad hoc communications support. You might draft or provide strategic guidance on communications for key organizational initiatives, including programming, policy advising, hiring and recruitment, or events.
  • Fundraising communications. Support outreach, donor engagement, and resource development.
  • External representation. Represent LawAI in stakeholder meetings and events with partner organizations, policymakers, and industry leaders.

All of that said, it’s hard to predict everything you might be asked to tackle in this role. We’re a growing organization, and work tasks and responsibilities may evolve depending on organizational needs.

About you

You might be a good fit for this role if you:

  • Have a proven track record of developing and leading high-impact communications initiatives, including media relations, thought leadership campaigns, and executive communications, ideally in technology policy or an analogous legal or policy field.
  • Have strong communication skills. You can distill the key ideas from long and complex discussions and communicate them in a professional and friendly way. You can write functionally and stylistically and adapt your communication style depending on the audience.
  • Are passionate about our mission and motivated to ensure that advances in artificial intelligence are beneficial and safe for the public.
  • Have exceptional strategic awareness in external communications, understanding the expectations of different audiences, knowing when to pivot, and balancing competing communications objectives.
  • Can prioritize competing demands and complete tasks reliably and on time while making sure nothing gets dropped. You have excellent follow-through and accountability.
  • Are comfortable navigating multiple input sources and communicating proactively with leadership, thoughtfully considering and adapting as needed.
  • Are motivated to help others succeed. You care about having an impact through preserving the team’s time and focus, even when it’s not public or glamorous. You are comfortable with some amount of repetition in your work.
  • Have a “communications mindset.” You proactively notice inconsistencies or gaps, quickly adapt, and consider brand reputation in everything you do.
  • Have experience cultivating relationships and credibility with key stakeholders. You are excited to engage with the field and might already have strong connections in technology law or policy.
  • You are willing to occasionally work outside of conventional work hours.
  • Have 7+ years of experience. We are open to considering exceptional candidates with at least 3+ years of experience for a manager role.
  • Can travel at least 2-3 times a year for team retreats and conferences, typically in the United States.

While these attributes are each important, there’s no such thing as a perfect candidate; we don’t expect a successful hire to excel in all dimensions. If you are on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Other details

Compensation 

The salary range is $100,000 – $200,000, depending on experience and location. There is flexibility in salary for exceptional candidates with significant experience.

Start date

We are ideally looking for someone who can start immediately, but we are very open to waiting for longer if the ideal candidate is not available immediately.

Time zones and location 

This is a full-time, permanent position with flexible work hours and location. We are based primarily in the US but have staff from many countries.

Part-time: We are not considering part-time candidates at this time.

Visas: We are able to hire staff in a wide variety of jurisdictions, particularly in the US, EU, and UK. We also sponsor visas, although we aren’t able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make reasonable efforts to get you a visa. Please advise us during your interview process if you believe you will require a visa to work legally.

Benefits

Our benefits include:

  • A fully remote work environment and flexible working hours
  • Five weeks of PTO recommended per year, plus public holidays
  • Twelve weeks of paid parental leave that can be taken prior to birth or adoption and during the first year, with the option to take additional unpaid leave
  • Employer pension or matching 401(k) contribution up to 4% of your salary
  • Health insurance for employees residing in countries without nationalized healthcare
  • An annual stipend of $4000 per year for productivity and professional development support
  • An annual stipend of $4000 per year for mental health support
  • An annual stipend of $2500 per year for equipment and office supplies
  • A friendly, open work culture that encourages feedback and close collaboration and a team that appreciates the contributions of all team members

We realize that different employees have different needs, so we have flexible working hours, a generous reimbursement policy for resources that support your productivity and mental health, and take other measures to ensure that everyone can thrive here.

Diversity

We aim to employ people with many experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who share our mission. We are committed to creating an environment where all employees have the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their race, religion, disability, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation.

Requests for accommodation

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability or incompatible assistive technology, please contact hiring@law-ai.org to request reasonable accommodations.

application process

  1. Fill out the application form (~15 minutes)
  2. Initial application screen
  3. Invitation to take a work test (~2 hours) designed to simulate the work you would do if hired and/or evaluate certain skills important for success in the role
  4. Remote interviews
  5. A paid remote one-day work trial to allow you and us to see what it would be like if you worked at LawAI. (We recognize people’s scheduling constraints and will work with candidates to find an option that works for them).
  6. Reference checks
  7. Employment offer

We believe it’s worthwhile to invest significant time in hiring to build the strongest possible team. We realize our hiring process is unusually demanding, and we offer a monetary honorarium for completing our work trial (described in Step 5), partly to ensure financial constraints do not keep candidates from applying, and partly to demonstrate that we respect and appreciate the time that applicants put into the assessment process.

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