Strategic Communications Director

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

Hadrian is hiring a Head of Strategic Communications to own what the company says publicly and who says it. This is the earned-media and executive-communications engine for the company: press relationships, announcement strategy, message discipline, and the voice the CEO and other leaders bring to every public moment.

You'll report to the SVP, Public Policy, who sets the direction for the company's external affairs and holds the comms slate — the master calendar of everything Hadrian says publicly, sequenced across announcements, launches, executive moments, and policy pushes. Your job is to run Strategic Comms with full ownership of its craft and its team.

You'll work in close partnership with peers across the broader external affairs function: a Brand & Marketing lead who owns owned channels, campaigns, and company events; and Government Relations and Policy leads who carry the company's positions into government offices and the broader policy ecosystem. Voice frameworks you help steward apply across all of these teams.

Media — Reporter relationships, inbound press handling, briefings, and embargo management. You are the person national and trade press call first.

Public Relations — Announcement strategy and execution for major company moments, reactive and issues response, and stewardship of Hadrian's standing narrative in the press.

Copy & Voice — Day-to-day ownership of how Hadrian sounds in earned and executive channels, working within the voice frameworks set at the SVP level. You're the standard-bearer for the function's copy, not the sole writer of everything.

Speeches & Public Comms — Executive speeches, talking points, prepared remarks, and Q&A prep. You are the primary support for Hadrian's CEO and other executives in public settings.

Internal Communications (in partnership with HR) — HR owns internal distribution and the employee relationship; you supply the message and voice that keep thousands of technicians and engineers across Hadrian's factory network aligned with the company's direction and momentum.

Team Leadership — Build and manage a team capable of carrying this workload without you in the room for every piece of work. Strategic Comms is currently load-bearing and under-resourced; part of this role is fixing that.

External Partners — Select, manage, and hold accountable the agencies, PR firms, speechwriters, and other outside consultants who extend the team's capacity. You set the brief, own the budget and performance of these relationships, and ensure external work meets the same bar as work produced in-house.

• 15+ years of communications experience in tech, defense, aerospace, or a related field, with real fluency in how each of those worlds talks to the press, to government, and to itself

• Demonstrated experience managing a team, including external consultants and agencies — you've hired and developed direct reports, and you've also run agency and freelance relationships with a clear brief, budget, and accountability for results

• A relentless focus on mission — you understand why reindustrializing the United States matters and can translate that conviction into a story that lands with reporters, policymakers, and the public

• Executive presence and judgment — comfortable advising a CEO in high-stakes moments, with the instinct to know when something is genuinely sensitive versus when it isn't

• Sharp writing and editing instincts, and the ability to hold a company's voice steady across dozens of moving pieces

• Proactive and collaborative — you propose into the external affairs and internal communications calendars rather than waiting to be handed work, and you build real partnerships with peers who own adjacent pieces of the story

• Willing to travel — regularly, and often on short notice, to be on the ground for factory visits, executive appearances, and press moments across Hadrian's sites

• Ability to obtain a U.S. national security clearance preferred

• A sense of levity. You take the mission seriously and yourself less so, without ever letting standards slip

For this role, the target salary range is 210,000 - 250,000 (actual range may vary based on experience).

This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees
  401k

• Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.

• Flexible vacation policy

• Equity

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Hadrian uses AI-assisted tools in our recruiting and hiring processes to help our team work more efficiently. This may include tools that help organize and analyze recruiting data, as well as an AI-powered notetaker that can record and transcribe interviews and help coordinate feedback. These tools support our team and are not used to make hiring decisions. All candidate evaluations and hiring decisions are performed by humans. If an interview will be recorded, you will be notified in advance and may opt out at any time with no impact on your candidacy. Candidate data processed through these tools is subject to the same protections described in our Privacy Policy.

Hadrian will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of all applicable laws. We do not ask about criminal history on our application, and we do not consider criminal history before making a conditional offer of employment.

Hadrian does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, mental status, physical disability or any other legally protected status. When necessary, the Company also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees, including for candidates or employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.