Biotechnology, Scientific Research, Life Sciences

Head of Brand and Editorial

Palo Alto, CAOnsiteFull TimeManager / Head$215,000–$265,000 /yrPosted 17 days agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

brand
editorial
storytelling
creative direction
scientific discoveries
AI
biology
writing
media strategy
talent markets

Nice to have

frontier AI labs
technology startups
biotech
life sciences
academic/research institutions
media relations

Role summary

Arc Institute, a nonprofit research organization at the intersection of AI and biology, seeks a Head of Brand and Editorial to lead its storytelling efforts. This player-coach role requires unifying brand, communications, and editorial work, setting strategic vision, and partnering with founders and scientific leaders. The ideal candidate has 15+ years of experience in communications, brand, or editorial roles within technically sophisticated organizations, exceptional taste, and strong leadership skills. Responsibilities include developing brand strategy, communicating scientific discoveries, managing media relations, and measuring communication effectiveness. Previous experience in frontier AI, biotech, or research institutions is preferred.

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets, accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.

Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the position

Arc Institute is seeking a leader to own our storytelling for our next stage. The Head of Brand and Editorial will unify our brand, communications, and editorial work. You will set the creative and strategic vision for how Arc speaks to the world, partner directly with our founders and other leaders to shape our communications strategy, and lead the teams that bring it to life every day. This is a player-coach role for someone who operates comfortably on both strategy and execution.

About you

You are a storyteller with exceptional taste. You have strong, well-developed opinions about what great looks like in writing, design, and brand, and you can articulate why. People seek out your judgment.

You have spent your career in deeply technical work. You have partnered with experts to help them share their knowledge with the world. A background in science is not required, but you must have engaged with complex technical topics.

You are skilled at working with brilliant, opinionated people. You can extract a clear creative brief from ambiguous or reactive feedback, earn trust quickly, and push back with credibility when needed.

In this position you will

Own and articulate the vision for Arc's story as a new model for scientific institutions and as a producer of meaningful research, and ensure that vision is expressed consistently across every surface: media, web, brand, publications, and internal communications.

Serve as a trusted partner to Arc's founders and scientific leaders, translating their expertise into clear creative direction and actionable plans for the team.

Lead, integrate, and develop Arc's Communications and Scientific Publications teams into a unified storytelling and editorial function, setting priorities, raising the bar on craft, and helping team members and their leaders grow and succeed.

Tell the world about Arc's scientific discoveries, leading the team that works closely with researchers to communicate their work with accuracy, clarity, and impact.

Set a high standard of taste and sophistication across all of Arc's output, from major scientific announcements to the smallest touchpoints, and build the systems and review practices that sustain that standard as Arc scales.

Develop Arc's brand in the scientific and AI talent markets, partnering with People, University Relations, and other colleagues on integrated internal and external communications.

Foster productive relationships with reporters to drive a proactive media strategy and react to coverage as needed.

Define the framework to measure the effectiveness of Arc's brand, communications, and editorial efforts.

Collaborate with multiple Arc teams on internal communications.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or advanced degree in a field you have applied to marketing and communications.

15+ years of experience in communications, brand, marketing, and/or editorial roles, including significant experience leading and developing teams and managing other managers.

A track record of setting communications or brand strategy for a technically sophisticated organization in fields such as AI, computing, biotechnology, life sciences, or other deep technical domains, and translating that complex work for various audiences.

Demonstrated success partnering with founders, executives, and/or researchers

Exceptional writing and editorial judgment, with the ability to elevate the writing of others.

Proven ability to operate strategically while remaining hands-on in the work; comfort in a fast-paced, rapidly scaling organization.

Preferred Qualifications

Previous work at frontier AI labs, technology startups, biotech, life sciences, or academic/research institutions.

Experience managing relationships with media at the national and trade level.

Familiarity with scientific publishing and the norms of academic communication.

The base salary range for this position is $215,000 to $265,000. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.

In addition to the Base Salary and Annual Bonus above, you will be eligible to participate in the Institute’s Compound Cash Grant Program (the “CCGP”). The CCGP is a program designed to offer multi-year cash grants providing for a fixed dollar amount paid out in semi-annual installments to reward employees for staying and contributing to the Institute. As soon as reasonably practical after your start date, you will receive a grant letter describing the terms of your award under the CCGP.

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Head of Brand and Editorial

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