Director of Communications

Location: New York

Relay is a digital banking platform that gives self-made business owners the tools and know-how to be great with money—bringing clarity, confidence, and control to every dollar earned, so they can turn hard work into lasting success. We do this by replacing financial guesswork with real visibility, transforming cash flow from a constant source of stress into a clear signal owners can use to run stronger, more resilient businesses.

We’re

looking for a Director of Communications to own how Relay communicates—externally in earned media, and internally across the company. This is a builder role: you’ll be our first dedicated comms hire, which means you’re starting from a position of real momentum—an active PR agency relationship, a brand campaign in market, and a growing media presence—and your job is to turn that into a durable communications function with the infrastructure, relationships, and editorial discipline to match where Relay is going.

The right candidate is a sharp, opinionated communications leader who has worked in a high-growth environment before, knows how to punch above their weight with limited resources, and brings a genuine point of view on how a brand earns trust in a crowded category. You’ll report directly to the VP of Marketing and partner closely with Brand, PMM, and the executive team to ensure what we say publicly reflects what we believe internally—and lands with the audiences that matter most.

What

You ll Be Doing

Own Relay’s earned media presence end-to-end—media strategy, press coverage, executive thought leadership, and reactive comms—translating the brand narrative into stories that land with reporters, editors, and the audiences that matter most.

Lead the relationship with our PR agency, setting the strategic agenda, driving accountability on coverage outcomes, and ensuring the partnership is pulling in the same direction as internal priorities.

Build and manage a proactive media program—expanding relationships with reporters covering fintech, SMB, and entrepreneurship beats, pitching stories before they need to be pitched, and getting Relay into conversations we aren’t currently part of.

Own executive communications for the CEO and leadership team, including speech writing, op-eds, Linked In presence, and media prep—helping Relay’s founders show up as credible, recognizable voices in their category.

Drive communications around product launches, brand campaigns, and company milestones, partnering with PMM and Brand to build integrated announcement plans that earn coverage rather than just distribute press releases.

Monitor and protect brand reputation, with a clear-eyed crisis communications playbook and the instincts to know when something needs to move fast.

Measure what matters—share of voice, earned media quality, executive visibility, message pull-through, and internal comms reach—and use that data to sharpen strategy rather than just report it.

Who You Are

You have 8+ years in communications, PR, or corporate affairs roles, with meaningful experience at a high-growth SaaS, fintech, or consumer brand.

You’ve owned a media program before—you have reporter relationships you built yourself, coverage wins you drove personally, and a clear theory of what makes a story land.

You have strong executive communications chops: you’ve written for a CEO, shaped a founder’s public presence, and know how to coach someone who’s brilliant but not naturally a media personality.

You’re a skilled writer with a high editorial bar—you can cut through jargon, write for a small business owner, and tell a financial product story without making it sound like a financial product.

You’ve worked in a regulated or compliance-adjacent environment and know how to get the legal team to yes without losing the headline.

You’re a strategic operator who can build systems and processes, not just campaigns—you know what a mature comms function looks like and can run toward it from scratch.

You’re comfortable being the only one in the room who owns this function, which means you’re low-ego about doing the work while being high-conviction about the strategy.

Bonus Points

You have experience working with brands…