Director, PR & Thought Leadership Marketing

Summary

Join Halcyon, a leading anti-ransomware company, as their Director, Public Relations & Thought Leadership. Lead external communications, manage the PR agency relationship, and elevate Halcyon's presence in the cybersecurity market. Develop and execute media strategies, create thought leadership content, and manage executive visibility. Collaborate with internal teams and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success. This high-visibility role requires strong experience in cybersecurity or B2B tech PR, exceptional storytelling skills, and a deep understanding of the threat landscape. The ideal candidate will have 8-10+ years of experience in public relations and a strong background in cybersecurity.

Requirements

• Experience managing PR around security incidents, breaches, or product vulnerabilities
• Familiarity with analyst relations, influencer outreach, and social amplification of PR content
• A proactive mindset with the ability to anticipate media opportunities, respond to fast-moving events, and shape narratives under pressure
• Collaborative and comfortable working in a matrixed, high-growth environment
• 8–10+ years of experience in public relations or communications, with at least 3+ years managing an external PR agency
• Strong background in cybersecurity or enterprise B2B tech
• Demonstrated success securing earned media coverage in outlets such as WIRED, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, SC Media, Dark Reading, CNBC, and others
• Exceptional written, verbal, and editorial skills—capable of simplifying complex security topics for broad audiences
• Deep understanding of the cybersecurity threat landscape, buyer personas (CISOs, SOC leaders, etc.), and news cycles
• Experience working with executives on media training, speaking prep, and message development
• Bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, PR, or related field

Responsibilities

• Serve as the day-to-day lead for our PR agency, ensuring alignment on strategy, messaging, priorities, and deliverables
• Set clear goals and KPIs, manage budgets, and drive accountability for media results and narrative development
• Collaborate with the agency to secure proactive coverage, manage press releases, and support reactive media inquiries
• Partner with the agency to build and maintain strong relationships with top-tier tech, business, and cybersecurity journalists
• Oversee execution of announcements, embargoes, thought leadership placement, and press engagement
• Guide media messaging during sensitive topics, including industry news
• Own the executive visibility strategy: develop compelling storylines, ghostwritten bylines, op-eds, and interview prep materials
• Collaborate with internal experts (e.g., CISO, researchers, product leaders) to create timely and credible points of view on cyber threats, resilience, and industry innovation
• Identify and manage opportunities for speaking engagements, panels, podcasts, and guest appearances
• Set and track clear metrics (e.g., share of voice, coverage volume, media sentiment, backlink quality) to assess PR performance
• Provide regular reporting to executive stakeholders, with insights and recommendations for improvement
• Work closely with content marketing, analyst relations, product marketing, and social media to ensure consistency across all external messaging
• Integrate PR into major product launches, campaigns, threat/research reports, and corporate milestones

Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents
• 401k plan with a generous employer contribution
• Short and long-term disability coverage, basic life and AD&D insurance plans
• Medical and dependent care FSA options
• Flexible PTO policy
• Parental leave
• Generous equity offering