The tech industry’s hottest new job doesn’t require coding experience. 

According to a recent Business Insider report, the latest high-paying job in the tech industry is high-level communications and storytelling for companies. Senior roles pay between $200,000 and $775,000 per year at top firms like Anthropic. According to Indeed, a director of communications makes $107,000 on average in the U.S. 

The roles span titles such as director of communications, chief communications officer, and head of new media. Day-to-day requirements include shaping how a company explains AI products to investors, regulators, customers, employees and the public. These positions reward people who can craft clear narratives about complex technology. They do not mandate traditional programming skills. 

The core responsibilities of communications roles include defining a company’s overarching narrative, especially about AI, writing speeches and social media content, translating dense technical work into simple language, managing media relations and orchestrating storytelling campaigns. Communications professionals need to understand enough about AI to ask smart questions and explain it in human terms. 

Employers also look for exceptional writing and editing skills and proficiency in strategic thinking.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that companies are increasingly looking for storytellers — the percentage of job postings on LinkedIn mentioning the word “storyteller” doubled from 2024 to 2025. 

Still, there are plenty of candidates for these positions. Financial technology company Chime received more than 500 applications for a director of corporate editorial and storytelling role last year, per The Wall Street Journal. Most applicants were former and current journalists. 

Why do communications jobs pay so much?

Two trends are making these jobs lucrative, per BI. First, generative AI has taken over the Internet with low-quality content. In this landscape, human-crafted writing stands out and takes on more value. 

“There’s just so much garbage out there that people want to pay a premium for someone who can claim that they can cut through the noise,” Gab Ferree, former vice president of global communications at Bumble, told BI. 

Second, tech companies are increasingly seeing creating a narrative as a strategic weapon to win investor trust and public legitimacy. As a result, elite communicators are treated more like essential staff — and are paid salaries to match. Netflix recently advertised a director of product and technology communications role with a salary reaching $775,000 per year. Meanwhile, OpenAI has multiple communications openings that list compensation at about $400,000. 

Salaries are increasing across the board. The median pay for chief communications officers at Fortune 500 firms has climbed into the $400,000 to $450,000 range, up about $50,000 from just a year earlier, according to a recent survey from consulting firm Korn Ferry. 

“It’s a golden age for people who really enjoy the craft of communications,” Steve Clayton, chief communications officer of Cisco, told BI.

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