The brief
Building a global Employer Branding function from scratch
When I joined DeepL, I stepped into an exciting challenge—building the Employer Branding function from the ground up. My goal was clear: to put DeepL on the map as a top destination for the brightest minds in tech and beyond.
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I took a hands-on and strategic approach, rolling up my sleeves to assemble a strong team while laying the foundation for a clear, results-driven strategy. At the same time, I led by example—mentoring my team, empowering them to do their best work, and ensuring their creative vision stayed at the heart of everything we built.
Introduction video "Meet DeepL"
Expanding scope: Employer Attraction, Branding and Communications
In March 2024, I led the shift to a broader scope for our team, resulting in the Employer Attraction, Branding & Communication approach, moving us out of Talent Acquisition and into our own space within the People team. The aim was to tell DeepL’s story in a way that truly connects—with both the people who already work here and the ones we want to attract.
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What that meant in practice:
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Externally, we became the storytellers, bringing DeepL’s culture to life. We highlighted what makes this place special—the people, the innovation, and the opportunities to grow. We wanted top talent to see why DeepL isn’t just another tech company, but a place where they can thrive both professionally and personally.
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Internally, we became the voice of our People team, making sure everyone understands the value we bring to our people, that everyone felt connected to the bigger picture. It was all about making sure every message felt real, meaningful, and unmistakably DeepL.
The brief
Increasing our social media engagement with human-led stories
When we started year 2024, our social media page on LinkedIn was like blank canvases in terms of human tone of voice - full of potential, but waiting for the first brushstroke of paint. We realized that we needed to fill that blank space with something that would resonate deeply with our audience: human-led stories.
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Why focus on them? Because behind every post, every comment, and every share, there's a person looking for connection, inspiration, or insight. Our goal was to transform our LinkedIn from mere broadcast product-focused channels into vibrant communities teeming with conversation and interaction.
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We had no existing content to build on, just a few templates from the product-focused content that had been generated over the past year. This meant starting from scratch, which was actually an exciting opportunity for our team to shape our employer branding social media identity.
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What we did: We turned the spotlight on our team members, inviting them to share their journeys, achievements, and day-to-day experiences at DeepL. These stories weren't just about work; they were about passion, challenges, triumphs, and the human spirit.
Each story, each post, began to attract more followers, spark conversations, and build a sense of community around our brand. Notably, it wasn't just on the external side - our employees became very engaged and consistently reached out to our team to volunteer and become our culture ambassadors! Engagement metrics told us we were on the right track, with likes, comments and shares steadily increasing - a testament to the power of authentic, human-driven content.
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Now, our social media page on LinkedIn is no longer a blank space. It's filled with the voices of our team, each story inviting others to join in, engage and become part of our ongoing narrative. This is where our "Meet DeepL" social franchise and #InsideDeepL ecosystem was born 👇
Samples of social media organic post
Sample of a targeted recruitment event
Sample of benefits promotion
Samples of blog post
The brief
Revamping our job descriptions with content that sounds human and is aligned with key markets and domain specifics
In our journey to forge deeper connections with exceptional talent around the world, the beginning of the year felt like the right time to roll up our sleeves and refresh our job descriptions. This effort went far beyond a mere makeover; it was about weaving a thread of the human story into the fabric of every career opportunity we offer. By shaping our narratives to reflect the unique needs of different roles and the pulse of different markets, we've gotten closer to the essence of what sets our brand apart and also demonstrated a candidate-centric approach to how we communicate our company to the world.
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Our approach:
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We began by examining our existing descriptions to identify discrepancies, errors, or signs of staleness that didn't reflect our current ethos.
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A visual guide was created to illustrate what a revamped job description should embody, ensuring consistency and alignment with DeepL's vision.
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Using a gender decoder, we refined our language to embrace a diverse range of candidates and ensure that our descriptions are welcoming to all.
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After completing the copywriting process and obtaining all necessary approvals, we rolled out an extensive communication plan to inform the hiring teams of the changes.
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The Impact:
This transformation has not only streamlined our job posting process, but made it more vibrant, attracting individuals to a workplace where their career aspirations can thrive. A dedicated Job Repository space was created on Confluence, giving our talent acquisition and hiring teams a toolkit to create compelling job descriptions effortlessly and efficiently, with templates to reference whenever needed.
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With these changes, we believe we're not just filling positions; we're inviting like-minded people to join us in shaping the bright future of DeepL together.
Sample of the 'Meet DeepL' generic section in the new job description format
Sample of the 'Benefits' section in the new job description format for Japan
The brief
Rebranding our career website with employee generated content
Once some of the human-led content was created, we embarked on a next mission: to bring our career site to life by leveraging this content. Our goal? To build a stronger connection with visitors by showcasing the real people behind our brand.
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The journey wasn’t straightforward. Our website platform, Recruitee, had its challenges, especially in terms of design flexibility and user experience. Also, back then we didn’t have enough content we could use. But limitations often lead to creativity 😉
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How did we overcome these hurdles? By collaborating closely with our Creative Studio (Copy & Design) and Comms teams, we crafted a website that’s not just informative but inviting, with key pages that highlight our open positions, share our culture, guide potential applicants, and improve the interview process—all through an easy-to-navigate homepage.
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The outcome is something we’re truly happy with. Our career site now features stories and testimonials that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of our team. It’s a genuine portrayal of what it’s like to work at DeepL, offering insights directly from our employees. It's more than a career portal; it's a window into the lives and experiences #InsideDeepL of those who make DeepL a truly great place to work.
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Sample of employee testimonial
The brief
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Communicating the culture of belonging, diversity and inclusion
Understanding the significance of highlighting DeepL’s culture of diversity, belonging, and inclusion, we designed our employer branding strategies to authentically reflect the company’s commitment to these values—ensuring that we truly walk the talk. We knew that integrating employee voices through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) was essential in bringing this to life, creating a genuine sense of belonging and representation. Here’s how we made it happen:
Being honest with our plans
Transparency with prospective candidates and current employees about your progress was crucial. We listened to your employees, and identified opportunities, in order to openly communicate these insights to external audiences to build a genuine connection.
Showcasing our unique brand of inclusion
We focused on understanding our brand’s distinctiveness. We assessed DeepL’s strongest selling points and current reputation to identify the unique qualities you want to communicate externally, via culture, a career catalyst and citizenship.
Bringing multiple voices together
Inclusion and belonging are often linked to increased innovation, satisfaction, and overall business success. We used this approach in our content as well: we shared personal stories of thriving teams by highlighting the importance of living your core values. This approach helped us to shows how employees thrive together, driving both team and organizational excellence.
Sample of inclusion-focused content
Sample of ERG-focused content
Going deep with standalone stories
Delving deeper into individual stories was another step for us, recognizing that content featuring individual storytellers allows employees’ personal experiences to shine. This approach helped our candidates relate to the storyteller and build strong connections to the company culture.
Integrating leadership voices
Incorporating leadership voices into our communications strategy was a key, recognizing their pivotal role in fostering an inclusive and empowering culture. Externally, we aimed to showcase leaders discussing the importance of open communication and empowering team members. This helped us demonstrate DeepL’s commitment to inclusion and shows candidates the leaders’ dedication to creating a supportive environment.
Celebrating (e.g. Pride)
We acknowledged challenges but also celebrated our successes, such as during Pride Month. We shared employees’ stories about their experiences with pride, belonging, and allyship in the workplace. and launched an internal campaign focused on educating and empowering our community, which included hosting special events, creating playlists, and partnering with organizations dedicated to creating LGBTIQ+-friendly environments.
Awards
Silver Pride Champion by UHLALA Group 2024
LinkedIn Top Startup 2024
Kununu Top Company 2023
The most loved tech company (based on saved jobs by candidates) by Otta 2023