diff --git a/jobs/nightly.py b/jobs/nightly.py
index fe76237..ebb225a 100644
--- a/jobs/nightly.py
+++ b/jobs/nightly.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import logging
 
 from exporter import run_export
+from notifications import get_notifier
 
 log = logging.getLogger("nightly")
 
@@ -8,8 +9,9 @@ log = logging.getLogger("nightly")
 def main() -> None:
     try:
         run_export()
-    except Exception:
+    except Exception as exc:
         log.exception("nightly export failed")
+        get_notifier("slack").send(f":rotating_light: nightly export failed: {exc}")
         raise
 
 
diff --git a/notifications/__init__.py b/notifications/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8c1ef9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notifications/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from notifications.base import Notifier
+from notifications.factory import get_notifier, register_notifier
+
+__all__ = ["Notifier", "get_notifier", "register_notifier"]
diff --git a/notifications/base.py b/notifications/base.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51bb91d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notifications/base.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
+
+
+class Notifier(ABC):
+    """A destination for operational alerts (Slack, email, PagerDuty, ...)."""
+
+    @abstractmethod
+    def send(self, message: str) -> None:
+        """Deliver `message`. Implementations must never raise."""
diff --git a/notifications/factory.py b/notifications/factory.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b077bcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notifications/factory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+from typing import Callable
+
+from notifications.base import Notifier
+from notifications.slack import SlackNotifier
+
+_REGISTRY: dict[str, Callable[[], Notifier]] = {
+    "slack": SlackNotifier,
+}
+
+
+def register_notifier(kind: str, factory: Callable[[], Notifier]) -> None:
+    _REGISTRY[kind] = factory
+
+
+def get_notifier(kind: str) -> Notifier:
+    try:
+        return _REGISTRY[kind]()
+    except KeyError:
+        raise ValueError(f"unknown notifier: {kind}") from None
diff --git a/notifications/slack.py b/notifications/slack.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2c735df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/notifications/slack.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+import json
+import logging
+import os
+import urllib.request
+
+from notifications.base import Notifier
+
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class SlackNotifier(Notifier):
+    def __init__(self, webhook_url: str | None = None, timeout: float = 5.0):
+        self.webhook_url = webhook_url or os.environ.get("SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL")
+        self.timeout = timeout
+
+    def send(self, message: str) -> None:
+        if not self.webhook_url:
+            return
+        req = urllib.request.Request(
+            self.webhook_url,
+            data=json.dumps({"text": message}).encode(),
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+        )
+        try:
+            urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=self.timeout).close()
+        except OSError:
+            log.warning("slack notification failed", exc_info=True)