Director of Communications and Engagement

Team: Communications

Ref No: 2026050

Grade: G6

Type of appointment: 2-year FTA or Secondment

Location: Peterborough, Aberdeen, or Cardiff

Salary: £64,581

Closing date: 23:55 Monday 31 August 2026

Location

Option to be contracted to one of our Peterborough, Cardiff or Aberdeen offices, with a high degree of flexible working fully embedded across the organisation. JNCC has adopted a hybrid working approach, allowing colleagues to benefit from time in the office, with the flexibility also to work from home. You will be expected to spend regular in-person time with the CEO and Executive Committee.

Job summary

The future is not yet written. The choices we make today will shape the future of the natural systems that sustain us all, from the air we breathe and the water we drink to our shared prosperity, resilience and wellbeing.

This is a rare opportunity to join an organisation with a proud heritage, a trusted reputation and an ambitious vision: Thriving nature for a sustainable future.

As the UK’s statutory nature adviser, JNCC has spent more than 35 years providing the evidence, expertise and partnerships that help governments and society make better decisions for the natural world. Our science informs policy, supports international commitments and helps drive nature recovery across the UK, our Overseas Territories, and beyond. But evidence alone does not create change.

In a world of increasing complexity, misinformation and competing priorities, we need trusted voices that can communicate science with clarity, credibility and impact. We need to build understanding, inspire action and strengthen trust in the evidence that will help shape a more sustainable future. We also have a responsibility to safeguard the nature data, knowledge and evidence that future generations will depend upon. That is why this role is so important.

As Director of Communications and Engagement, you will build on JNCC’s strong reputation to help shape our next chapter. You will lead how we communicate our science, engage our stakeholders and strengthen our influence. Working alongside exceptional colleagues and partners, you will help turn evidence into action, build powerful relationships and ensure JNCC remains a trusted and influential voice for nature.

Together, we can build on JNCC’s remarkable legacy, protect the knowledge that future generations will need, and help create a nature-positive future.

Why this role matters

This is not a conventional communications role. It is an opportunity to shape national conversations, connect evidence with action, and help ensure nature is recognised as fundamental to the UK’s future prosperity, resilience and wellbeing. As a member of JNCC’s senior leadership team, you will help position the organisation at the centre of some of the UK’s most important environmental, economic and societal debates. You will ensure that robust scientific evidence informs decision-making and that JNCC’s voice is heard where it matters most. If you want to help deliver JNCC’s ambition to be a good ancestor, leaving a more resilient, equitable and nature-rich future for generations to come, we would love to hear from you.

Role Responsibilities

Leading the team and contributing across the organisation

Lead a respected, high-performing communications and engagement function, strengthening capability, influence and strategic impact, supporting cross-organisation relationships, while managing resources, performance, budget and priorities.
Contribute to an experienced senior leadership team, sharing responsibility for organisational performance, culture and delivery of JNCC’s organisational strategies

Strategic communications and external engagement

Lead an integrated communications and external engagement strategy that strengthens JNCC’s role as the UK’s trusted, independent scientific adviser on nature and maximises its reach, influence and impact.
Coordinate JNCC’s approach to stakeholder engagement, supporting senior leaders and colleagues to build influential relationships beyond the environmental sector, across government, business, academia and international partners.
Develop clear, compelling communications – including social media – that translate complex evidence into accessible messages and show why nature matters to policy, economic resilience and national security.
Act as a trusted adviser to the Executive Committee, Chief Executive and Chair, providing expert counsel, constructive challenge and sound judgement on communications, reputation and stakeholder engagement.

Organisational communications and engagement

Build on the team’s strong foundations to deliver strategic internal communications that connect colleagues to JNCC’s vision, strategy, priorities and organisational change.
Support the Chief Executive, Chair and Executive Committee in communicating strategic priorities, key messages and change.

Person specification

The successful candidate will have:

Strategic Leadership and Influence – Proven track record of providing strategic leadership in communications and stakeholder engagement or shaping organisational reputation, influence and impact, and contributing to the delivery of wider organisational objectives.
Strategic Communications and Advisory skills – A highly credible communications leader with significant experience advising senior executives and boards, managing reputation and risk, navigating complex and sensitive issues, and providing constructive challenge and sound judgement.
Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships – Ability to take a strategic overview of stakeholder engagement, working across the organisation and with key external partners to enable the development and maintenance of trusted relationships that maximise the impact of our work.
Innovation and Impact – Demonstrable success in translating policy, evidence or complex science into compelling narratives and engagement approaches that broaden reach, influence decision-making and increase public value.
Inclusive Leadership and Values – An inclusive and culturally intelligent leader with a strong track record of developing high-performing teams, building organisational capability and fostering a culture of learning, collaboration and continuous improvement.

It would be beneficial for the post holder to have:

Experience working within government, a Non-Departmental Public Body or similarly complex public sector environment.
Knowledge of environmental, scientific or nature policy.
Experience influencing policy, strategy or decision-making through evidence-based communications and stakeholder engagement.
Understanding of the UK political, public policy and stakeholder landscape.
Experience building trust and engagement through internal communications during organisational change.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £64,581, Joint Nature Conservation Committee contributes £18,709 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

You will automatically be enrolled into the Civil Service Alpha pension scheme from the start of your employment with an average employer contribution of 29%.

However we can offer you a choice of two types of pension scheme:

Alpha – This is an occupational pension scheme based on your career average earnings.
Partnership – This is a stakeholder pension with a contribution from us, how much we pay is based on your age and the amount you chose to contribute.

For more information visit: www.civilservice.gov.uk/pensions

Annual leave

The annual leave allowance is 25 days per year, rising to 30 days per year after five years’ service. There are also 12 days public and privilege leave.

Flexible working

We offer a working environment that aims to give people greater flexibility to work in a way that suits them (with an appropriate blend of office and home-based working) while also meeting JNCC’s business needs.
Our policies are family-friendly and include flexi-time, flexible working patterns, compressed hours and hybrid working.

Employee benefits and discounts

Childcare vouchers – we support the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme to help parents paying for registered childcare.
Employee Discount Scheme – our Staff Benefits provider offers a wide range of employee retail discounts.

Learning and development

JNCC is committed to becoming a learning organisation and investing in our staff. We offers a range of work-based training and continuous professional development opportunities with a guaranteed five days of specified learning a year.

Staff wellbeing

JNCC offers paid maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave, over and above the minimum statutory entitlements.
Employee Assistance Programme – a free and confidential 24/7 telephone advice service.
Healthcare – we provide access to online advice to support physical, mental and emotional wellbeing along with the opportunity to contribute to a healthcare plan to make savings on everyday healthcare costs.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

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For more information contact recruitment@jncc.gov.uk

Further information

Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@jncc.gov.uk in the first instance.

The closing date for this post is 23:55 on Monday 31 August

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