Director of Communications and Engagement

Welcome to JNCC

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.

The Role

Vacancy information

Job Title: Director of Communications and Engagement

Vacancy reference: 2026050

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.

Grade: G6

Salary: £64,581 per annum

Contract Type: The post is initially being offered as a 2-year fixed term appointment with potential for permanency. Applications for secondments are encouraged. Normal hours for the post are 36 hours per week over a 5-day period, Monday to Friday. Weekend working may be needed on occasion. This post may also be suitable for job share. Flexibility on how the role is carried out can be discussed as part of the selection process.

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

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.

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.

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process no later than 23:55 on Sunday 23 August.

Benefits of working at JNCC

Pension

• You are eligible to join the Civil Service pension arrangements from the start of your employment. 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 choose 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 offer 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.

Further information

We have a strong heritage and ambitious future

Our story began 35 years ago and our scientific and technical endeavour has produced some of the most important evidence and advice on the state and change of nature, both domestically and internationally.

JNCC is a Non-Departmental Public Body. Originally established under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to handle science-based GB and UK international issues, JNCC was later reconstituted by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (NERC) 2006, as the forum through which the country nature conservation bodies (CNCBs) in England (Natural England), Northern Ireland (Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside), Scotland (NatureScot) and Wales (Natural Resources Wales), discharge their statutory responsibilities across the UK and internationally.

Uniquely amongst the environmental public sector, and given the devolved status of environmental policy, our statutory duties are at multiple scales of the four countries of the UK, the UK, our Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, and internationally. We provide impartial, interdisciplinary scientific evidence and advice, fostering collaboration and building connected communities for nature conservation and recovery.

JNCC’s statutory duties and functions are to:

• advise on the development and implementation of policies on nature conservation matters which arise a) throughout the UK, b) in one or more of the four countries and affect the UK as a whole, or c) outside the UK
• establish common standards throughout the UK for monitoring, research and information analysis relating to nature conservation
• commission or support research relating to the above

JNCC also has responsibilities and duties including under the following legislation:

• the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007 (as amended)
• the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009
• the Planning Act 2008
• the Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009; the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017
• the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, JNCC is required to seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity in the exercise of functions in relation to Wales and, in so doing, promote the resilience of ecosystems, so far as consistent with the proper exercise of those functions.

At JNCC, we know the strongest science, boldest ideas and most effective solutions come from bringing together people with different experiences, perspectives, cultures and ways of seeing the world.

Inclusion, collaboration and innovation are not just values, they shape how we lead, work and create impact. We are committed to building a workplace where everyone feels valued, heard and able to thrive, because fairer, more representative organisations make better decisions for nature, society and future generations.

We are proud to hold TIDE Silver accreditation, recognising our commitment to building an inclusive, equitable and high-performing organisation. But we know there is more to do. Talent exists in every community, yet opportunity does not. We are committed to removing barriers, challenging inequity and creating pathways for people whose voices and expertise have too often been overlooked in the nature sector.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively remove barriers and support people to succeed on equal terms.

Through culturally intelligent leadership, staff networks and evidence-led action, we are creating a culture where difference is valued and everyone belongs.

We want to be a good ancestor, making decisions today that leave a fairer, more resilient and more nature-rich future. Creating lasting nature recovery requires sharing power, broadening participation and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to help shape what comes next.