Strategic Communications Director - Future Proofing our Climate + Weather (FPCW)

Aria

United Kingdom

Posted January 02, 2026

Fixed Term Contract

Job Overview

Salary: £115,000
Location: Kings X, London; Tues - Thurs (3 days) at HQ, Monday + Friday, anywhere

Employment Type: 2 years fixed term contract (possibility of extension, depending on the Programme)
Closing Date: 18.01.26
Application: We’d love to hear about your passions and how you’ll make an impact here - please include a CV and cover letter with your application - we consider it an essential part of getting to know you.

About ARIA

ARIA is a new kind of R&D funding agency. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on.

We are growing our team to develop bold new approaches that can scale – from programmes to systems, processes and everything in between. If that sounds fun, come and build ARIA with us.

Learn more about how we work here.

Role Summary

This role will be embedded within the Future Proofing our Climate + Weather (FPCW) team, serving as the architect of global engagement, communications, and narrative strategy across the opportunity space and its affiliated programmes. You will be the thought partner to the Programme Director, Mark Symes, co-developing the strategies that ensure this research is conducted transparently, responsibly, and for the public benefit.

What You’ll Do:

Develop and run, in coordination with ARIA’s Director of Communications and Engagement, the communications and engagement plan for the FPCW opportunity space and Exploring Climate Cooling (ECC) programme, integrating all external-facing activities - including public engagement, Oversight Committee communications, and media strategy - to set a global standard for transparent, responsible research.
Look after a budget, with authority to commission partners, fund novel engagement activities, and deploy resources to advance the opportunity space and the programme’s strategic goals.
Manage a dedicated communications partner, directing their execution of the ECC programme's communications and engagement core materials. Enforcing a rigorous quality standard, you will partner with this firm to support the:
- Drafting of all public-facing communications, including core narratives, FAQs, media handling and briefings.
- Advising funded Creators on their own comms plans and advising on the delivery of those plans.
- When necessary, assisting Creator teams with responding to inbound media enquiries.
- Reviewing and offering constructive feedback on Creator teams' engagement plans and activities.
- Development of comms materials or plans for new initiatives in the programme and opportunity space (e.g. opportunity seeds, IP pledge, databases for results.)
In consultation with ARIA’s central communications team, you’ll pioneer and direct innovative communications strategies that move beyond traditional media. You will be empowered to explore new formats, messengers, and platforms (e.g., targeted digital-native video, influencer engagement, and new advocate cultivation) to meet diverse audiences where they are.
Develop and own the opportunity space’s high-level reputational risk register and crisis communications framework, offering advice to the Programme Director and ARIA management, and ensuring coordination with ARIA’s Director of Communications and Engagement during emerging issues.
Act as a trusted spokesperson for the opportunity space and the programme in high-stakes external forums, workshops, updates to the Oversight Committee, and on-background media engagements, in coordination with the Programme Director.
Together with the Programme Director and other Programme team members, develop the long-term legacy strategy for the ECC programme. You will work to mature the public understanding of climate cooling approaches, pushing to create an environment where responsible, transparent research (in line with the ECC's principles) can be recognised.
Draw on expertise from climate science, policy, and civil society to elicit critical feedback on FPCW’s communications and engagement strategies, including working with the policy lead on the ECC programme to ensure alignment on strategic policy engagement.
Support and manage the Comms and Engagement outputs of our engagement training service provider, The Liminal Space.
Work with ARIA’s central comms team to oversee the design and maintenance of the ECC programme and FPCW opportunity space webpages.

Who You Are

A Frontier Communicator

You go beyond traditional PR to help shape how emerging science and technology are understood. You’re interested in how frontier research reaches the world, and motivated by making complex, unfamiliar ideas clear and accessible to wider audiences.

Comfortable with Radical Transparency

ARIA operates on a principle of bold, responsible research. You are someone who believes that the best way to handle complex scientific topics (like the exploration of climate cooling) is through transparency and openness, not gatekeeping.

A Low-Ego, High-Agency Professional

You are a doer who can pivot from advising high profile scientists on their media strategy to developing new comms formats that communicate complex ideas clearly. You don't need a massive internal team to get things done; you collaborate with partners and use your own expertise to move at pace.

Thoughtful and Risk-Aware

You understand that in frontier science, the messenger is as important as the message. You have a sophisticated understanding of the sociopolitical landscape surrounding climate science and civil society, allowing you to anticipate friction before it happens.

What We’re Looking For

1. Strategic "Moonshot" Thinking

You design communication strategies for projects with long time horizons and high stakes. You can see the legacy of a programme five years before it's finished.

2. Technical Polymathy

While you don't need to be a climate scientist, science fluency is highly valued. You can dive into the technicalities of an opportunity space and emerge with a narrative that is both scientifically accurate and compelling.

3. Unconventional Engagement Tactics

You have successfully deployed non-traditional tactics, perhaps working with digital creators, building niche advocacy networks, or using interactive media to reach audiences that traditional institutions miss.

4. Crisis Resilience

You’ve supported organisations through moments of intense scrutiny and complexity. You can provide calm, clear advice to senior leaders, helping them navigate uncertainty, trade-offs, and public accountability when there are no easy answers.

5. Rigorous Partnership Management

You know how to get the absolute best out of external firms. You set a quality standard for every FAQ, briefing note, and digital asset, ensuring that everything ARIA puts out reflects a world-class R&D agency.

ARIA Values Alignment

Scientific Soul: You are motivated by the mission to change the trajectory of the future.
Speed & Agility: You prefer "done and iterating" over "perfect and obsolete."
Open Honesty: You are willing to question or raise concerns with the Programme Director or the central comms team if you believe a strategy is wrong.