Strategic Communications Manager

Applied; East Hagbourne; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK innovation organization is seeking a Strategic Communications Manager to develop and implement strategic communication plans, enhance media relationships, and promote thought leadership across the space sector. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in strategic communications, strong media connections, and the ability to engage with key stakeholders to amplify the organization's influence. This hybrid role requires an innovative thinker passionate about the transformative power of space and technology.

Benefits

Work from home option

Life Insurance

Wellness programs

Enhanced maternity and paternity leave

Sabbatical Opportunities

Cycle to work scheme

Qualifications

• At least 8 years’ experience in strategic communications, ideally in innovation or public policy.
• Proven experience managing media relationships and placing stories.
• Strong copywriting and editing skills tailored for various audiences.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver strategic communication plans.
• Engage with media to promote thought leadership.
• Lead stakeholder engagement activities including roundtables.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Media relationship management

Copywriting and editing

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Location Hybrid ·Didcot, UK Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire (onsite 2 days per week)

Team Marketing

Seniority Mid-level

• Closing:This role has no specific closing date.

Perks and benefits

Work from home option

Life Insurance

Wellness programs

Employee Assistance Programme

Enhanced maternity and paternity leave

Sabbatical Opportunities

Salary sacrifice

Team social events

Extracurricular clubs

Cycle to work scheme

Job Description

Strategic Communications Manager

The Role

At the Satellite Applications Catapult, our mission is to grow the UK economy by supporting our best companies to accelerate the invention and adoption of space data and technology. We are looking for a Strategic Communications Manager who can amplify our influence and ensure that our expert voice is heard in the places where innovation, policy, investment and impact intersect.

This role is for a highly skilled communications expert who can shape strategic narratives and content, connect with high-value audiences across government, industry, academia and media, and ensure that our messages are relevant, compelling, and timely. The ideal candidate will understand the policy, innovation and technology landscape we work in, and know how to build the right partnerships, place our experts in key conversations and strengthen our position as a national asset.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy and Planning

Develop and deliver clear, achievable strategic communications strategies in collaboration with business teams for the Catapult’s interventions, covering our Missions, Defence, Business Growth and Corporate Communications. The strategies will be based around the delivery of expert, opinion-led thought-leadership, designed to create significant inbound interest in our work and position us as a market leader.

The role also requires senior-level engagement, acting as a senior communications representative and advisor with members of the Catapult’s Leadership Team to ensure visibility of plans and delivery, and to ensure delivery against objectives.

The role will also have budget responsibility for your activity areas.

Thought-Leadership

Delivery of highly relevant, expert thought-leadership with messaging designed to establish our credibility with key audiences.

Creation of ongoing thought-leadership campaigns which highlight our expertise and influence key audiences, moving the dial to support the uptake of space data and technology and help the Catapult work with exciting companies using space in their products and services.

Thought-leadership activities could include articles, white papers, video and podcast content, op-eds, media engagement, and webinars and events, but the role also has the remit to think creatively to maximise the visibility of our work and place content where key stakeholders look for it.

Media

Proactively build relationships with journalists, editors, podcast hosts and media outlets relevant to our work in innovation, sustainability, space, data, infrastructure and the future economy.

Use media channels regularly to land thought-leadership, opinion pieces and provide expert commentary on the space sector.

In this role, you may be required to act as a spokesperson with media on behalf of the Catapult from time to time.

Maintain a close view of the media landscape to include media monitoring, reactive and proactive engagement and preparation of key messages and FAQs.

Stakeholder Engagement

Work closely with our Partnerships, Policy and Place team to deliver a wider range of stakeholder activities for the business.

Work closely with internal teams to map key stakeholders for each of the Catapult’s major intervention areas.

Help to deliver a range of stakeholder engagement activities including roundtables, 1-on-1 meetings and parliamentary receptions to educate and inform key stakeholders of our work.

Team Management

Lead the Digital Team to ensure effective delivery of digital activities as part of strategic communications plans, and collaboration with other business teams on strategic communications activities.

Lead and develop the team towards a broader focus in line with the priorities for this role.

Manage the Graphic Designer to ensure timely and effective delivery of graphic design activities for the business.

Person Specification

Essential Skills and Experience

At least 8 years’ experience in a strategic communications role, ideally in innovation, science, technology, public policy or adjacent sectors.

At least 5 years’ experience in managing media relationships across both national and trade industry titles, with demonstrable evidence of pitching and placing key stories and op-eds.

Demonstrable experience of the use of strategic communications to build and maintain reputation, trust and relationships with stakeholders, especially Government departments.

At least 5 years’ experience of acting as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders and C-Suite representatives on strategic communications activities in a B2B and B2G setting.

Significant experience developing and delivering impactful strategic communications strategies with measurable outcomes which have resulted in revenue generation and policy impact/change in an innovation environment.

Experience of managing multi-functional teams, including management of team members who themselves are people managers.

Demonstrable copywriting, editing and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor content for a wide range of audiences.

Experience of the UK innovation ecosystem, public policy cycles, and the role of space and data in addressing societal challenges.

Experience working in or with space or other deep tech companies, government agencies, think tanks or public sector partners.

Established network of media and policy contacts.

Who You Are:

Strategic thinker with a hands-on approach – comfortable operating at both a senior advisory and day-to-day delivery level.

Collaborative, curious and proactive, with strong organisational skills and attention to detail.

Passionate about innovation, impact and the transformative power of space.

Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities and opportunities.

About us and how we work:

We strive to create a high trust, high performance and inclusive environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work. This helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this:

We care- for our people, our partners, and our planet

We connect- and engage with people and ideas

We learn- and grow, as people and as an industry

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams. Our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of any individual, providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us.

This job description set outs the skills and experience we think are needed to be able to perform in this job. If you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

We offer a hybrid policy which is designed around collaboration, one 'anchor' day per week working with your direct team and another flexible day per week to be spent collaborating or working with other colleagues.

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult.

At Satellite Applications Catapult, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome candidates from all corners of the globe, but due to legal and logistical considerations, we want to be transparent about the potential visa-related challenges that could arise. Our ability to offer sponsorship will depend on the level of interest for our roles and salary level.

If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.

Please note that we offer study support (at our discretion) and on the job training will be provided.