Contract: 1 year fixed term contract (either direct or freelance), 5 days a week (35 hours).
Reports to: Coalition Manager
Location: Scotland, mainly remote working but with some regular office time in Edinburgh and meetings in the central belt
Holiday: 28 days annual leave plus 11 days statutory holidays.
Pension: Stop Climate Chaos Scotland operates a pension plan with NEST and our pension benefits exceed the statutory minimum.

Overview and aims of the role

The Press and Communications Lead will play a key role in ensuring that Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS), its members and partners are as coordinated and effective as possible in promoting ambitious climate policy in the media and shaping political and public narratives ahead of the Holyrood elections in 2026.

The Press and Communications Lead will:

Enable better coordination of media outputs by SCCS and its networks
Increase the volume of both proactive and reactive press outputs by SCCS and its networks
Develop and share communications resources with partners, such as strategic communications advice, messaging guides and polling.

Core responsibilities

Media

Monitoring morning press and wider media, identify opportunities for reactive comment , and coordinate responses from SCCS and/or members and partners with key messages and available spokespeople
Identify and forward plan reactive press moments on behalf of SCCS, members and partners in order to increase the volume of positive climate pieces in the media
Coordinate proactive press activity from SCCS, members partners to maximise impact, identify overlaps, opportunities to coordinate

Communications

Provide strategic communications advice to SCCS and its members, and create communications resources, such as messaging guides on topical issues and advice for spokespeople.
Ensure that SCCS campaigns, events, digital communications and policy work have consistent and impactful messaging, based on the latest research and best practice.
Draft SCCS press releases, campaigns and other public facing content.

Engagement and coordination

Act as the primary point of contact for SCCS media and communications work
Work with the Coalition Manager and group chair to coordinate the SCCS Press and Communications Group, facilitating discussions, and ensuring the smooth operation of the group

This scope of work is not exhaustive and you may be asked to carry out additional relevant tasks where appropriate.

Person specification

Essential

Proven experience working with the media, securing coverage and developing and overseeing communications strategies
Strong understanding of how to use strategic communications to shape public narratives and influence politics
Experience in digital communications
Excellent verbal and written communication
Experience in meeting planning and facilitation, and the confidence to coordinate multiple stakeholders to achieve a shared objective
Ability to manage multiple workstreams to tight timescales and react quickly to opportunities
Understanding of Scottish politics and media

Desirable

Understanding and experience of NGO and coalition working
Familiarity with climate campaigning in Scotland

Qualifications

No formal qualifications are required for this role - the competencies and experience of the successful candidate will be more important.

Equality and diversity

SCCS is committed to working in a way in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To help us achieve our vision of climate justice for all, we need more diverse people involved. People of colour, working class and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector, so we are particularly interested in receiving your application. Please contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.

Unfortunately, at present, we are unable to sponsor visas so all applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

About Stop Climate Chaos Scotland

Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) is Scotland’s climate coalition, bringing together over 70 civil society organisations campaigning together on climate change. Our membership is diverse and includes national and community organisations working on:

Climate justice
Environment and nature
Gender and social justice
Faith and belief
International development
Worker and human rights
Health and inequality

Together, we represent hundreds of thousands of people across Scotland and stand in solidarity with communities most affected by climate impacts around the world. We collaborate with our members to build strong public support for faster climate action. We use this support to encourage decision-makers to put in place fair, effective policies to reduce emissions.

Our shared goal is for Scotland and the UK to take full responsibility for the past and present climate damage we have caused, leading to action that quickly lowers our emissions and moves away from our reliance on fossil fuels in a way that is fair and beneficial to everyone. Our governments must also provide meaningful support to help the most affected communities adapt and recover from climate impacts, in Scotland and globally.