Senior Strategic Communications Director

Job Title: Senior Strategic Communications Director

Location: Remote / hybrid, with occasional meetings in London

Contract: Freelance / interim consultancy contract initially,with potential to become permanent.

Workingarrangements:Flexible, with the number of days per week to be agreed.

Fees: Competitive day rate, dependent on experience.

About Skating Panda

Skating Panda is a strategic communications and social impact consultancy working with organisations tackling some of the world’s most important social and environmental challenges.

We work across areas including global health, climate and nature, gender equality, international development, philanthropy and civil society, helping organisations build influence, shape narratives, engage audiences and turn ambitious ideas into meaningful change.

We are looking for an experienced strategic communications leader to join the team, initially on a freelance/interim basis, with the potential for the role to develop into a longer-term position.

The role

This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who combines strong strategic communications thinking with excellent media instincts and the ability to turn strategy into delivery.

You will provide senior communications counsel to clients, lead the development of communications strategies and campaigns, identify opportunities for clients to influence the external agenda, and help translate complex social-impact issues into compelling narratives, stories and content.

You will work closely with Skating Panda's senior leadership and wider team across existing client accounts, new business opportunities and agency initiatives.

We are looking for someone comfortable moving between the strategic and the practical: advising a CEO or senior communications director one moment, developing a campaign or messaging framework the next and then working with the team to turn an emerging news or cultural moment into an opportunity for a client.

Key responsibilities

• Strategic communications counsel: Act as a trusted senior adviser to clients, helping them navigate communications opportunities, reputational considerations and complex external environments.
• Communications strategy: Develop clear, insight-led communications strategies, narratives, messaging frameworks and campaign approaches that support clients' wider organisational, policy or impact objectives.
• Media strategy and storytelling: Identify strong stories and media opportunities, advise on proactive and reactive media strategy, and help develop compelling angles, commentary, op-eds and thought leadership.
• Executive positioning: Help senior leaders develop distinctive external voices through thought leadership, media, speaking opportunities and strategic profile-building.
• Campaign development: Develop integrated communications and influence campaigns that can bring together earned media, content, creators, partnerships, cultural moments and stakeholder engagement.
• Horizon scanning and rapid response: Maintain a strong external radar across news, politics, culture and relevant sector debates, identifying opportunities and risks for clients and helping teams respond quickly.
• Client leadership: Build trusted relationships with senior clients, provide clear and confident counsel and ensure work remains strategically focused and high quality.
• New business: Contribute to pitches, proposals and new business conversations, helping Skating Panda diagnose client challenges and develop distinctive strategic and creative responses.
• Team collaboration: Work closely with colleagues and specialist partners, providing strategic direction and helping develop the communications capability of the wider team.

About you

You will be an experienced communications professional with significant experience in strategic communications, media relations, campaigns or corporate/NGO communications, gained either agency-side, in-house or ideally across both.

You are likely to bring:

• Strong strategic communications judgement and the confidence to advise senior clients and organisational leaders.
• Excellent understanding of the UK media landscape and strong news instincts.
• A track record of developing communications strategies and campaigns around complex issues.
• The ability to translate technical, policy or specialist subjects into clear, engaging narratives for broader audiences.
• Strong writing and messaging skills, with experience developing thought leadership and senior executive communications.
• Experience working on issues with a social impact, policy, campaigning or reputational dimension.
• An understanding of how communications can support wider influencing, advocacy, partnership and organisational objectives.
• Confidence operating in fast-moving environments where priorities can change quickly.
• The ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery.
• Strong client and relationship-management skills.
• A collaborative, generous working style and the ability to work effectively within a small, ambitious team.

Experience across areas such as global health, international development, climate and nature, philanthropy, gender equality, civil society or social change would be valuable, but we are equally interested in people who can bring relevant experience from other sectors.

What we're particularly looking for

This role is not simply about running a press office or delivering communications activity. We are looking for someone who can see the bigger picture: understanding what a client is trying to achieve, what is happening in the external environment, where there is an opportunity to influence the conversation and what communications can do to help.

You will be someone who asks the right questions, spots opportunities others may miss and can turn strategic thinking into practical action.

Working arrangements

We are initially looking for an experienced freelance or interim consultant who can provide senior strategic communications capacity while we consider the longer-term shape of the role.

We are open to discussing the number of days and working pattern with the right person. There may be an opportunity for the position to become permanent as Skating Panda's needs develop.

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