Germany Lead, Strategic Communications and Campaigns

Meliore Foundation; Berlin; Remote; EUR 74,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote-first network

6 offline days per year

Reduced Friday hours in Dry Season

Job summary

Meliore Foundation in Germany, hosting the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC), seeks a Desk Lead – Germany to steer a national strategy within a global climate-communication network.

This full-time role focuses on translating network priorities into a coherent Germany/EU strategy, leading a small desk, and delivering impactful communications campaigns with cross-functional partners.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in communications, public affairs or journalism.
• Ability to leverage political insight while remaining neutral.
• Strong storytelling and campaigning capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the desk strategy for Germany within the GSCC.
• Follow German political and media debates to identify opportunities.
• Operationalise strategies with media pitches, briefings, spokespeople and alliances.
• Co-create campaigns around key political moments across platforms.
• Craft audience-specific messaging with consistency across channels.
• Engage in proactive crisis communications planning and risk management.
• Coordinate with Europe team and internal/external partners to maximize impact.
• Line-manage Germany desk team, set objectives and mentor staff.
• Manage the desk budget and resources with regular spend tracking.

Skills

Policy insight

German communications

Team leadership

Storytelling

Crisis communications

Media relations

Stakeholder management

Public affairs

Project management

Remote collaboration

Tools

Zoom

Slack

Google Suite

Job description

Application Deadline

9 November 2026

Department

Other

Location

Germany

Description

This position is with the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC), a global network of communications professionals in the field of climate, energy and nature. GSCC is a programme hosted by the Meliore Foundation.

Description

This position is with the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC), a global network of communications professionals in the field of climate, energy and nature. GSCC is a programme hosted by the Meliore Foundation.

We are hiring a Desk Lead – Germany to steer a team of talented individuals and implement impactful communication and capacity building measures within a dynamic global network of strategic communications professionals.

This role combines strategic ownership, team leadership, and operational oversight. The Desk Lead – German translates network-wide priorities into a coherent strategy with national relevance for Germany and wider EU-level policymaking, sets clear objectives and priorities in cooperation with the Europe team, and ensures that resources are aligned to maximise impact.

The Desk Lead – Germany will deliver strategic advice and actively craft and deliver communication interventions to a diverse set of media, creators and multipliers from various thematic areas in order to enhance the public debate on climate change, transition priorities and adjacent issues towards relevant audiences in Germany.

The successful candidate will be a politically savvy communicator and well-organised individual with excellent people skills who enjoys crafting and bringing impactful communication projects and campaigns to fruition. If you enjoy a work environment that gives you room to manoeuvre responsibly and creatively within dynamic policy contexts, this position may be for you.

We are looking for a candidate who can work independently and doesn't shy away from diving into energy and climate policy and insights to assess the best communication course of action. You have profound knowledge of political dynamics, including the inner workings of government and political parties. You should also possess a strong team-player mindset and be a collegial sparring partner for your direct associates, other desk leads and external partners. Building on experience in communications, journalism or public affairs, you have a keen sense of storytelling and pitching, and understand the power of narratives to shape political agendas and ultimately help support momentum towards sustaining climate ambition in democratic governments.

How you'll contribute

• Developing and implementing the desk strategy, translating network-level direction into clear objectives and tactics, ensuring coherence across workstreams, and identifying long-term gaps to fill through strategic delivery and short-term hooks for comms opportunities;
• Alongside the team, closely following the political and media debates in Germany to identify where strategic communications can be usefully deployed along core and cross-cutting topics relating to climate and energy policy, and align delivery accordingly;
• Operationalising communication strategies with a wide range of communications material and actions (this could include press pitches, media briefings, identification of spokespeople and multipliers, alliance building and skills sharing) and delivering newsworthy interventions in line with the underlying objectives;
• Co-creating and implementing campaigns around key political moments across platforms and coordinating with in-house insights and digital specialists, managing multiplier relations and curating editorial content;
• Crafting audience-specific messaging and materials, ensuring consistency across all communication channels and platforms;
• Engaging in proactive crisis communications planning, preparing strategies and responses for potential issues or setbacks that may impact climate initiatives, while working closely with internal and external stakeholders to manage risks;
• Monitoring impact and outcomes, keeping track of media mentions and contributing to drawing conclusions and recommendations to constantly improve interventions;
• Providing expert guidance to other teams and external partners on communication strategies, trends and tactics, and engaging generously with key stakeholders to achieve impactful outcomes;
• Identifying, training and elevating voices and spokespeople who can talk convincingly and authentically about climate and transition related issues;
• Line managing the Germany desk team members, setting clear objectives, providing regular feedback and supporting professional development, fostering a high-performing, collaborative, and accountable team culture;
• Managing the desk budget, aligning resource allocation with strategic priorities, regularly tracking spend, anticipating needs, and making informed spending decisions, ensuring efficient use of resources across projects and infrastructure.

This is a full-time position with 40 weekly working hours.

Our ideal candidate has

• Extensive professional experience in communications, public affairs or journalism, ideally with a track record of impactful communication interventions in Germany.
• Ability to leverage political insight while maintaining complete neutrality, professional discretion, and non-partisan public representation.
• An enthusiasm to embrace complex topics, identify gaps in existing structures and approaches, and strategically plan and deliver timely interventions;
• A strong understanding of the processes and dynamics of national policy-making and Germany's wider influence in the EU, as well as an excellent grasp of power dynamics between political parties;
• High familiarity with the German media landscape including traditional media, online platforms and the digital creator scene - existing contacts highly desirable;
• A solid perception of how disinformation and platform dynamics shape public perception of key political issues;
• A passion for strategic story placement with a hands-on attitude in developing content;
• An outgoing demeanour to leverage an active network of influential sector experts and voices from think tanks, civil society, academia and business and the ability to build new meaningful connections and widen the network;
• Native-level fluency in written and spoken German is a must; Fluency in written and spoken English, our working language;
• The disposition to work generously with colleagues in a high-trust global community of peers;
• The versatile and adaptable skills necessary to flourish in a fast-paced and wide-ranging work environment and work across time zones using tools such as Zoom, Slack and tools in the Google Suite.
• Capability to perform effectively under pressure and meet deadlines, demonstrating resilience, efficient decision-making and timely execution;
• A commitment to an inclusive and empowering approach to facing climate change.

Nice to haves:

• Previous experience in the fields of climate, energy or the civil society spectrum;
• Familiarity with monitoring platforms, survey tools, email marketing platforms and online collaboration tools;
• Additional languages are an asset.

Why join us?

• Be part of a remote-first, international network of professionals working on climate, energy and nature and work with a bunch of dynamic, culturally diverse individuals who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to work.
• 6 offline days (with no calls or meetings) per year to focus on your work
• Reduced working time on Fridays during the Dry Season (summer)
• Access to our employee assistance program to support your mental health and personal development
• Supplementary paid business closure for end-of-year holidays
• Maternity leave matched to 20 weeks for countries where regulation allows less than that
• Enjoy regular opportunities to connect and collaborate with colleagues around the world
• A full-time position with an employment or consultant contract, subject to location, for 12 months, with possible renewal after one year.

Some international travel will be required. We may be able to provide co-working spaces in some locations. Only candidates with the right to work in their location will be considered.

Contract and Benefits disclaimer

Contract type and some benefits may vary by jurisdiction. We will confirm eligibility and the applicable terms during the hiring process.

Salary / Fee:

EUR 73.92k-78k gross annually