Climate Communications Strategist

Nashville Public Radio; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel opportunities

Diversity & inclusion driven culture

Job summary

Schmidt Sciences seeks a Communications Associate for its Climate Center to bridge technical climate research and engaging narratives. This hands-on role blends strong communications with fluency in climate topics, collaborating with researchers and shaping public-facing content.

The role leads narrative development, drafts materials, and coordinates across programs, with opportunities in multimedia storytelling and AI-assisted workflows. Domestic and international travel may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, climate science, environmental science, energy policy, or related field.
• 3–5 years of professional experience in communications.
• Experience pitching stories and working with the press.
• Strong knowledge of climate modeling, carbon cycle science, energy transition pathways.
• Ability to translate technical topics into clear narratives for non-experts.
• Proven collaboration with researchers or technical subject matter experts.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Experience using AI tools to enhance workflows.
• Experience managing websites, digital content platforms and social channels.
• Familiarity with analytics tools and audience engagement metrics.
• Strong project management and ability to coordinate multiple initiatives.
• High attention to detail in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of clear, unified narratives for Schmidt Sciences’ climate portfolio.
• Partner with climate program staff on messaging and presentation support.
• Highlight voices of climate grantees through profiles and feature stories.
• Draft and edit press releases, website content, reports and newsletters.
• Translate complex climate research into accessible language for media and public.
• Pitch stories to journalists, podcasters and influencers in climate/public sectors.
• Draft content calendars and post to Schmidt Sciences social channels.
• Ensure tone and messaging consistency across communications.
• Collaborate on multimedia storytelling including video and explainers.
• Monitor communications metrics to inform strategy.
• Identify opportunities to leverage digital tools and AI for storytelling.
• Stay updated on climate research trends to keep messaging credible.
• Manage incoming communications requests and coordinate with internal teams.

Skills

Climate science

Press pitching

Writing & editing

AI productivity tools

Web content management

Analytics tools

Project management

Collaboration with researchers

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Audio/video editing

Content Management System (CMS)

Job description

Schmidt Sciences seeks a Communications Associate for its Climate Center to bridge technical climate research and engaging narratives. This hands-on role blends strong communications with fluency in climate topics, collaborating with researchers and shaping public-facing content.

The role leads narrative development, drafts materials, and coordinates across programs, with opportunities in multimedia storytelling and AI-assisted workflows. Domestic and international travel may be required.