Director, Communications and Research Amplification

UL Research Institutes • Rockville, MD

26d

About The Position

The Director of Communications and Research Amplification for the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI) leads ESRI’s communications strategy and team, with a primary focus on knowledge transfer: making ESRI research visible and useful to industry, regulators, first responders, standards bodies, and researchers who apply it. The Director counsels ESRI leadership, owns stakeholder engagement, convenings, and sponsorships, and works closely with ULRI’s central communications teams. The role reports to the VP & Executive Director, ESRI, with a dotted line to the VP, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, and collaborates with other directors and colleagues to advance ESRI’s growth strategy.

ESRI investigates the safety and performance limits of energy technologies. Its discovery-driven research helps people across the energy storage and battery value chain understand and minimize safety risks associated with batteries in applications including electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems. ESRI also convenes stakeholders through events such as global battery summits and webinars to develop data-driven solutions to emerging energy storage risks.

The Director develops and leads communications tied to ESRI’s research priorities, translates research into useful content and engagement, establishes processes for accuracy and brand consistency, and measures knowledge-transfer outcomes. The position provides communications counsel and leadership visibility planning; directs technical and editorial content; owns stakeholder relationships, convenings, conference presence, and strategic sponsorships; and serves as ESRI’s primary liaison to central communications teams. The Director also supports issues and crisis communications, leads and develops the communications team, and manages staffing, budgets, vendors, and agencies. The role may support other nascent institutes in the short term.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, marketing, science communication, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in communications, marketing, or a related field, including four or more years of management or leadership experience.
• Experience communicating scientific or technical research to professional, industry, or policy audiences.
• Expert and disciplined written and verbal communication skills and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to understand electrochemical and battery safety science and translate it accurately for technical, industry, and policy audiences.
• Leadership, initiative, and influence skills, with advanced strategic thinking and the ability to create alignment and buy-in among multiple stakeholders and deliver results in a matrixed organization.
• Collaborative approach and strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with leaders and colleagues across ESRI, ULRI, and external organizations.
• Strong people and agency management skills, including the ability to select third-party partners and lead the RFP process.
• Balanced knowledge of communications content, stakeholder engagement, and operations, and of how institute and central teams work together in a matrixed organization.
• Working knowledge of current communications and marketing technologies, tools, and platforms.
• Proficiency in MS Office.
• High degree of curiosity to learn about the organization’s mission, impact, and areas of specialization.
• Experience building relationships with industry associations, government agencies, standards bodies, or professional and scientific communities.

Nice To Haves

• Background in science or engineering.
• Experience in an academic, research laboratory, or government environment.
• Media relations experience.
• Experience in a research, scientific, engineering, or other technical organization.
• Advanced skills in Excel and PowerPoint, and knowledge of analytical tools and databases.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead ESRI’s communications plan, aligned with research priorities and the research calendar, to translate research into applicable content, programs, and engagement.
• Build processes, approvals, and governance that ensure communications are accurate, timely, high quality, and consistent with ULRI brand standards; work with research experts to confirm technical accuracy.
• Collaborate with central communications on ULRI’s measurement framework and track and report knowledge-transfer outcomes, including research uptake, stakeholder engagement, and new collaborations.
• Provide communications counsel to the VP & Executive Director and ESRI research leaders, and develop the ESRI leader’s visibility and thought-leadership plan with ULRI Corporate Communications.
• Direct technical and editorial content for practitioner, industry, and research audiences, including research summaries, technical briefs, ESRI’s section of UL.org, and ESRI social channels.
• Partner with ULRI’s Integrated Content & Storytelling team to incorporate ESRI science into ULRI stories and campaigns.
• Own ESRI’s stakeholder engagement strategy and relationships with industry associations, regulators, first-responder organizations, and standards bodies, in partnership with ESRI technical leaders.
• Develop the pipeline of ESRI researchers speaking at technical conferences.
• Direct ESRI’s convenings, conference presence, and strategic sponsorships, setting annual objectives against research priorities and reporting outcomes.
• Serve as ESRI’s primary liaison to ULRI central communications teams; route creative, web, digital, marketing operations, and media needs through central intake and plan major research announcements with central teams.
• Partner with ULRI Corporate Communications on issues and crisis communications affecting ESRI, providing technical context and coordinating ESRI’s response.
• Lead, develop, and coach the ESRI communications team; direct staffing, budget planning and allocation, and vendor and agency management in line with ULRI communications guidelines.
• Ensure ESRI communications align with ULRI’s corporate narrative, brand strategy, and communications operating model to build and protect the reputation of ESRI and ULRI.
• Support media relations led by the ULRI press office by identifying newsworthy ESRI research, preparing ESRI scientists as spokespeople, and ensuring the technical accuracy of releases and coverage.
• May support other nascent institutes in the short term.

Benefits

• All employees are eligible for bonus compensation.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans.
• 401(k) matching of up to 5% of eligible pay.
• An additional 4% investment into the employee’s retirement savings fund after the first year of continuous employment.
• Depending on the role, flexible working arrangements may be discussed with the manager.
• Paid time off, including vacation, holiday, sick, and volunteer days.
• Targeted development, reward, and recognition programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director