Food Policy Officer Jobs in Birmingham, West Midlands
Working within the Policy and Public Affairs team, the Policy Officer will support the implementation of the Trussell Trust’s policy influencing strategy to end the need for food banks in the UK. The Policy Officer will be responsible for delivering activity in key policy areas, with a particular focus on policy development and influencing key decision makers. The role will work with the wider team to monitor and inform policy influencing plans, and the Research team to support policy research planning.
Role responsibilities
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Develop and maintain expertise in key policy areas which contribute to our strategic goal of ending the need for food banks, including policies related to the social security system, housing, communities, and the role of local government.
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Support and deliver policy activity, including briefings, select committee written evidence and consultation responses
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Horizon scan and monitor the policy environment, including attending relevant events and meetings
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Develop networks, including relationships with sector partners and officials working in key policy areas
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Support – as required – the Organising and Local Mobilisation team in equipping food banks in the Trussell Trust network to influence locally
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Support monitoring and planning for the Policy and Research department
Person Specification
Technical skills and minimum knowledge:
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Demonstrable interest in and capacity for policy development and identifying policy levers and opportunities to influence government
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Knowledge of public affairs environment and machinery of UK government
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Proficient writing skills, producing concise outputs for a range of audiences
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Self-sufficient use of I.T., including proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and an ability to use project management processes
Behaviours and competencies:
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Balance competing priorities and works to tight deadlines
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Communicates effectively, working collaboratively across teams and organisations
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Demonstrates a commitment to the values of the Trussell Trust
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Demonstrates empathy for people from disadvantaged, marginalised or socially excluded backgrounds
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Role models inclusive behaviours and values
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
As Local Mobilisation Officer, you will support the delivery of our ambitious programme to mobilise food banks in the Trussell network to campaign for change. You will support the development and delivery of campaign content and resources for our food bank network, leading on specific elements as required and ensuring people with lived experience are at the heart of their campaigning. You will be a central point of contact for food banks engaged in Trussell policy campaigns, working with them to ensure that content and actions are accessible to our whole network. You will work with colleagues from across Trussell Trust and work closely with our Senior Manager for OLM and our OLM Development Manager.
Role responsibilities
· Development of high-level campaigns content:
Supporting content creation for communications to food banks, briefings, training sessions, and other digital and physical resources. Lead on specific elements/projects as required.
· Liaising with Food banks on campaign action development and delivery:
Ensuring that food banks have: a direct point of contact as actions are developed and during mobilisation periods for queries, and receive support and campaign materials on time. Support food banks and Trussell colleagues that support them to give feedback on the development of campaigning training, resources, and support.
· Development of assigned mobilisation strategic projects:
Support various strategic projects within the OLM team to mobilise food banks to campaign more effectively.
· Support the OLM team to develop robust participation structures for Organising and Mobilising:
Ensuring that people with lived experience are at the heart of food bank network’s campaigning, ensuring content is accessible for a diverse range of audiences.
· Identify patterns and trends from the food bank network’s local and regional campaigning activity, and feedback on these.
Your understanding of the food bank network will help the voices, needs and culture of the network to inform our mobilisation work.
Person Specification
Technical skills and minimum knowledge:
· Experience of designing and developing resources, activities, and content for campaigners and social change makers.
· Experience of developing simple and accessible content for public facing
· audiences.
· Experience of working with people with lived experience and providing structures to get their meaningful input.
· Experience of working across teams/ departments, to ensure alignment and understanding on any given project.
· Demonstrable experience of engaging with internal and external stakeholders
Behaviours and competencies
· Confident in communicating to a range of audiences from a diverse range of backgrounds including people with lived experiences of poverty and able to seek and balance a range of views and stakeholders, influencing where required.
· Sound project management skills, able to balance a range of priorities.
· Role models inclusive behaviour, values and leadership
· Demonstrate a commitment to the values of the Trussell Trust.
· Deliver work within a cross-Directorate matrix structure where operational and development benefits arise from resource sharing.
· Demonstrates empathy for people from underrepresented, historically excluded and marginalised backgrounds.
Key Stakeholders
· Food banks, including project managers, volunteers and people they support, as well as local OLM funded roles.
· Learning & Development Partner and the wider Learning & Development team
· Network Resources Manager
· Volunteering Development Manager
· Network Leads, Area Managers, Network Church Engagement Managers, Network Volunteer Engagement Managers, and Pathfinder Leads who support food banks in their operational and strategic work.
· Network Policy and Research Officers
· Strategic Communications Managers
· Volunteer Engagement Manager
· Participation team
Our Values
The Trussell Trust is a charity that works to end the need for food banks. It is founded on and shaped by Christian principles.
Our values of dignity, justice, compassion and community, are central to all that we do and therefore supports our aim to be an organisation where the diversity of all employees is valued. We welcome people of all faiths and none and those that are committed to these values.
We recognise that we have under-represented groups within our workforce. As part of our commitment to diversity and equality of opportunity we are actively encouraging applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBTQIA+, from racially minoritised communities such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions and those with a lived experience of poverty as well as any other under-represented group in our workforce. We are committed ensuring the safety and protection of our employees from all forms of harm.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
This role is responsible for supporting a range of communications activities that build public will for a future without the need for food banks. This role will help deliver a variety of creative communications outputs that builds traction, provokes conversations, wins hearts and minds, and keeps hunger and food bank use at the forefront of the national agenda.
Role responsibilities
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Support on the delivery of a range of creative communications activities that build cause awareness, tackle misconceptions of poverty and shift behaviours among key audiences from a wide range of diverse groups. This could include coordinating interactive or immersive experiences, thought-provoking events, stunts or high-profile opportunities.
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Work within the Strategic Communications directorate and beyond to support the delivery of strategic communications opportunities that build understanding and public will for the policy and societal changes needed to end the need for food banks.
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Provide logistical and organisational support to the Activations team, and wider teams, to enable the smooth coordination of activations and events.
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Work collaboratively with a variety of teams, stakeholders and external partners and agencies to support in the delivery of high-impact activations and events.
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Support colleagues from the Trussell Trust on a variety of communications needs, including copywriting support and coordination of PR opportunities.
Person Specification
Technical skills and minimum knowledge:
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Creative thinker able to help deliver innovative and behaviour-changing ideas that grab the attention of various audiences, build cause/brand awareness and inspire action.
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Confident written and verbal communications skills with experience of copywriting for a range of channels.
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Ability to understand and use inclusive language and other best practice around communication that engages a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds.
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Some experience working with the media or coordinating PR opportunities.
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Experience of working collaboratively, with various teams, stakeholders and external partners or agencies.
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Experience of supporting on the delivery of high profile, creative events or activations.
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Knowledge of key communication channels including media, social media and digital.
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Strong organisational, logistical and time management skills with an ability to multi-task and a keen eye for detail.
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Passion and interest in keeping up to date with sector news – across campaigning and activism, entertainment, advocacy, talent and cultural landscapes.
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A natural curiosity to be always learning about our evolving industry - reading, watching, listening to stay abreast of cultural trends that can inform and impact our work with an eye for new engagement or activation opportunities.
Behaviours and competencies:
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Demonstrate a commitment to the values of the Trussell Trust.
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Demonstrate empathy for people from disadvantaged, marginalised, or socially-excluded backgrounds.
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Commitment to occasional need to work outside of normal working hours and to travel throughout the UK.
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Passionate about the work of the Trussell Trust and able to represent it and its values effectively.
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Demonstrates creativity, innovation, resourcefulness, flexibility and perseverance.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Role outline and purpose
Working as a key link between the Philanthropy team and wider organisational teams, the Philanthropy Content Reporting Manager – Trusts will create specific reporting materials for our key funders. You will hold responsibility for a reporting schedule for named partners and work closely with our impact and finance teams to track progress of funded projects and ensure that we deliver partner/funder updates in line with agreements.
You will have experience of supporting high-value fundraising teams and be adept at building strong relationships across the organisation to help inform the Trusts team about the activities and outputs of our operational teams. You will understand complex qualitative and quantitative data and use this to write up, design and produce high-quality communications for donors. You will be confident at taking the lead on the reporting requirements of our relationship managers, with efficiency and effectiveness.
Responsibilities
• Lead on the bespoke and restricted high-quality reports for funders in line with grant conditions
• Work closely with our project delivery, impact, communications and finance teams to ensure funds are delivering greatest impact for our donors
• Keep up to date on project delivery plans and aspirations
• Understand and translate both qualitative and quantitative information and present these in a visually compelling, digestible format
• Provide insight and performance information to help inform team strategy/projections, including the management of CRM, financials, and KPI reporting requirements
• Coordination of events to support effective donor engagement
Person specification
Technical skills and minimum knowledge:
• Experience in producing high-quality donor reports
• A track record of working collaboratively across a number of teams, including fundraising, operations and communications
• Knowledge of programme monitoring and evaluation principles
• Skilled networker, able to influence and win support from multiple key stakeholders
• Ability to isolate and convey key programme information
Behaviours and competencies:
• Analyses and communicates complex information effectively a range of audiences
• Demonstrates dedication to the values of the Trussell Trust
• Demonstrates empathy for people from disadvantaged, marginalised or socially- excluded backgrounds
• Pro-active and solution focused by problem solving and making recommendations for improvements.
• Works with others as one team, actively listening and collaborating to achieve a shared vision.
• Builds relationships across The Trust, sharing information and expertise.
• Role models inclusive behaviour, values and leadership
About us:
The Humane League UK is a charity ending the abuse of animals raised for food by influencing the policies of the world's biggest companies, demanding legislation, and empowering others to take action.
We're a mission-driven, energetic team focused on problem-solving and effective teamwork, and have grown significantly over the last few years.
Thanks to our effectiveness, The Humane League has been named Top Charity by the independent evaluator Animal Charity Evaluators for every rating period since 2012.
THL UK is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to furthering equity and inclusion, and we value diversity. We seek people from a wide range of backgrounds who will bring a fresh perspective to the team, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger.
We make employment decisions by matching our organisational needs with the skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, neurodiversity, age, or veteran status.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer, demonstrating our commitment to recruiting, retaining, and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, based on their skills and talent.
You can read more about how The Humane League UK is working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on our website.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, please contact us via our website and we will be happy to discuss, via email or telephone, reasonable adjustments that you may require throughout the process.
The position:
The primary focus of the position is to support the operational side of the organisation and the Managing Director. You’ll need to be good at multitasking and highly collaborative.
You will work closely with other department team members to facilitate support for the wider team. This role will report to the Head of Operations, whilst working closely with the Managing Director.
We will be holding a webinar on Tuesday 9th April at 7pm BST for you to find out more about the role and ask any questions you may have. The webinar will be hosted by Alison McCants, Head of Operations and Emily Brennan, Operations Coordinator. If you’re interested, please register by following the apply button which will take you to our website.
A recording of the webinar will be available within 48 hours after the end of the event.
Hours:
This is a part time position of 28 hours per week over 5 days (or some of these days) with the working pattern to be agreed with the successful candidate.
From 1st July 2024 we are piloting a four day working week across the whole of the UK organisation. This pilot is planned to run for 12 months, at which point a decision will be made by our Board of Trustees as to whether this will become permanent. Success of the trial relies on the organisation being able to achieve the same or improved level of impact in four working days as five, with staff experiencing either the same or improved levels of wellbeing.
During the four day week pilot, working hours for this position will be reduced proportionately to 22.5 hours per week, spanning Monday to Thursday (or some of these days), with no reduction in salary. This will be a temporary change to the contractual terms with the successful candidate. The appointed person must be prepared to increase their working hours to 28 hours per week if a return to a five-day working week is decided.
Who you are:
You will be someone who enjoys supporting others in an administrative role and is happy to get involved in a wide variety of people and operations-related tasks. This role will require flexibility, a keen eye for detail, and good problem solving skills.
You have the ability to handle sensitive information and will work closely with the Operations team and Managing Director to uphold and continually improve our governance & processes.
You’ll be able to work independently and as a member of a team in a fast-paced environment and be excellent at prioritisation and managing multiple tasks effectively and efficiently.
Primary Duties:
Administrative (30%)
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Supporting the Operations team with a variety of administrative tasks relating to people, systems, finance, governance, and compliance
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Organising purchasing of products, equipment and subscriptions as the team requires
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Managing the subscription renewal calendars, ensuring timely review for renewals
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Provide logistical support for whole team meetings, events and workshops, budgets and quarterly reports
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Support the order of the team drive, organising items as needed and responsible for helping maintain the UK naming conventions across the team
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Keeping track of hardware and fixed assets
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Administrative support for other departments as necessary, such as supporting logistics of departmental workshops and retreats
Team meeting and support (35%)
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Manage System user-guides, How To guides & Best Practice guides
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Monitor and manage the main organisational email inbox, triaging to other departments and handling enquiries and responses directly where possible
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Remotely host whole team meetings, Diversity Equity and Inclusion discussions, weekly reflections, and wellbeing sessions (guidance and support will be provided)
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Booking meetings and coordinating travel requirements for national and international travel
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Assisting with the daily management of operational activities
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Support Lead People Operations Coordinator as required with hiring practices, such as listing jobs externally, administration related to interviews and adding transcripts and proofreading closed captions for job webinars
Executive Assistant support (35%)
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Support the Managing Director, helping with information requests, internal and external communications, board papers, scheduling, meeting preparation, minutes, updating Asana tasks and timelines, administration and expenses
In addition:
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Attend conferences, as required
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Participate in team meetings including note-taking and facilitation
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Attend in-person workshops 2 - 3 times a year
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Help us make THL UK an inclusive workplace where employees and supporters are proud to be members of the movement
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Demonstrate commitment to creating a stronger and more effective animal protection movement through inclusion and belonging, recognising the need for all of us to do better for social justice on a personal and organisational level
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Perform any other duties assigned by the Head of Operations and Managing Director
Key Competencies:
Team player: You value the benefits of teamwork, making your contribution confidently within the team. You are comfortable working with staff from different teams.
Multi-tasking: You have the ability to get a number of tasks completed at one time. This role requires being able to handle a multitude of different tasks, often simultaneously delivering them on time and to a high standard.
Accurate: With a keen eye for detail you are able to deliver accurate work.
Organised: You are a forward-thinker who works on your own initiative, meeting objectives and tight deadlines under pressure.
Initiative: Can work autonomously on a range of varied tasks and projects, with the ability to assess and initiate things independently. You have the ability to spot problems that others may not have noticed need solving, and take the lead without requiring support.
Nimble: You are able to thrive in a decentralised, fast-paced team environment, with the ability to learn and understand new things quickly. Given the nature of this role, you can pivot on the spot to adapt to changing priorities.
Good to know:
You will have access to:
- A fully remote work environment and team (all equipment is provided)
- A pro rata share of 25 days leave plus Public Holidays (reduced proportionately during four day week trial)
- Flexible working hours
- A workplace pension
- An annual learning and development budget
- Support for mental and physical wellbeing
- £25 per month reimbursement towards home working costs
At The Humane League UK, animal welfare is at the forefront of our everyday work and as such, many of our employees are vegan by personal choice. All of our events and workshops offer only plant-based meals. We welcome all mission-aligned candidates to apply, no matter where you are in your journey to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
We are looking to speak to a wide range of candidates with diverse backgrounds - #NonGraduatesWelcome
Our employees all work remotely but still enjoy a supportive, collaborative environment.
For our salaries to be fair, transparent and equitable we want to provide a system that delivers a competitive salary in the market and could eliminate potential biases in compensation (such as the gender pay gap). For more information about the Operations Administrator salary please the attached document.
All applicants need to be:
- Fluent in written and spoken English.
- Live and have the right to work in the UK (we are unable to consider applications from those without the right to work in the UK).
- Committed to our mission to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
The Process:
All applicants will be contacted within one week of the closing date to let you know if you have been successful in reaching the next stage.
Our full interview process comprises of the following stages:
- A skills test to give us an opportunity to see your skills in action (completed remotely).
- Join an online interview (via video call) so we can learn more about each other.
- Final Interview (via video call as above)
For full details of our recruitment process please see the attached document.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.