Campaigner jobs in Leeds

Title:  Head of Campaigns

Salary:        £60,000

Contract:      Temporary

Hours:  37.5 per week (Monday to Friday) 

Holiday:  25 days per year plus bank holidays 

Location:  Home based with regular across the UK

Probationary Period:  3 months

Reports to:  Chief Executive

Benefits:  An additional 3 days holiday between Christmas and New Year

Flexitime policy

5% pension contribution

Anticipated contract duration:  9th November 2026 - February 2028 

We are River Action

We are a small and agile campaigning organisation on a mission to rescue the UK’s rivers from a toxic cocktail of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution and water shortages. We support community action, galvanise and mobilise public opinion, influence government policy, take legal actions and call out destructive industrial practices to incentivise changes that end river pollution and secure freshwater. 

We are a talented team of positive disrupters and stakeholder mobilisers delivering our strategy to urgently protect and restore our rivers for the benefit of communities, rivers and wildlife.

Our rivers are our life support system and they are dying. We need urgent action to bring them back to life.

Who we are looking for

We're looking for an exceptional campaigner to lead an ambitious environmental campaigning  programme for just over a year to cover maternity leave. This is an exciting opportunity for an inspiring leader who can develop bold, strategic campaigns that shift public debate, influence decision-makers and deliver tangible environmental outcomes.

You'll be an experienced campaign strategist who understands that lasting change rarely comes from a single tactic. You'll know how to bring together compelling communications, evidence and investigations, grassroots mobilisation, political engagement, legal interventions and partnerships into integrated campaigns capable of changing policy, behaviour and corporate practice.

We're looking for someone who combines strategic vision with practical delivery. Someone who is comfortable making decisions in a fast-moving environment, spotting opportunities as they emerge and adapting campaigns to maximise impact.

Experience in environmental campaigning would be highly valuable, but above all we're looking for someone with an outstanding track record of leading successful campaigns that have shifted opinion, influenced policy or held powerful institutions to account.

We’re looking for someone who brings energy, creativity and courageous leadership. Someone who is excited by building campaigns that challenge the status quo, comfortable navigating complexity and able to combine bold thinking with sound judgement. You'll know when to disrupt, when to collaborate and how to inspire others to believe that together we can restore the UK’s rivers. 

If you're motivated by creating change, thrive in a dynamic environment and want to lead campaigns that make a genuine difference to one of the UK's greatest environmental challenges, we'd love to hear from you. 

What you’ll be doing:

As Head of Campaigns, you will be developing and delivering bold, integrated campaigns that drive lasting change for the UK's rivers. You'll lead and inspire a talented team of campaigners, helping them to develop innovative, impactful campaigns while fostering a collaborative, ambitious and supportive culture. You'll work closely with colleagues across communications, policy, legal, fundraising and research, ensuring our work is strategically aligned and greater than the sum of its parts.

Leading River Action's Campaigns Team, you will shape the organisation's campaigning strategy, ensuring our work is innovative, evidence-led and designed to influence public opinion, hold polluters to account and secure meaningful political and systemic change. You'll create campaigns that connect compelling storytelling with community mobilisation, strategic communications, political advocacy, legal action and partnerships, ensuring every part of our work contributes towards our mission to rescue the UK’s rivers.

You'll provide strategic leadership across the full campaign lifecycle, overseeing campaign planning, delivery, budgeting, resourcing and evaluation. You'll ensure our campaigns are informed by robust evidence, guided by clear objectives and measured against meaningful outcomes, using insight and learning to continually strengthen our impact.

You will lead River Action's communications and public profile, ensuring our campaigns cut through the national conversation, inspire public action and strengthen our reputation as one of the UK's leading environmental campaigning organisations. You’ll oversee media, messaging and campaign communications that amplify our voice and build public support for change.

Internally, you'll work in close partnership with the Head of Public Affairs to ensure our public campaigns reinforce and accelerate our political influencing work, while ensuring community campaigns and grassroots action inform our national priorities. You'll also work alongside the Head of Legal to develop campaigns involving strategic litigation to achieve change within and outside of court and legal processes, using legal action as a catalyst for wider public awareness, policy change and industry accountability.

As a member of River Action's Senior Management Team, you'll help shape the strategic direction of the organisation and contribute to organisational leadership beyond your own department. You'll work alongside the CEO and fellow Heads of Department to deliver our organisational strategy, embedding collaboration, innovation and impact across all areas of our work.

You'll also play a key role in securing the resources needed to deliver our ambitions. Working with the Head of Development, you'll help develop compelling funding proposals, inspire funders with our vision and demonstrate the impact of our work through robust monitoring, evaluation and reporting. Working with the Finance and Operations Manager, you'll oversee campaign budgets, ensuring resources are managed effectively and strategically.

Main Duties 

• Provide strategic leadership as a member of the Senior Management Team, supporting the CEO to deliver River Action's organisational strategy, theory of change and long-term vision.

• Lead the development and delivery of River Action's integrated campaigning strategy, ensuring our public campaigns drive measurable environmental, political and societal change.

• Develop and oversee a portfolio of ambitious national campaigns, identifying opportunities to influence public opinion, policy, regulation and industry practice through innovative and impactful campaigning.

• Lead River Action's communications, media and public engagement strategy, ensuring compelling storytelling, strong brand visibility and effective use of traditional, digital and social media to grow our influence and supporter base.

• Lead the planning and delivery of River Action’s creative interventions and actions, from polling, petitions and shareholder actions to public protests and high-profile actions.

• Serve as a senior public representative and spokesperson for River Action, building the organisation's profile and influence through media engagement, public speaking, stakeholder engagement and high-profile external events.

• Oversee River Action's digital campaigning platforms, including the strategic development of our website and digital engagement tools.

• Work closely with the Head of Public Affairs  to ensure campaigns and political advocacy are fully integrated, maximising opportunities to influence government, regulators and decision-makers.

• Work closely with the Head of Public Affairs to ensure grassroots action informs national campaigns, and national campaigns empower and amplify community action.

• Work with the Head of Legal to identify, develop and deliver strategic legal interventions that strengthen campaigns, increase accountability and drive systemic change beyond the courtroom.

• Build and maintain influential relationships with campaign partners, coalitions, NGOs, academics, community organisations, funders and other key stakeholders to maximise collective impact.

• Lead campaign planning, governance and delivery, ensuring campaigns are effectively resourced, managed and evaluated against agreed objectives, budgets and monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) frameworks.

• Lead, inspire and develop the Campaigns Team, fostering a collaborative, creative and high-performing culture that enables colleagues to thrive and deliver exceptional work.

• Work with the CEO, Head of Development and senior colleagues to secure funding for campaign activities, contributing to funding proposals, donor engagement and impact reporting.

• Work with the Finance and Operations Manager to develop, monitor and manage campaign budgets, ensuring resources are used effectively and strategically.

• Support organisational reporting by contributing to Board papers, quarterly and annual reports, organisational planning and performance monitoring.

Other Duties & Responsibilities 

• Adopt a positive approach to personal and professional development; engaging in one to one meetings and relevant training.

• Be aware of, and act on, relevant health and safety responsibilities as an employee of River Action and adhere to these wherever you are working.

• To maintain confidentiality in all areas of work at River Action.

• UK travel will be required. Training & operational activities may require overnight stays away from home, in which case standard River Action procedures apply.

• Demonstrate a strong commitment to creating an inclusive, equal and diverse workplace and a positive organisational culture.

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across River Action to collectively deliver our ethos and mission.

What you’ll bring

The position will suit a strategic, well organised, energetic, passionate and dedicated person. The ideal person will be an excellent leader, a people person, and thrive within a dynamic and fast-paced environment. The person will have a passion to protect and restore our waterways and hold those responsible for environmental destruction to account.

• Ability to think strategically to deliver campaigns that are positively disruptive and meet River Action values.

• Line management experience of highly experienced professionals, bringing out the best in your team.

• Creative attitude and skills for solving problems and raising awareness of problems and solutions.

• A head for organisation and excellent time management, bringing others along with you in planning and delivering interventions and projects at short notice and under pressure.

• Experience in public and/or political campaigning either within or outside the environmental sector.

• Experience and contacts in communications and PR. 

• An understanding of the issues that are impacting our rivers, and their solutions.

• The ability to establish and maintain effective contacts and relationships with senior and influential external individuals and bodies.

• The ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with a wide range of people both verbally and in writing including the media, community groups, other NGO representatives, government, industry leaders, supporters and followers on social media.

• Exceptional IT literacy and a head for figures and budgeting.

• Ability to work independently and take initiative to solve problems.

• Ability to work flexible hours as necessary.

• A good team player with a willingness to muck in as and where required.

• Ability to think clearly even when working under pressure.

• A passion for River Action’s mission and vision.

Diversity and Inclusion

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies show that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single criteria. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace. So if you like the look of this role but your past experience does not align perfectly with everything in the job description, we would still like to hear from you. You may be just the right person for this or other roles. 

How to apply

To apply, please submit to jobs at riveractionuk dot com with the subject ‘Head of Campaigns’’:

• your CV (2 pages max), 

• a cover letter (2 pages max) explaining why you want to work for River Action and how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role, and 

• a written submission (2 pages) as described below. 

Only applications including all three documents will be accepted. Please provide your documents in pdf format. 

Written submission

River Action is looking to develop a campaign around water security in the UK to launch in 2027. Please put together a campaign brief setting out the challenges faced, how we would develop and deliver this campaign including campaign asks; campaign outcomes; public, political and legal tactics; routes for funding and resource requirements.

Your campaign brief should be no longer than 2 sides of A4. 

Application process

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until 23:59 on 19th July.

Should your application be shortlisted, the next stage will involve an initial 30 minute interview on 28th July via video conference. You may then be invited to attend a second interview with a panel on 3rd August. 

Please indicate in your covering letter or in a covering email your availability for interviews on these dates.

If you have any questions about the role or your application, please contact us on jobs at riveractionuk dot com.

Campaigns Officer at Freedom for Animals

Salary: £15,736.50 per annum
Contract: Part-time (22.5 hours per week), Temporary (12-month contract with the possibility of extension)
Location: Remote, with travel across the UK as required
Closing date: 23rd July 2026 (We may appoint before the closing date, so early applications are encouraged)

Job Description

Freedom for Animals is one of the UK's longest-running animal rights organisations. Since 1957, we have been working to end the exploitation of animals through undercover investigations, research, campaigns, political lobbying, education and grassroots activism. Our vision is simple: Freedom for all animals.

We are now seeking an experienced, enthusiastic campaigner and passionate animal rights advocate to join our team as our Campaigns Officer.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in campaigns that expose cruelty, influence decision-makers, mobilise supporters and create lasting change for animals exploited in captivity. Working closely with the Co-Director (Campaigns), you will help shape and deliver ambitious campaigns across our key areas of work, including zoos, aquariums, mobile zoos, circuses and other areas of animal exploitation for entertainment.

The successful candidate will join a small, dedicated and ambitious team where every member has the opportunity to make a real impact. You'll lead campaign activity across digital and offline channels, coordinate supporter actions, engage with politicians and partner organisations, respond to media opportunities, contribute to consultations and represent Freedom for Animals at meetings, events and demonstrations.

We're looking for someone who thrives on turning strategy into action. You'll be equally comfortable developing compelling campaign materials, using digital and social media to engage and mobilise supporters, building relationships with politicians, coalition partners and other stakeholders, and identifying opportunities to advance our mission.

You will have a proven track record of delivering successful campaigns, excellent communication and relationship-building skills, confidence using digital campaigning tools and social media to inspire action, and an unwavering commitment to animal rights. Knowledge of issues affecting captive animals and experience of political advocacy or grassroots campaigning would be an advantage.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced campaigner looking to take the next step in their career with a respected and growing animal rights organisation. You'll have the opportunity to shape national campaigns, influence policy, work alongside investigators and campaign partners, and help create meaningful change for thousands of animals.

To apply, please submit your CV together with a covering letter explaining how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the requirements of the role and person specification.

Freedom for Animals is committed to being an equal opportunities employer and to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and communities.

The successful candidate will be expected to share Freedom for Animals' values, vision and commitment to ending the exploitation of animals.

About the role

As local campaigning lead in our award-winning public affairs and campaigns team, you will play a pivotal role in driving Sands’ mission to save babies’ lives and ensure bereaved families receive the care and support they need.

You will need experience of delivering and evaluating impactful campaigns, and of working in close partnership with those with lived experience to create meaningful, lasting change at a local or national level.

This is a dynamic, outward-facing role that combines strategic campaigning with hands-on community organising. You will have the skills to support and develop a network of local campaigners, empowering volunteers and supporters to take action in their communities, influence decision-makers, and improve services over the long term. You will also feel comfortable representing Sands at a local level, developing strong relationships to amplify the organisation’s voice and impact.

Working collaboratively across the organisation, you will ensure campaigns are evidence-based, inclusive, and shaped by the lived experiences of diverse bereaved families. You will create compelling content and digital actions, support media engagement, and use data and insight to evaluate impact and continuously strengthen our approach.

This role offers an opportunity to combine leadership, influencing and community engagement skills in a purpose-driven environment, making a tangible difference to families and communities across the UK.

Main Purpose of Job 

To lead Sands’ local campaigning function.

Co-lead impactful campaigns at a local and devolved nation level with bereaved parents and families, supporting Sands core aims to save babies lives and ensure anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the care and support they need by:

1. Leading the implementation and evaluation of Sands local campaigns to further our core aims.

2. Developing the capacity of Sands local volunteers, supporters and campaigners to take action to improve their local services in the long-term.

3. Ensuring that Sands campaigns are evidence based and reflect the views and experiences of a diverse range of bereaved parents and families.

Principle Tasks and Responsibilities 

Leading implementation, and evaluation of Sands local campaigns to further Sands core aims.

• Lead local campaigns at Sands in line with our local campaigning strategy, collaborating and planning with key internal stakeholders, and staying up to date with best practise in local campaigning and community organising techniques externally.
• Evaluate the success of the local campaigns with internal and external stakeholders, implementing recommendations for future improvement.
• Work with colleagues to grow Sands’ local campaigning presence across the UK, including supporting funding applications to build staff capacity.
• Manage the budget for local campaigning.
• Represent Sands at a local level, attending meetings, and building relationships, with local politicians, NHS and council officials, journalists, third sector organisations, and other local stakeholders.
• Produce engaging campaigns content for use digitally across different platforms and in hard copy, working with the engagement team to ensure asks are effectively communicated to key audiences.
• Create compelling e-actions to support our campaigns using the Sands digital campaigning platform.
• Work with colleagues to support the production of press releases and responses to media inquiries.
• Organise campaigns meetings and events (virtual or in person).
• Recruit and line manage local campaigns staff, supporting and collaborating with them to roll out impactful local campaigns in more areas (subject to future funding).

Developing the capacity of Sands volunteers, supporters, and campaigners to take action to improve their local services in the long-term. 

• Manage local campaign groups of bereaved parents and families, empowering and motivating them to implement campaigns to solve issues that affect them and create long-term change in their communities.
• Using community organising techniques to build the capacity of local campaigners and groups to campaign independently in the long-term – connecting local people, facilitating workshops and discussions, developing local campaign leaders, and recruiting new members into campaigns.
• Work collaboratively with teams working with Sands supporters and volunteers to maximise the impact of our campaigns, including supporting the creation of effective campaign supporter journeys.
• Create written and visual resources to support campaigning.
• Develop training sessions to build campaigning skills, to be delivered online or in person, or recorded.
• Provide advice and support to Sands campaigners via email, telephone and video call.
• Ensure key data and information about Sands campaigns and our campaigners are up to date and stored in the relevant place, including the Sands database.

Ensure that Sands campaigns are evidence based and reflect the views and experiences of a diverse range of bereaved parents and families.

· Undertake evidence gathering projects to support Sands campaigns work, including collating and analysing data and presenting findings in an accessible and engaging way.

· Ensure that the views of bereaved parents and families inform Sands campaigns and provide opportunities for Sands volunteers to get involved in our campaigning activity.

· Provide direct support to bereaved parents to help them become confident campaigners, so they are well informed, equipped to speak out and know how to go about it.

General tasks 

· Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role as required by the Head of Public Affairs and Campaigns and the Director of Research, Education and Policy.

· Model the culture and values of Sands at all times.

· Work flexibly with other members of staff and team, with some evening/weekend working.

· Maintain a high level of confidentiality and professional conduct.

· Abide by all Sands Policies and Procedures and undertake all mandatory training as required.

· Participate actively in annual appraisals and personal development reviews.

· Actively promote and embody the vision, mission, and values of Sands including a commitment to Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI).

· Occasional evening and weekend working.

This job description is not contractual and may be amended from time to time to reflect the changing needs of the organisation.

We are looking for two new Senior Officers to join our Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns team. One role will focus on Policy, whilst the other on Campaigning, however there will be significant overlap between the two. Both will play a leading role in delivering Transport for All’s policy, public affairs and influencing work.

The postholders will be responsible for undertaking policy analysis, leading consultation responses, developing evidence-based recommendations, coordinating strategic stakeholder engagement, and representing Transport for All externally.

If you always wanted to appear before a Select Committee in Parliament, love a consultation, or read transport strategies for fun, we want to hear from you.

These roles are open to disabled applicants only.

Please note – These roles have a genuine occupational requirement of lived experience of disability. This explicitly includes those of us who are Deaf, neurodivergent, chronically ill, have a mental health condition, have age-related impairments, and people with both visible and non-visible impairments. If you do not meet this requirement, and state this in your application, you will not be shortlisted for interview.

Please download our candidate pack, including a detailed job description and information on how to apply. 

Please specify in your email subject line, and in your application whether you are applying for the Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer, or the Senior Public Affairs & Campaigns role.

Asylum Matters is looking for a dynamic campaigner & policy manager committed to upholding the rights of people seeking asylum in Yorkshire & Humber and across the UK at a critical time.

Asylum Matters plays a significant role in working towards positive change for refugees and people seeking asylum. We are a small team based around the UK, working locally and nationally with an extensive network of partners to advocate for progressive change in the asylum system. We work with frontline organisations and people with lived experience across the UK on a range of issues that affect people in the asylum system. The Yorkshire & Humber Campaigns & Policy Manager will work with the grass roots organisations and established Asylum, Refugee and Migrants rights organisations across Yorkshire and Humber, and the amazing lived experience campaigners to drive change locally. They will also provide specialist policy resource to Asylum Matters nationally, sitting across our four national campaigns around asylum justice, accommodation, asylum support and working rights. Helping us respond to government policy proposals and develop and support our sectors approach to a progressive asylum system.

We are a facilitator of collaboration and joint action. Our work helps strengthen collective advocacy on asylum reform and ensures it is informed by the reality on the ground. We are rooted in communities and committed to playing our full part in shifting the narrative around asylum, and helping our communities develop their resilience and solidarity with people seeking asylum at the forefront of our work.

The successful candidate will work in partnership with local organisations and networks in Yorkshire & Humber to develop and implement strategies for achieving change locally and nationally. They will have experience of developing and delivering impactful campaigns that have achieved change. They will hold extensive experience in analysing and shaping asylum policy and support the policy work of Asylum Matters Nationally. They will be an effective communicator, able to build strong partnerships and work collaboratively with partners. They will be proactive, able to spot influencing opportunities and quickly mobilise support to respond to them. They will have a commitment to the vision of a fairer and more effective asylum system, and to empowering and working with those with direct experience of it.

We are particularly keen to hear from people with lived experience of the UK asylum system, anyone with lived experience who meets the essential criteria will be granted an interview.

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

Application Instructions

Please submit your current CV, plus a supporting statement that details how you have the experience to meet the essential criteria within the Job Pack attached. Please note we don’t accept general covering letters, failure to submit a supporting statement that details how you meet each of the 8 essential criteria will disqualify your application.

Fawcett is recruiting a Campaigns & Content Manager to help shape our campaigns and public-facing content at an important moment for women’s rights.

This is a manager-level role with real responsibility. You will support the development of campaigns aligned to our strategic priorities, create compelling content across channels, and help ensure our public-facing work is clear, engaging and rooted in tackling sexism and misogyny. We are looking for someone with strong content development and digital literacy, a digital-first approach to communications, and the ability to translate feminist, policy or social justice issues into accessible and impactful campaigns and content.

There is real scope for creativity and curiosity in this role. We are a small team, open to new ideas about how to use content and digital engagement to campaign effectively, build momentum and reach new audiences.

We know that women and people from marginalised backgrounds are less likely to apply unless they meet every requirement. If this role feels like a strong match for your skills and approach, we would encourage you to apply.