Role: Communities Coordinator
Hours: 37.5 per week Monday to Friday
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £25,000-£33,000
Holiday: 25 days per year plus Bank Holidays
Based: Home Based with travel to London and across the UK
Probationary Period: 3 months
Reports to: Head of Campaigns
Benefits: An additional 3 days holiday between Christmas and New Year / Flexitime policy / 5% pension contribution
We are River Action
We are a small and agile campaigning organisation on a mission to rescue Britain’s rivers from a toxic cocktail of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution. We support community action, galvanise and mobilise public opinion, influence government policy, and call out destructive industrial practices to incentivise changes that end pollution.
We are building a talented team of positive disrupters and community mobilisers to deliver our strategy to urgently protect and restore our rivers for the benefit of community and wildlife.
Britain’s 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 are looking for highly engaged people who share our passion for rivers, wildlife and people who bring a creative, collaborative and investigative approach to campaigning. For this role we are looking for a confident and resilient community organiser who can build strong relationships to support communities to create change locally.
What you’ll be doing:
The Communities Coordinator will support community groups to campaign for clean rivers at a local level. By facilitating grass roots action you’ll be galvanising a strong and powerful network of community activists that have the power to create change both locally and nationally. You’ll be responsible for taking River Action’s national campaign strategy to a local level. You’ll work closely with the Campaigns Manager and the wider team to develop a Community Toolkit (including advice for activists, and guidance and services for communications, fundraising, legal support and citizen science projects) to support communities as well as provide strategic support to empower community activists to campaign for clean rivers. You’ll work closely with the Campaigns Manager and wider team to amplify the stories of those taking action at a local level and connect campaign groups to the wider national agenda. You’ll be working collaboratively with the River Action team to devise, develop and deliver our strategy ensuring our programme of community engagement is equitable, diverse and inclusive. You’ll be working closely with other organisations to ensure our community support compliments the work of others and meets the needs of community groups we work with.
Main Duties
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Contribute to the development and implementation of River Action’s campaign strategy.
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Develop River Action’s Community Toolkit as a package of support for local campaign groups.
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Identify community groups within river catchments areas River Action is working and build positive and impactful relationships..
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Organise site visits to develop good relationships and in-depth understanding of local issues impacting river health.
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Convene and align local stakeholders around river catchment and regional campaigns.
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Facilitate local community groups’ campaigns and provide support in line with our toolkit’s support package.
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Facilitate the creation of community group citizen science projects, integrated within a national system for gathering and sharing evidence of pollution.
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Organise community crowdfunding for citizen science and communications.
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Plan and host webinars, training sessions and online and in person events.
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Develop good working relationships with regulators including Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and Scottish Environment and Protection Agency.
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Support the CEO and Campaigns Manager to identify and deliver legal challenges at a local level.
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Maintain and develop partnerships and working relationships with other key groups and stakeholders working in similar areas of work to River Action.
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Identify opportunities to engage, empower and expand River Action’s network of supporters.
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Support the Communications Coordinator to create inspiring and engaging digital media content and news stories, including taking photographs and videos and conducting interviews.
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Support the Campaigns Manager and Communication Coordinator in responding to the reactive news agenda.
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Contribute to the Monitoring and Evaluation system for demonstrating impact of River Action’s community engagement work, reporting against KPIs.
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Contribute to fundraising efforts particularly crowdfunding and drafting of funding proposals to support Campaigns and Fundraising Teams and the charity’s mission.
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Work as a motivated and collaborative team player within a fast-paced team.
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Carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the post as requested by your line manager or any other member of the River Action team.
Other Duties & Responsibilities
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Adopt a positive approach to personal and professional development; engaging in one to one meetings and relevant training.
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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.
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To maintain confidentiality in all areas of work at River Action.
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UK travel will be required. Training & operational activities may require overnight stays away from home, in which case standard River Action procedures apply.
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Demonstrate a strong commitment to creating an inclusive, equal and diverse workplace.
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Work collaboratively with colleagues across River Action to collectively deliver our ethos and mission.
What you’ll bring
The position will suit an energetic, collaborative, resilient community organiser with a passion for aligning and mobilising communities to drive environmental change. The ideal person will be an excellent communicator, a natural convener, well-organised, and thrive within a dynamic and fast-paced environment. The person will have a passion to protect and renew our waterways and hold those responsible for environmental destruction to account.
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Experience in working with and supporting community groups.
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Experience in developing guidance documents and toolkits.
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Expertise in convening and galvanising people around a common cause, using a diplomatic and sympathetic approach combined with urgency.
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A head for organisation and excellent time management working in a calm and logical way.
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An understanding of the issues that are impacting our rivers.
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The ability to establish and maintain effective contacts and relationships with senior and influential external individuals and bodies.
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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, supporters and followers on social media.
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Great IT literacy.
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Ability to work independently and take initiative to solve problems.
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Ability to work flexible hours as necessary.
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Ability to travel to remote locations not necessarily well-served by public transport.
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A good team player with a willingness to muck in as and where required.
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Ability to think clearly even when working under pressure.
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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 your CV, a cover letter explaining how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role and a written submission as described below to jobs at riveractionuk dot com. Only applications including all three documents will be accepted.
Written Submission:
This year, River Action will be developing its Communities Toolkit aimed at local campaign groups and activists seeking to develop their own local campaigns to rescue their rivers locally. As part of your application, we would like you to put together a one page document outlining a plan for the toolkit, mapping out the main structure and content of the toolkit and how you would deliver it to communities. We will particularly be looking at your style of communication and creative skills. Should you be successful in being invited to interview, you may be asked to present this idea.
Closing Date: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until 23:00 Friday 24 May. Screening calls and first-round interviews may be conducted with short-listed candidates before the application deadline. The deadline may be closed early if the right candidate is found.
Interview Date: Interviews expected to be held from 24 May via video conference.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
English for Action
Operations Lead
Salary: £23,595 (£39325 pro-rated) (likely increase from August 1st to keep up with inflation)
Hours: 22.5 (3 days) per week
Location: Work from home, with occasional meetings in London required (travel at employee’s expense).
Duration of contract: permanent
Closing date for Easy Apply applications: Tuesday May 7th, end of day
Closing date for further applications: Wednesday May 15th, end of day
Interviews to be held on: Friday May 17th in the afternoon
Reporting to: The trustee HR subgroup and a line manager on the Executive Team
The role at a glance: Leading on EFA’s operations, with particularly emphasis on financial management and HR support for our small team of (currently) 8 employees. You’ll develop and administer our People policies, practices and culture to support EFA as a happy, equitable place to work and an effective mission-focused organisation. Scope for both day-to-day care for our systems and creative improvement of how we do things. In addition, to oversee EFA finances; payments received and paid, budgeting, monitoring any financial risks and advising with records/reports to the board of trustees and staff team on a monthly basis. Read more about the role.
You at a glance: You’re passionate about the community organising and education work we do with migrants in London and the radical participatory ethos of EFA London. You bring strong experience of ‘People work’ and governance of groups or organisations (whether paid or unpaid), with an interest in how to bring the best of conventional operations practisce into a team interested in a more equal distribution of power. You’re a ‘people person’, combining strong communication skills with a strategic eye on moving towards solutions. You’re committed to anti-oppression and promoting healthy workplaces for staff. You have a fastidious approach to the administration which underpins all of this.
About EFA
English for Action provides free, participatory, and empowering English language classes (ESOL) for migrants in London. Our classes are spaces to build community and support students to organise collectively around issues like employment and housing rights. Our work currently supports around 500 adult migrants across London. We’ve become a national centre of good practice for a radical participatory approach to ESOL, informed by the work of Paulo Freire, and we share this approach through trainings, research and partnerships.
Organisation: We are a staff team of 8 people supported by a larger team of volunteers and 9 trustees. EFA promotes shared leadership and collaboration and we aim for our organisational structure to reflect this. In the last 4 years we’ve transitioned away from having a CEO to an executive team to oversee operations and decision-making - which you could be elected to join following your probation period. We’re still in transition and there is scope to make a real contribution to developing innovative practice within our workplace. As a charity, ultimate responsibility for, and control of, the organisation lies with the Board of Trustees.
EFA employee benefits include:
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Pension scheme with employer matched contribution, currently at 6%.
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Pay rises in line with inflation wherever possible (we have a flat pay structure)
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Tech and cycle scheme
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Flexible working possible based on your needs
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Continuous Personal Development actively encouraged and training opportunities explored.
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Enhanced annual leave: starts with 24 days per annum pro rata, rising to 32 days per annum pro rata plus Bank Holidays (pro-rata for part-time hours) after probation, with some restrictions on when holidays must be taken.
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Full entitlement to days off for sickness (including mental ill-health), compassionate leave, bereavement leave, and parental leave
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Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental leave pay
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Enhanced sick pay
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Collaborative decision making on organisational strategy and practice
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Working within an organisation that makes a huge difference in communities across London and the UK.
Recruitment process / how to apply
We know applying to jobs can be time consuming! And often candidates with lots of relevant experience can be put off if they don’t fit every part of the job description.
So, we’re using an ‘Easy Apply’ form, where you can attach a CV and fill out three questions to express interest in this role. Even if you are not sure you quite fit all the specifications - give it a go. It may take as little as 10 minutes.
We’ll then encourage you to apply at Stage 2 if we feel you have relevant skills and
experience. You’ll then have another week to complete a few further questions.
Get in touch if you’d like to chat informally about any aspect of this job description or the role:
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.