Campaigns Analyst

Location:  Home based, with some travel to London and across UK

Direct Report:  Reports to Campaigns Manager

Background:  Research, policy, analysis, statistics 

Remuneration:  £30,000 - £40,000 with 5% employer’s pension and 25 days holiday

Start date:  December 2023 or January 2024

Term:  Full time (part-time may be considered), permanent position with 3 month probation period

Organisational Overview

River Action is a small and agile organisation with a mission to Rescue Britain’s Rivers from the excessive levels of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution that they are experiencing. We support community-level action, inform and mobilise public opinion, influence government policy, and incentivise changing industrial practices to end pollution emissions and promote the adoption of natural solutions. 

We are developing a dynamic and talented team to help us deliver our strategy to urgently protect and restore our rivers for the benefit of communities and wildlife.

We are looking for highly engaged people who share our passion for rivers, and bring a creative and collaborative approach to campaigning, blending laser-focused tactics with positively disruptive ways of inspiring others to act. 

Main Role

The Campaigns Analyst will be responsible for building a strong and compelling evidence and data narrative for our campaigns and communications activity as well as informing our advocacy for change in national policy and industry practice.

The role will include specific responsibilities to analyse government and industry data and provide insight for campaigns and communications.  This will include mapping and analysing industry dynamics (e.g. agriculture waste/resource management, food supply chains, water company performance, ownership structures and finances, government pollution monitoring and regulatory enforcement), pollution statistics (e.g. effluent discharge, citizen science data, drought and flood records), policy implications (e.g. mapping regulations for polluting industries, tracking policy update, assessing impacts of changes, informing consultations), legal cases (e.g. legal frameworks, case histories, legal precedents) and making information requests of the government (e.g. Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Requests). 

The Campaigns Analyst will report to the Campaigns Manager and will work closely with the Senior Media Coordinator to produce revealing, hard-hitting media stories and react critically to government and industry announcements as well as policy developments; and work with the Campaigns Coordinator and Communities Coordinator to ensure our campaigns and stakeholders are well-informed and evidenced.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of using data analysis to drive campaigns though high levels of media, political and community engagement.

Key Responsibilities

• Map the legal frameworks that relate to River Actions work and conduct ongoing monitoring of the Government regulators (e.g. Defra, Environment Agency, Ofwat, Natural Resources Wales) and industry to keep up to data with their regulatory programme, announcements and available data.

• Design a programme of proactive data collection via Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Requests (EIR) requests to support River Actions campaign and communications work.

• Map and analyse key aspects of major campaigns including sources of pollution or over abstraction, supply chains that drive behaviour, industrial failings, regulatory frameworks.

• Investigate polluters and analyse their performance relating to legal requirements, their governance/legal structure, their finances and resourcing e.g. water companies failing to invest in their leaking infrastructure.

• Research potential solutions to the problems that have been investigated e.g. technologies that convert farm waste to energy, new regulatory structures or financial incentives such as government funding including Environmental Land Management scheme.

• Present analytical and research finds to colleagues in accessible reports that describe the challenges facing a river/community/nation and potential solutions.

• Produce periodic data based reports or surveys for external publication, requiring compelling presentation of data and highly engaging narrative.

• Interpret data in a highly engaging way for the general public and media, including the use of infographics and clear and highly articulate reports. Sources could include industry dynamics, pollution statistics, policy implications, legal cases.

• Work with River Action Senior Media Coordinator to ensure we are using data and analysis most effectively to increase the impact of our media work.

• Work with River Action Campaigns and Communities Coordinators to ensure our campaigns and community support (e.g. through the River Rescue Toolkit) are informed, up to date and backed with evidence.

• Build relationships with analysts and researchers at universities, think tanks and other third sector organisations in the campaigns space and work on collaborative projects, sharing data and resources. 

• When required, manage relationships with contractors e.g. researchers, polling companies and academics. 

• Plan and deliver public opinion polls to research and understand views on subjects related to our campaigns, and provide data to our communications team to substantiate campaigns.

• Contribute to fundraising efforts particularly crowdfunding by providing information in support of the Campaigns and Fundraising teams and charity’s mission.

• Help ensure all team members representing River Action are well-briefed and on-brand ahead of external engagement, and colleagues handle sensitive personal information and relationships according to organisational policies.

• Support the Campaigns Manager in representing the charity’s communication work as required through the media, public-speaking and at events (online and in person).

• Keep up to date with our relevant work across advocacy, policy and key relationships in order to inform communications. 

• Contribute to the development of our position, brand and key messaging with colleagues and help keep these fresh and relevant.

General

• Follow all charity policies.

• Actively participate as part of the team.

• Help to promote a positive, healthy and happy work environment and team culture.

• Attend and contribute to regular meetings.

• Work in accordance with the Data Protection Act.

• Be responsible for the health and safety of yourself and others at work.

• Undertake any other duties as reasonably required.

• Keep up-to-date with input from colleagues on related research, activities and policies.

The above overview contains the main duties and responsibilities for this position. However, in a small organisation such as River Action, staff members are expected to show flexibility in their approach to work and be willing to undertake other tasks that are reasonably allocated to them but which are not part of their regular job description. Where any task becomes a regular part of an employee's responsibilities, the job description will be changed in consultation with the employee.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

River Action is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young and vulnerable people and expects all members of staff to share this commitment.  
 

Location

You will work from home with some travel to meetings in London or across the UK.

Application process

Applicants should apply to jobs at riveractionuk dot com by submitting their Curriculum Vitae with an application letter describing their interest and suitability for the role, accompanied by a written submission by 1st December. Only applications with all three documents will be considered.

The written submission should be a one-page report about a major polluter. For example you might describe a water company’s pollution and water supply performance, including sewage discharge and drinking water leakage, their historical financial performance (e.g. debt, dividends, infrastructure investment), any relevant major incidents and breaches of relevant laws and their plans for improvement relating to regulator requirements. It should combine concise and clear data and copy of no more than 300 words and be presented in a way that a communications colleague could use it to create a media story. 

Interviews will be held by phone during the week of 4th December.

Please note that applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and screening calls and first-round interviews may be conducted with short-listed candidates before the application deadline.

All shortlisted candidates will be contacted within two weeks of the closing date