Environment Jobs in South East

Project Officer – Behaviour Change & Engagement 

(Reigate & Bansted)

£28,831 per annum (pro rata for part time hours)

(Ref: SUS4322)

Full Time 37.5 hours per week – happy to talk flexible working.

Fixed contract until 31st March 2025

Base: Hybrid with opportunity to work at Reigate & Banstead Borough Council Offices

About the role

An exciting role to deliver a tailored package of support that will help Reigate and Banstead Council to increase levels of active travel in the area. You will engage with schools, workplaces, and communities to support and enable more people to walk, wheel, cycle and scoot for local everyday journeys, instead of taking the car. 

As the Project Officer, you will plan and deliver fun, innovative and engaging activities such as mapping safe routes, leading rides and walks, practical skills sessions, competitions, initiatives and information events. The range of activities, events and resources will be adapted to meet the needs of the different audiences and will be designed to be inclusive so as many people as possible can benefit from the project and more local journeys can be travelled actively. 

This role will require you to work with a range of people across local and diverse communities, workplaces and schools in Reigate and Banstead. Creating relationships with key people and employers, understanding the barriers, challenges and opportunities to actively travel. You will be working closely with others to develop a programme of activities.

You will have the opportunity to give people confidence, enthusiasm and skills to travel more actively, through events and community activities. 

You will build and manage internal and external relationships with key people such as school or community travel champions, local authority colleagues and other Sustrans delivery officers. 

Within the role, there will be an expectation to capture the impact of the project through completing reporting and monitoring, writing case studies, capturing quotes and photos and contributing to an end of project report. 

This role will require travel and work at locations as necessary to undertake projects on behalf of Sustrans.

About you

You should have experience of working with children and young people within a community setting and delivering physical activities to groups. Your knowledge of the local area will help you form relationships with a wide range of organisations, groups, and individuals.

You will be a self-motivated and solution driven individual used to working independently as well as part of a team, with the ability to plan and prioritise your workload.

Sustrans has a long-term commitment to being a charity for everyone - reducing inequality, valuing diversity, enabling inclusion and ensuring all people are treated with dignity and respect. We aim to be a truly inclusive employer and welcome applications from people from all parts of the community, in particular from under-represented groups. 

What we offer

In return we can offer true hybrid working to suit individual circumstances and a flexible, supportive and rewarding working environment. 

Wellbeing

• 28 days’ leave per annum plus bank holidays for full-time working
• Ability to buy an extra week of annual leave (pro-rata for part-time staff)
• Staff volunteer days
• 24/7 free, impartial and confidential support service
• We are members of the Green Commute Initiative and Cycle Scheme who both offer cycle to work schemes

Financial

• Group Personal Pension scheme with a 6% or 7% of basic salary contribution being matched by Sustrans
• Bike, computer and season ticket loans
• Discount benefits
• London Weighting Allowance of £4,530 for all those living within a London Borough (32 local authority districts plus the City of London)
• Death in Service benefit – 3 x annual Salary

Family Friendly

• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Flexible Working practices (full time hours are 37.5 per week, Monday - Friday)

Additional information

• Closing date for the receipt of completed applications is 23:59, 03 October 2024. 
• Interviews will take place via MS Teams on the 15th or 16th of October 2024

About Sustrans

At Sustrans you'll be part of a movement to make it easier for people to walk and cycle. 

We're all here to change things! You’ll be part of an incredible community of talented, passionate, creative, problem solvers all working together to change things for the better. We act locally and think big - we have a vision of a society where the way we travel creates healthier places and happier lives for everyone.

You'll be questioning the status quo and daring to imagine a different world. You'll work on exciting, impactful projects that will stretch and empower you and you'll be rewarded by seeing the difference you make to people, communities and the planet. 

 We believe including everyone is central to who we are and what we want to achieve, we welcome difference and pride ourselves on creating a culture where you can be yourself and where your wellness is supported. 

You'll be guaranteed to make friends for life and work with a team that is incredibly flexible, supportive, ethical and fun.

When asked what they love most about working at Rainforest Trust UK, our staff say it is feeling they are making a difference and taking direct action on some of the biggest issues of our time: climate change, biodiversity loss and Indigenous Peoples' rights. They also like being part of a small, friendly, and supportive team, where they feel they can have a direct input into decisions and our direction.

This is a great opportunity for someone to gain experience in our small, but growing, charity, supporting the team to reach our funding goals for Rainforest Trust’s vital projects internationally. The Fundraising Assistant will have a varied role supporting a broad range of fundraising strands and take responsibility for some of our supporter care, CRM administration, digital communications (including social media) and community fundraising.

You may not have experience in all of these areas, but you will be a fast learner and willing to pick things up on the job. You will be an excellent communicator, with strong interpersonal skills to speak to and thank donors both verbally and in writing. You will also have strong IT skills, be organised, proactive, and committed. 

You will share our values and passion for protecting the environment and will show genuine care in supporting our donors to give to the rainforests. We want our staff to be as diverse as the nature we seek to protect, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented within the conservation sector, including people of colour and people with disabilities. We recognise that your experience may be from unpaid roles as well as formal employment. We want to know why you’re the right person for this role, not whether you’ve been given the right opportunities. If your experience doesn’t entirely match the person specification but you feel you could bring value to the role we’d encourage you to apply.

What we offer
- This is a 2-year fixed term contract with the potential for an extension if the role delivers the expected outcomes.
- Annual FTE salary is £26,000
- We offer 25 days’ annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays (pro-rated)

Who we are
Rainforest Trust is a leading global organisation sponsoring the creation and expansion of protected and conserved areas, playing a central role in combating biodiversity loss and fighting climate change. We have already placed over 50 million acres under permanent protection across 72 countries, and recent surveys show that 99% of the rainforest we have protected since 1988 remains intact.

Rainforest Trust UK (RTUK) is set up as a separate charity to tax-efficiently raise funds from donors here in the UK for Rainforest Trust’s conservation projects. We are currently a team of seven people, but we are affiliated to, and supported by, the Rainforest Trust team in the U.S., which has a team of about 40 staff. In 2023 the global charity raised $46 million for conservation projects in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, with the UK charity contributing £2.2 million of this.

We currently work remotely, meeting up 2 days per month in London to work alongside each other in a shared office, or to run events for our supporters. 

Key Responsibilities (see attached job description for full list)
- Deal promptly with donations received on a daily basis, following our processes to ensure supporters are appropriately thanked.
- Respond to day-to-day enquiries from Rainforest Trust UK supporters via phone, email and post.
- Support the Fundraising Manager in sending communications to the donor base, utilising content from Rainforest Trust Global, checking for accuracy and ensuring all communications adhere to Rainforest Trust’s brand guidelines.
- Lead on the daily management of Rainforest Trust UK’s social media channels, including scheduling posts and responding to comments/messages.
- Be the main point of contact for fundraisers, schools and other community groups raising funds for Rainforest Trust UK.

Person Specification - see attached job description document

Working Arrangements and Travel Requirements - You will be predominantly home-based (so you will need an excellent internet connection) and expected to commute to London two days per month to work in-person, alongside the team.

We are flexible as to how many hours this postholder works, and will consider a 4-5 day per week arrangement.

Equal Opportunity Employer - Rainforest Trust UK is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to developing a diverse and inclusive working environment. We recognise that promoting diversity and eliminating discrimination in our work will bring benefits for our people, our organisation and our charitable purpose. We welcome applications from all individuals regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief or any other protected characteristic.

ROLE PURPOSE

PAN UK is the only charity in the UK focused solely on tackling the problems caused by pesticides and promoting safe and sustainable alternatives in agriculture, urban areas, homes and gardens.

We are looking for a passionate, organised, self-motivated individual with experience of corporate campaigning to lead PAN UK’s highly-impactful supermarket campaign which aims to reduce pesticide-related harms to both human health and the environment. Launched in 2019, the campaign has secured a wide range of wins from getting Tesco to ban 200 toxic pesticides from use within its global supply chains to convincing Co-op, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl to stop selling synthetic garden pesticides.

As Campaigns Officer, you will be involved in a variety of tasks including; campaign strategy development, meeting with decision-makers, providing feedback on policies, writing communications materials and running events. You do not need to have extensive knowledge of pesticide issues but must be able to pick up new, complex topics quickly and communicate them confidently.

In addition to running the supermarkets campaign, you will be an integral part of a small, high-performing team which is also working to influence national government and local councils. It should be noted that, while in its current iteration this role will focus on PAN UK’s supermarket campaign, the organisation reserves the right to change this focus in the future to another campaign focussed on reducing UK pesticide-harms to human health and the environment.

Job Title: Campaigns Officer (focussing on UK supermarkets)

Salary: £35,000 to £40,000 p.a. depending on experience

Reporting To: Head of Policy & Campaigns (UK team)

Location: PAN UK’s office in Brighton (or able to work from Brighton a minimum of two days per week)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full Time (35 hours per week)

Travel Requirements: The post could involve national travel

Closing date & Interviews: The closing date for applications is 11pm on Wednesday 2nd October 2024. Interviews will be held on Tuesday 22nd October in Brighton. PAN UK is able to help with travel costs if required.

PAN UK particularly encourages applications from diverse backgrounds. We view diversity in its broadest form which includes, but is not limited to, the consideration of race, nationality, gender, age, class, disability, sexuality, language and educational background. We particularly encourage applications from eligible candidates from minority ethnic groups which remain under-represented in the charity sector.

We are asking all applicants to complete this diversity form, even if you choose to leave some parts blank. Your responses will remain anonymous and will not be linked to your application. The information you provide will help us to better understand our own recruitment practices and how they can be improved to ensure that we are reaching as broad a pool of people as possible.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Campaign leadership

Advocacy

· Maintain excellent working relationships with staff from the UK’s ten largest supermarkets, while also playing the role of ‘critical friend’ by pushing them to strengthen their approach to pesticides.

· Meet regularly with individual supermarkets to discuss progress made by the company and make recommendations for further improvements.

· Provide feedback to supermarkets on their existing pesticide-related policies and recommendations for improvements, including collating comments from other PAN UK staff.

· Track progress made by supermarkets on implementing PAN UK’s recommendations by keeping thorough records. 

Communications, mobilisation and events

· Work closely with PAN UK’s Head of Communications to design and launch major outputs and publications.

· Write online and offline communications (including policy documents, press releases, web pages, blogs and social media posts), paying close attention to detail including potential implications for libel.

· Create opportunities to secure media coverage for the campaign and liaise with journalists.

· Create e-actions designed to mobilise members of the public.

· Use PAN UK’s convening power to organise and run events that bring decision-makers together to discuss common obstacles and solutions.

· Give presentations and chair events on behalf of PAN UK.

Strategy

· Lead the other PAN UK staff members through regular reviews of, and updates to, supermarket campaign strategy.

· Spot key opportunities for advancing the aims of the supermarket campaign and design and implement plans for taking advantage of them.

Miscellaneous

· Develop and maintain sufficient expertise in pesticide issues to be able to speak confidently.

· Contribute to funding proposals and donor reports as and when required.

· Track expenditure and sign off significant costs in advance with the Head of Policy & Campaigns.

· Coordinate internally to ensure that all PAN UK staff are able to feed into the campaign, and that we are making best use of our extensive, internal expertise. 

· Conduct occasional research and present findings accurately, including references.

· Be willing to contribute to other UK campaigns (beyond supermarkets) as required.

2. Other

· Be an active member of the UK team, attending meetings, helping out other team members as required and feeding into the team’s strategy.

· Work within PAN UK’s policies, processes and procedures at all times.

· Other duties as may reasonably be requested and commensurate with the post.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Experience, skills and knowledge

Essential

· At least three years’ experience of corporate campaigning to change the behaviour and or/policies of large companies.

· Excellent writing skills, including strong attention to detail and accuracy.

· Experience of conducting face-to-face and online advocacy meetings with decision-makers.

· Experience of drafting a wide range of communication materials, from policy documents to social media posts.

· Ability to think strategically and experience of devising, implementing and evaluating campaign strategies and theories of change.

· Strong verbal communication skills and experience of public speaking.

Desirable

· Knowledge of relevant subject areas (including the environment, conservation, human health, sustainable farming, toxicology etc.) and an understanding of pesticides and their impacts on health and environment.

· Experience of developing policy positions and recommendations.

· Experience of using social media for advocacy.

· Experience of working with journalists to secure media coverage, including drafting press releases.

· Experience of mobilising the public, including designing and drafting e-actions.

· Experience of organising and running events.

· Experience of feeding into funding applications and reporting to donors

· Knowledge of UK libel laws.

· Basic budget management experience.

Qualifications

Desirable

· A qualification in a field related to pesticides, environment, health, politics, advocating for change or any other relevant topic.

Personal disposition

Essential

· Committed to the achievement of environmental and social justice and a belief that campaigning works.

· Strong attention to detail and accuracy, particularly in written work.

· A ‘hands on’ individual also able to operate at a strategic level.

· Organised, independent and self-motivated.

· Enjoys a fast-paced work environment and has ability to be flexible, work effectively under pressure and deal with conflicting priorities.

· A positive, ‘can-do’ attitude and the confidence to undertake new tasks.

Circumstances

Essential

· Ability and willingness to travel within the UK. 

· Ability and willingness to work outside of normal office hours occasionally when required.

· Ability to work from Brighton office at least two days per week.