About the European Climate Foundation

The European Climate Foundation (ECF) was founded in 2008 as a major philanthropic initiative to help tackle climate change by fostering the development of a low-carbon society at the national, European and global level.

We support over 350 partner organisations to carry out activities that contribute to the public debate on climate action, drive urgent and ambitious policy in support of the objectives of the Paris Agreement and help deliver a socially responsible transition to a net-zero emissions economy and sustainable society in Europe and around the world.

About the role

As the Senior Associate Communications Lead for Food and Agriculture, you will be part of the ECF’s Strategic Communications team, which is the communications unit of the foundation. Its role is to act as a centre of expertise for communication on climate change and to play an active role in helping create more political, media and public endorsement for action at an international, national and sectoral level.

This role will help develop the strategic communications plan and tactics to shape influencing on the issues of food, agriculture and land-use. Specifically, the role will support campaigns and communications interventions focused on the industrial livestock sector and the transition to sustainable food systems, a topic which is gaining increasing political and media attention. Applicants must have extensive experience of working in the field of climate, environment and agricultural media or related field. The ideal applicant will have a sophisticated understanding of how to place compelling stories to create real change and shifts in the narrative required to achieve political action on sustainable agriculture and food systems. The successful candidate will be a brilliant and thoughtful communicator and a natural collaborator with a great energy to work diplomatically with a range of experts and partners to advance high impact stories.

Key responsibilities

• Shaping, pitching and amplifying newsworthy interventions and compelling stories on agriculture, livestock and food in line with the communications objectives

• Building relationships with key journalists, editors, media influencers and commentators and managing media lists
• Supporting the monitoring of traditional and social media communications in key media outlets and platforms on topics related to livestock, land-use, deforestation, agri-industry extractives and sustainable diets
• Build relationships with a range of spokespeople spanning academia, civil society and business
• Provide strategic communications and media pitching advice and services to partners, such as NGOs, think tanks and researchers, including on framing and targeted media outreach
• Where appropriate, assist partners in writing and editing media releases, statements and pitches
• Developing and managing a calendar of key external and partner events and activities
• Collaborating with other ECF Strategic Communications teams and ECF Programme staff on specific projects and initiatives

Experience and competencies

Essential:

• At least five years of experience in climate, agriculture and food journalism and communications or a related field
• Excellent experience and understanding of media, the media landscape and the value of strategic story placement
• Strong experience of developing and deploying major communications projects
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• High levels of self-motivation and the ability to work in a flexible and agile manner
• Strong diplomatic skills and inter-personal relations, with the ability to quickly build trust with partners and colleagues
• Skills in use of new media and collaborative IT tools
• Project and programme management experience
• Experience of working in a global network and comfortable with multicultural settings
• The disposition to work with colleagues in a high-trust international community of peers with a spirit of generosity and mutual support
• The versatile and adaptable skills necessary to flourish in a fast-paced and wide-ranging work environment and work across phone/video conferencing, time zones, Slack, email, Trello, etc.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of global food systems, commodities and land policy issues
• Knowledge of another language, in particular Portuguese, French or Spanish, is an asset but not essential
• Existing networks of financial media contacts

What we offer

• The unique opportunity to work as part of a highly dynamic, international group of individuals who combine their passion to make a difference with a rigorous and results-oriented approach to work

• A flexible work environment and a space to develop and challenge yourself
• A full-time position with a consultant or employment contract (subject to location, negotiable) for one year, with a possible renewal after one year.

Location

Europe. We may have co-working spaces in some locations. You must have the required work permit for your location.

Start date

Beginning of 2021

How to apply – external procedure

Please upload below:

1. CV
2. short cover letter expressing your motivation for this role
3. both in English!

All applications will be treated confidentially. We will store your information in our internal database unless you specifically request otherwise.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications promptly.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion in our organisation. We strongly encourage candidates from disadvantaged or marginalised backgrounds to apply.