ShareAction and the global system of finance

It is said that “money makes the world go around” but the global financial system in its current form is in danger of making our world a very inhospitable place indeed for future generations.

Though it has lifted many out of poverty, today the global financial system has an oversized impact on many of the existential challenges we face. Biodiversity loss is such an example, as is climate change and the growing gap between rich and poor in terms of both income and health. Investment, lending and insuring decisions can enable destructive and exploitative industries or they can support a transition to a more sustainable way of living and use of precious resources. The latter approach is known as responsible or ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investment.

ShareAction’s vision is of a world where the financial system serves our planet and its people. Our mission is to define the highest standards of responsible investment and to drive change until these standards are adopted worldwide. We work towards our mission by:

• advocating for change in the investment industry using our research and rankings
• campaigning with allies to strengthen investor stewardship and change corporate behaviour
• pushing for public policy reform to transform the financial system

ShareAction’s policy work is key to the changes we want to see in the financial system, as the rules of the system guide the behaviour of financial institutions.

We are looking to appoint a Policy Officer who will work with the rest of our UK Policy team to help influence regulation and policy making to drive a more responsible and sustainable financial sector.

If you are looking for a career in public policy then this role might be right for you. It would give you the opportunity to hone your advocacy, relationship building and communication skills, and develop your understanding of UK politics, the financial system and social and environmental issues.

More information about our policy activities is available on our webpage at https://shareaction.org/policy-and-regulation/.

Key responsibilities:

Although the role will be varied and open to some change in the activities you will undertake, below are the types of activities that you can expect to do:

• Carrying out UK Parliamentary monitoring by identifying and responding to key opportunities for influencing policymakers.
• Building and maintaining relationships with a network of MPs, peers, Government officials and regulators across the political spectrum, proactively supporting them to make interventions in support of responsible investment.
• Drafting and disseminating Parliamentary questions, drafting amendments to legislation and using other parliamentary tools, under guidance from the Policy Manager and others in the team.
• Drafting consultation responses and briefings.
• Supporting the Policy team to engage with policymakers, civil society, and the investment industry in order to disseminate and present our position on key issues.
• Working with the Communications team to communicate our UK policy work, e.g. through social media, blogs and articles.
• Helping to organise events aimed at influencing policymakers including supporting with creating the agenda, communications and networking
• Attending external events and sharing learnings with the ShareAction team.

We are looking for a passionate, determined individual, with the following experience and skills:

ESSENTIAL

• Understanding of the UK Parliamentary and/or policymaking process;
• Excellent communication skills, in both written and spoken English, including an ability to communicate complex issues in a clear and accessible way;
• Organised and self-directed on work initiatives with a strong attention to detail;
• Proven capacity to undertake varied tasks simultaneously and to tight deadlines;
• Good interpersonal skills with ability to work as part of a team and to build strong relationships with external stakeholders;
• Willingness to work with politicians from a range of political parties;
• An understanding and interest in ShareAction’s mission and work;
• Strong commitment to collaborative working;
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

DESIRABLE

• Any legal or economics background or work experience;
• Knowledge of financial markets and/or sustainable finance;
• Experience of working or campaigning on responsible/sustainable investment issues, whether in the private sector or in the third sector;
• Familiarity with the policy debates around environmental and/or human rights issues;
• Experience of policy-making or law-making gained through work experience;
• Experience of working with Microsoft Office 365, particularly SharePoint;
• Experience of working with CRM systems, ideally Salesforce.

Hours:Full-time, but with some flexibility possible.

Contract type: Permanent.

Salary: £25,000 - £28,000 per annum + 8% pension (non-contributory) and benefits including a healthcare scheme.

Closing Date: Monday 17 May, 9am.

ShareAction values and respects all differences in people (seen and unseen). One of the ways we do this is by actively encouraging staff to work in ways that best suit their needs and our flexible working policy outlines many of the options available- such as part-time and term-time working, job sharing, home working and working compressed hours. Please talk to us at the interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking..

Due to Covid-19 all interviews will take place online, you will also be expected to work from home for the foreseeable future.

Please note that to be considered for this post you must be legally eligible to work in the UK. Due to current restrictions we are unable to hire anyone that isn’t already living in the UK.
Due to our size we are unable to sponsor visas.