Description

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals NSW is Australia's preeminent animal welfare organisation. We provide a strong voice for animals experiencing cruelty and neglect. RSPCA NSW is committed to the care and welfare of animals, providing extensive professional facilities, including fully equipped veterinary hospitals and our state-wide shelter network, with hundreds of staff across NSW to care for animals. The RSPCA NSW Community department aims to increase awareness and education around positive pet ownership, support people and pets in need and improve community access to affordable and inclusive essential veterinary services.

RSPCA NSW Community is looking for an energetic and motivated Project Officer to assist in delivering the human behaviour change project Keeping Cats Safe at Home. This position is full-time on a 12-month contract.

THE PROJECT - Keeping Cats Safe at Home

Keeping Cats Safe at Home is an exciting new behaviour change project funded by a major grant from the NSW Environmental Trust. This education and social marketing project aims to encourage cat owners to keep their cats contained to their properties both to keep cats safe and to reduce negative impacts on wildlife.

The project will be conducted in 10 local government areas across NSW and will involve working closely with local stakeholders including councils, veterinarians, wildlife organisations, animal welfare organisations and the public.

The first phase of the project (year 1) will involve extensive community consultation to develop tailored behaviour change strategies that address specific local barriers and drivers to cat containment.

The second phase of the project (years 2-4) will involve implementing the behaviour change strategies. These will be informed by the community consultation phase but might include components such as an advertising campaign, community engagement events, targeted incentives such as free or subsidised desexing, school education visits and a phone advice line.

The project’s impacts will be measured through two research projects in collaboration with the University of New England. The first will investigate cat owner behaviour change. The second will evaluate ecological impacts of the project through GPS and camera trap monitoring of cat activity.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Project Officer will support the Project Manager to deliver this 4-year project in accordance with the project business plan. The Project Officer will also assist the RSPCA Community team with initiatives such as Community Outreach programs providing essential veterinary services including subsidised or free desexing, health checks, vaccinations and microchipping to underserved communities across NSW; Education and Training; activities with RSPCA NSW Volunteer Branches and Supporter Groups across NSW

Key Accountabilities:

• Support the Project Manager and work with the project team to deliver the Keeping Cats Safe at Home project in line with time, cost and quality constraints set out in the project business plan.
• Develop and maintain relationships with internal and external project stakeholders including RSPCA NSW Digital and Communications teams, RSPCA NSW Education and Outreach teams, councils, veterinarians, other animal welfare organisations, wildlife organisations and the cat-owning and non-cat owning community.
• Assist in planning and conducting community consultation and community engagement activities for the project, including focus groups, community meetings and community events.
• Manage project accounts and financial records in accordance with parameters defined in the project funding agreement.
• Prepare and maintain meticulous project documentation for reporting, monitoring and evaluation purposes.
• Perform other duties to support the delivery of the project and to support the RSPCA NSW Community team as directed by the Project Manager

ABOUT YOU

Requirements:

• Be self-motivated and committed to achieving challenging goals, possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills and work effectively as part of a team
• Have a passion for working with people and their companion animals and a commitment to animal welfare
• Have experience working on community engagement, social marketing or other related projects
• Be skilled at managing stakeholder relationships with diverse stakeholder groups
• Keep meticulous records, plan and prioritise, think and solve problems and deliver outcomes within time and budget constraints
• Tertiary qualifications in marketing, communications, environmental management, or an animal-related field an advantage

Note:

This role offers flexible working hours and the opportunity to work from home.

This role will require regular work-related travel within NSW and some work on weekends and outside usual business hours.

We encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds and life experiences including from people with a disability.