• This is an identified role suitable for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only.
• Reporting to: Seed National Director
• Employment basis: 2 year contract, full time (38 hours/week)
• Salary: Negotiable depending on experience (please contact us for a confidential discussion regarding salary range)
• Location: Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane (negotiable)

We’re looking for a Communications Director to join our team at Seed Mob!

If you’re an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young person who is passionate about protecting country, the power of storytelling and shifting narratives to centre the strength and leadership of First Nations communities, then we want to hear from you.

Who is Seed?

Seed is Australia’s first and only Indigenous Youth Climate Network. We are building a movement led by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to protect our country, culture and communities from the causes and impacts of climate change. Since launching in 2014, Seed has rapidly grown to be a powerful, national grassroots network of over 250 volunteers across the country. Through our movement building and training programs, together with our bold campaigns, namely the ‘Don't Frack the Northern Territory’ campaign, we are working towards our vision for First Nations people to lead solutions to the climate crisis and build strong, resilient and sustainable communities.

The unique moment we're in

We believe that First Nations leadership and self-determination is critical in addressing the climate crisis, because we believe that there is no climate justice without First Nations justice. As we look to the future for Seed, it’s critical to ensure that our organisational structures and strategy align with our vision and principles for self-determination.

That’s why we made the decision to grow from a program of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) to become our own independent organisation. We are currently in the process of setting up the new organisation, which will be the first and only Indigenous youth-led environmental organisation in the country. This decision allows us to build our own organisational structure and governance systems, including our board of directors, to be entirely led by and for First Nations people.

Excitingly, as Communications Director, you will play a critical role in leading Seed’s media and communications during a time of significant change and growth, ensuring that the leadership of First Nations young people and communities is at the forefront of the fight for climate justice.

Position Summary

The Communications Director is a key senior leadership role in the Seed staff team, providing high-level strategic leadership, support and direction across all of our communications, creative content development as well as traditional and digital media.

As Communications Director you will manage the development and implementation of Seed’s communications and media strategy. This will require a strategic balance of both proactive and reactive approaches, that will include everything from pitching media stories, to coordinating content across our online channels, developing key messages and hard-hitting copy to support with big tech and data projects to enhance the impact and effectiveness of our campaign, movement building and organisational goals.

In this role, you will manage Seed’s Communications Team and work in close collaboration with all other areas of the organisation to ensure we are delivering consistent, compelling and values-driven communications that cuts through and connect with our audiences. This includes supporting our staff and volunteer leaders to be confident spokespeople, whilst also collecting and curating powerful content that is highly shareable, educational and offers entry-points for actions to have impact.

The Communications Director is a key contributor to shaping the public narrative on climate change. By elevating the leadership of First Nations people in the media and online, we can educate and inspire thousands of people across the continent to take action and put pressure on decision-makers for huge progress towards our vision for climate justice and self-determination. In doing so, you will develop strong, cohesive relationships across a range of stakeholders, internally and externally.

Key Responsibilities

• Management of the Seed Communications team including the Digital Storyteller and the yet to be hired Communications officer
• Development and implementation of Seed’s communications and media strategy ensuring alignment with our vision, values and impact oriented goals
• Develop messaging and written communications to cut through the noise with compelling stories that shift hearts and minds and move people to taking action. You’ll work closely with our campaigners, organisers, volunteers and community partners to craft effective messaging and make sure our online and offline impact work ties together
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders internally & externally including media contacts, partners & collaborators, community leaders & our volunteers
• Rapidly determine campaigns and communications responses in light of the latest news and developments that cut into a crowded national conversation. This relies on close collaboration with the campaigns team, affected community members and partner organisations
• Leading the implementation of monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks across all areas of communications to ensure we are tracking our engagement, making data-driven decisions and identifying areas of growth, improvement and success
• Management of Seed’s Communications budget and supporting the team to ensure best-practice resource allocation
• Collaborate with Seed’s fundraising team to oversee our digital fundraising strategy and activities including email fundraising, social media advertising and donor acquisition, crowdfunders and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
• Work in partnership with the senior leadership team to maintain a workplace culture that fosters collaboration, support, innovation, accountability and self-determination. This includes ensuring effective leadership and direction on organisational strategy, planning, risk management, team culture and internal workflow
• Other related duties as delegated by the National Director, with regard to your skills and experience

Key selection criteria:

Formal education and qualifications matter less to us than excellence, initiative and drive. If even a couple of these criteria speak to you, you could be the candidate we’re looking for and we’d love for you to apply!

Essential:

• You’re an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young person who is passionate about protecting country and working with young people to lead change in their communities
• Experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities
• 2+ years proven experience in a Communications leadership position
• Strong alignment with Seed’s mission, vision and values
• Demonstrated experience of creating and executing well-thought-out communications and media strategies that have a big impact across a range of traditional & digital media
• You’ve managed a high performing team (staff or volunteers) and have strong people management and leadership skills, an ability to be adaptable and resilient, coordinate a team to success, celebrate and evaluate, and support staff with lived experience
• You can manage complex projects and competing priorities, often under time pressure
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills with demonstrated ability to think through complex political and social issues and communicate them simply and clearly
• Exceptional ability to build & manage trusting relationships with a range of internal & external stakeholders including affected communities & campaign partners
• You’re confident working across a diverse range of digital platforms and can pick up new tools quickly (NationBuilder, Raisely, SupporterBase, Google Analytics and FB Ads Manager are some examples of our current tools)
• You’re adaptable and up for moving quickly to make the most of strategic opportunities
• You enjoy supporting others to develop and you value giving and receiving feedback
• Ability to implement continuous improvement strategies and projects to enhance overall efficiencies, effectiveness and reliability
• Your are self-motivated, responsive and flexible with a proven ability to work independently and with a team, with competing deadlines, time pressures and priorities
• Willing and able to travel (in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions)
• Ability to obtain a Working With Children Check or state/territory equivalent
• It would be a bonus if you also had skills relating to: videography and graphic design

How to Apply

You can apply by clicking Apply Now and following the prompts.

This is an identified role suitable for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only.

Applications are currently open and will be assessed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, please submit your application as soon as possible. We anticipate holding interviews throughout September 2021.

For a confidential discussion regarding this position, including the salary range and employment conditions, please don’t hesitate to contact Seed National Director: [email protected] using the subject line: Seed Communications Director - Sydney / Melbourne / Brisbane enquiry via EthicalJobs // 0413249073. For more information about Seed check out our website, find us on Facebook under Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network or find us on Twitter and Instagram under @SeedMob.

A position description is attached.