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Campaigns and Communications Manager - Australia Wide

Vets for Climate Action

ABOUT VETERINARIANS FOR CLIMATE ACTION

Veterinarians for Climate Action represents concerned veterinarians, veterinary nurses, practice and industry partners across Australia calling for urgent climate action. We work to help everyday Australians understand the need for urgent climate action, we train people within our profession to become advocates for action and we set up Community Impact Groups to help create climate champions.

VfCA is a young and dynamic organisation and in the twelve months since founding we’ve made substantial progress in our journey towards being a fully-fledged, efficient and effective climate advocacy organisation. We have secured funding to employ our second staff member (you!) so that we can invest in the comms and campaigning capacity required to achieve our goals.

You’ll be working with an organisation which:

  • Has populated a Board and several community groups with a high-calibre mix of practicing vets, industry veterinarians, external businesspeople and individuals with extensive experience in running and working for charities. Robyn Alders, recipient of an Order of Australia award, is an advisor to our Board.
  • Has employed a focused and ambitious CEO
  • 20-30 people are regularly volunteering their time toward VfCA activities, based upon a community organising approach
  • We've been working with the Australian Veterinary Association to influence and support the declaration of an Animal Welfare Crisis. This will be the first action of its type world-wide
  • 70+ organic members paying a recurring monthly membership fee, ahead of launch activities or a formal membership drive.
  • Secured the honourable Professor Peter Doherty, Nobel Laureate and veterinarian, as our Patron.
  • Coalesced a team of 18 former Chief Veterinary Officers into a media and outreach team

WHAT WE NEED

Are you a senior communications and campaigns professional who loves animals and is committed to a long term sustainable future for both wildlife, companion animals and agricultural animals? Are you passionate about helping vets and vet nurses tell compelling stories and use their influence to build momentum for stronger action on climate change? Do you understand how to build power and the strength of a Community Organising approach?

We’re looking for someone with the energy, skills and passion to make climate the #1 issue within the veterinary profession, and then use these voices to help all Australians realise that climate is an animal welfare issue.

This new, exciting, senior role is a mix of communications and campaign work. The core of the role is to develop and implement campaigns which achieve real policy change. To achieve this will require experience with big picture narrative strategy, a deep understanding of how to communicate with the general public and the animal sector, an impressive track record securing media and managing social media channels and an ability to work with and coalesce a wide array of volunteers. We’re looking for experience running advocacy campaigns, ideally in the environmental / climate movement, with a solid understanding of how to reach the demographics which haven’t been engaged by the existing climate movement. We want to hear your ideas about how we can best use our trusted voices to build power and increase support for pro-climate policies.

We need someone who can take a step back and create big picture, strategic, longer-term communications work and advocacy campaigns that builds power and changes minds, while managing fast paced, responsive public relations and the constantly-changing world of Australian politics. This will be a hands-on role, with support from an incredible Board and a wonderful team of 20-30 enthusiastic volunteers.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

In conjunction with the leadership team, you’ll be responsible for all of our internal and external communications: balancing proactive and responsive outreach to champion our objectives. You’ll also lead our campaigns work, including our current campaign to grow our People Power.

Your core responsibilities will include:

  1. Developing communications and campaign strategies for VfCA; identify and onboard vets, vet nurses and those who love animals into our community organising structure;
  2. Work with and train volunteers so as to build our effectiveness and our reach;
  3. Develop campaigns to make climate change the #1 issue within our profession through engaging thought leaders and existing organisations;
  4. Help our volunteers communicate the urgency and importance of action on climate change with our peers and the broader sector;
  5. Leading our campaign work, from initiating long-term strategic campaigns, to executing rapid response short-turnaround interventions in the advocacy space;
  6. Writing and sending emails to our database of members, using our CRM database Nationbuilder;
  7. Establishing systems and structures required for you to conduct your campaigning and communications work. For example, you’d be responsible for developing and documenting our brand identity.
  8. Pitching stories to journalists in order to raise the pressure on politicians to act, and raise the profile and influence of Veterinarians for Climate Action;
  9. Driving strategies that enable us to reach out, activate and grow our audience on social media;
  10. Ensuring our key stakeholders including donors, board members, industry groups and politicians receive relevant, timely communication about our activities;
  11. Communicating with key donors;
  12. Building our communications and advocacy partnerships within the animal sector - with communication and relationship building to directly engage existing and emerging organisations;
  13. Managing processes for best practice internal communication and campaign coordination within our small but growing team of staff and volunteers.
  14. Developing our reporting and marketing material; including the Annual Report and regular newsletters.

CORE COMPETENCIES

  1. Communication - you are an excellent written communicator with proven ability to resonate with conservative and progressive demographics. You have a demonstrated understanding of, and experience developing research based communications strategies including framing and message development
  2. Collaboration - you are excellent at collaborating with a wide-range of stakeholders and the ability to work well in a small team. You have experience working with volunteers and bring out the best in people
  3. Digital savvy - you have excellent digital communications and social media skills with previous experience in a digital communications focused role
  4. Strategic thinking - you are a strategic thinker who can balance short-term opportunities with longer-term goals. You understand how to develop targeted campaigns which build power and which ultimately create real policy change
  5. Political instinct - you have strong political instincts and an interest in, and understanding of, how the Australian political system is structured and works in practice
  6. Resourcefulness - you are comfortable solving problems in unusual ways and with limited resources. You can work in a young organisation and you are able to think on your feet quickly to solve a problem, without someone giving you much guidance.
  7. Emotional intelligence - you have high emotional intelligence and the ability to work effectively with a wide diversity of stakeholders and volunteers, from environmental activists to conservative rural politicians;
  8. Passion - you are passionate about animals and action on climate change

WHAT COULD TYPICAL TASKS INCLUDE?

  • Monitoring media to ensure VfCA is able to respond in a timely manner to any new developments in the animal and climate space;
  • Chair a small team of volunteer vets and vet nurses who are keen to appear in local, state or national media.
  • Mentor and train a volunteer who is creating content for our social media channels.
  • Writing an advocacy email to our supporters asking them to sign a petition or step up into a volunteering role;
  • Run a meeting with key staff, volunteers and the Board with the aim of creating a consensus on campaign priorities.
  • Editing a short video of a volunteer’s Story of Self, then uploading it to YouTube and Facebook;
  • Building a communications plan for our Climate Smart sustainability program so that we get reach into the veterinary profession.
  • Preparing a veterinarian in NSW to do a TV news interview with a regional TV network;
  • Writing a summary of our highlights from the month and sending to board members, staff and volunteers;
  • Conduct rapid-response work should this year be another bad bushfire season;
  • Run a training session for our volunteers on how to use different writing styles for different audiences
  • Monitoring and updating our social media streams to ensure maximum engagement and outreach;
  • Facilitating a campaign update meeting with staff and key volunteers to devise the next steps in our campaign to increase support and funding;
  • Contacting politicians’ offices to organise meetings, and preparing briefing notes for them about the benefits of acting on climate;
  • Representing VfCA at a Australian Veterinary Association event.

WORK ARRANGEMENTS

This is intended to be a full time position, however a part time arrangement may be considered for the right applicant. We don’t have an office so this would be a work-from-home arrangement. Availability for reasonable domestic travel is a requirement (pending COVID restrictions).

The successful candidate can be located anywhere within Australia.

SALARY RANGE

$75,000 - 85,000, plus 9.5% superannuation, and depending on experience and location.

Please contact Ben Cox, CEO, with any questions or to organise a confidential discussion about the role via [email protected], using the subject line: Campaigns and Communications Manager - Australia Wide enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Please click Apply Now to submit your application and include a response to the eight core competencies as per the attached form.

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