Communications & Press Officer (Nextdoor Nature)

Full Time: 35 Hours Per Week

Fixed Term contract April 2022 – 30th June 2024

Closing Date for Applications: 8th May 

First Interview: 16th May

Can you tell the stories behind a people-powered nature revolution and inspire others to get involved?

We are looking for a talented communications professional to work with The Wildlife Trusts on a transformative partnership project to help reverse the nature and climate emergencies.

Nextdoor Nature will see thousands of people across the UK empowered to lead action for wildlife within their communities, reclaiming and creating new green spaces for nature in rural and urban places on their doorstep.

If you have a knack for creating compelling content for a range of audiences across different platforms, have an eye for a good story that will engage the national media, and would like to work for one of the UK’s best-loved nature charities, then we have an exciting opportunity for you.

Who we are

The Wildlife Trusts are a federated movement of 46 charities, supported by a central charity, the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. Together we have 870,000 members, 38,000 volunteers and 3,400 staff across the UK. We are at an exciting moment in our 110-year history, with the development of an ambitious new strategy, setting out a vision of nature in recovery, with abundant, diverse wildlife and natural processes creating wilder landscapes where people and nature thrive.

Wildlife Trusts have restored and care for some of the most special places for wildlife in the UK. Collectively we manage more than 2,300 nature reserves, operate 123 visitor and education centres and own 29 working farms. We undertake research, we stand up for wildlife and wild places under threat, and we help people access nature.

The next few years will be critical in determining what kind of world we all live in. We need to urgently reverse the loss of wildlife and put nature into recovery at scale if we are to prevent climate and ecological disaster. We recognise that this will require big, bold changes in the way The Wildlife Trusts work, not least in how we mobilise others and support them to organise within their own communities.

We’re Wild About Inclusion! To us, this means inspiring, empowering and engaging people from all backgrounds, cultures, identities and abilities, to change the natural world for the better. It means creating workspaces where difference is celebrated, everyone can be themselves and flourish, just like nature.

About you

You will be a motivated, resilient self-starter who also thrives as part of a team. You will be experienced in working in a communications team, developing, analysing and evaluating impactful content across different channels to drive action. You will be adept at communicating with mass audiences from a diverse mix of backgrounds, including young people, with a creative flair and ability to create clear and simple messaging that educates and inspires people to act.

You will be adept at identifying and writing stories that are likely to generate media interest, with a good understanding of the news agenda and ability to keep abreast of current affairs. You will be a strategic thinker with a keen eye for detail, used to balancing multiple priorities

and using your initiative, whilst working against tight deadlines. A talented and creative team- player, you will need to work with a number of teams across the central charity, RSWT, including communications, press and media and community organising, as well as colleagues from across the 46 Wildlife Trusts and individuals within the community as we build a mass movement of people taking action for nature.

We value courage, respect, integrity, trust and responsibility. Whilst we are passionate in promoting our aims we are not judgemental and are inclusive. We want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented within our sector, including people from minority backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to offering an interview to anyone with a disability that meets all the essential criteria for the post. Please let us know if you require any adjustments to make our recruitment process more accessible.

This post may be subject to a DBS check.