Policy and Advocacy Officer

Full Time – 35 hours per week  

Permanent 

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is a grassroots movement working for nature’s recovery and to bring people closer to nature.  

Our vision for a wilder future is beautiful and vital! 

We want great places to live that are good for people and good for wildlife. We want nature to be normal, for children to grow up with wild green spaces to explore. We want to restore and re-wild our land and sea and tip the balance in favour of nature. We know that nature’s recovery can help tackle the climate crisis. We need a Wilder future for us all!  

We are seeking a Policy & Advocacy Officer to join our cause. 

We are looking for a highly motivated person with a passion and energy for policy or politics to join our team and help us develop compelling policy solutions and advocacy campaigns to engage, inspire and influence decision makers in the run-up to the 2024 General Election and beyond to ensure nature’s recovery is kept at the heart of the public and political conversation.   

You will play a key role in securing nature’s recovery across the two counties and beyond. Our recent campaign, such as our joint Tipner West Campaign with the RSPB successfully mobilised over 30,000 people to take action to oppose a development on legally protected habitats. We have recently launched an advocacy campaign to get legal protections in local and national policy for all our iconic chalk streams.  

This is an exciting time for nature policy locally and nationally and you will be working to shape policy and how it is delivered on the ground, for example working on the Local Nature Recovery Strategies and driving councils to integrate the Strategy into their plans, policies and delivery.  

You will also empower our supporters to take action for nature through our advocacy campaigns and our ‘Wilder Campaign Leaders’ programme which supports budding campaigners locally.  

This role sits within the Advocacy & Engagement team and will work with colleagues from across the Trust and beyond, to develop and deliver compelling policy asks to influence our MPs and councillors, and support the development of the Trust’s advocacy campaigns to establish the Trust as leading experts and.to drive individuals and policy makers to take action for nature. 

This permanent role involves:

• Policy and advocacy development 

• Working closely with the Policy & Advocacy Manager and Director of Advocacy & Engagement to develop and deliver the advocacy strategy and build compelling campaign strategies. 

• Develop advocacy and influencing plans for diverse audiences, including political audiences, supporters and the wider public using audience mapping, insight and understanding. 

• Conducting research and building the Trust’s evidence to support the creation of policy positions and asks, and wider advocacy campaigning. 

• Advocacy Delivery 

• Producing high quality written materials for the Trusts advocacy and campaigns including reports, briefings, press releases and opinion pieces. 

• Develop effective campaigns materials and communication content, working with communications colleagues to deliver this. 

• Public Affairs 

• Managing and coordinating relationships with local political stakeholders, including MPs, councillors, peers, council officers and other relevant political stakeholders. 

The full Job Description is available on our website but in summary, the following is required:  

Experience

• Proven track record of engaging and influencing a range of external audiences. 

• Experience of undertaking research to support policy analysis and advocacy campaigns. 

Knowledge 

• An understanding of influencing and campaigning methods. 

• An understanding of political processes and routes to influencing local and national policy. 

Skills 

• Ability to analyse information and identify policy and campaign opportunities, messages and actions. 

• Excellent written and verbal communications skills. 

Personal Qualities 

• Adaptability within a fast-moving field. 

• Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines. 

Wild About Inclusion! 

As an inclusive employer we recognise that our workforce needs to better reflect the communities in which we live and work.  We encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly those underrepresented within our sector, including people from black, Asian, minority Ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a Movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities. 

We are happy to talk hybrid and flexible working 

This role will be based at our office in Curdridge, however, we are happy to accommodate a hybrid working routine, with a proportion of the week spent working from home.  We are a local charity and so applicants should be able to routinely access our office and other locations around the county as necessary.  

This role is full time, 35 hours per week. Traditionally office hours are Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm with an hour lunch break. However, many of our staff work flexibly and we are happy to consider flexible working hours for the right candidate. 

We offer a wide range of benefits including a competitive salary, generous annual leave allowance, a contributory pension scheme, life assurance, learning and development support, 24-hour access to our employee assistance programme and more. 

Closing date: 10 October 2023 

Interview dates: We will be reviewing applications as and when they come in, and will be interviewing on a rolling basis. 

To apply for the role, please click on the button below which will take you to our online application form. In the ‘supporting information’ section, you’ll need to demonstrate, with detailed examples, how you meet the job requirements using the attached Recruitment Pack.