Forest Governance Campaigner - West Africa focused

C. Person specification: We do not expect for candidates to fulfil all of these requirements, but it would be preferable that a majority of these skills are fulfilled.

• A working knowledge of forest-related policies, especially within Europe;
• Excellent organisational (especially the ability to prioritise activities) and computer skills;
• Strong communication skills for campaigning and consensus building within teams;
• Experience in working with NGOs in Africa; facilitating NGO networks, developing joint (NGO) positions and facilitating meetings involving a broad range of views, interest groups and cultural approaches;
• Familiarity with fundraising procedures and reporting requirements;
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relationship with both partner organisations at grassroots level as well as with Government, Commission officials and Members of European Parliament;
• A good understanding of or a willingness to learn about the functioning of EU institutions;
• Experience in advocacy work, preferably at European level.

Indicative starting salary & working conditions

If employed in Belgium, from €3,987 to €5,243 (full time equivalent) per month – gross salary (depending on experience), plus lunch vouchers (€8 per working day), health insurance and a contribution to travel costs from home to office.

If employed in the UK, from £38,341 to £48,527 (full time equivalent) per annum – gross salary (depending on experience), plus lunch vouchers (£7.44 per working day), group pension scheme, health insurance and a contribution to travel costs from home to office.

Fern offers full time staff five extra days holiday in addition to legal holidays, and up to four additional holidays between Christmas and the New Year. Staff also earn an additional day for every two years worked at Fern, up to a maximum of five days.

The position is based in either Brussels, Belgium or the United Kingdom (within commutable distance to Brussels and the Cotswold’s offices). Staff are expected to be in the office at least one day a week. This is a full-time role, but we will also consider candidates who wish to work four days per week.

Fern is committed to advancing justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe that diverse voices and perspectives are essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age or disability.

1. HOW TO APPLY

Applications should be made in English and comprise:

1. A Curriculum Vitae
2. A one page covering letter explaining why you are interested in this job, including what attracts you to Fern and what you could bring to Fern.
3. An assignment: Please explain within 1-2 pages how you think the EU should go about having a partnership related to the EU Deforestation Regulation’s Article 30 with Ghana, Liberia or Côte d’Ivoire and describe the campaign strategy you would use to bring this about.  
4. Two references that may be contacted after your first interview.

Applications without a properly prepared CV, assignment and covering letter will not be considered. Only selected candidates will be contacted.                                                                          

Deadline for applications: 2nd July 2023

First Round Interviews will be 18 July 2023 in Brussels

Second Round Interviews will be 25 July 2023 in Moreton-in-Marsh

Travel costs to both interviews will be reimbursed

Send applications to: julie@fern.org

If you'd like to discuss the job, please contact: Alexandra Benjamin, alexandra@fern.org, +44(0)7495705904

Fern values a diverse work force and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. If you have any reasonable adjustments you need Fern to take into consideration for either the application or the interview process, please get in touch with alexandra@fern.org.

 

 

Fern is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) created in 1995. Our mission is to achieve greater environmental and social justice, focusing on forests and forest peoples’ rights in the policies and practices of the European Union (EU). We do this by coordinating NGO networks and by working with partners to achieve change.

 

We believe that to be effective, it is essential to understand and address the social dimension of environmental conflicts; that strong coalitions are more likely to achieve lasting change; and that presenting ways forward is more effective than highlighting problems. We are committed to tackling gender injustice and supporting women’s rights.

 

We have no director and strive to make decisions by consensus. Details of our work areas and campaigns can be found at www.fern.org. We currently have 18 staff working from three offices, in Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and Moreton-in-Marsh (United Kingdom). We work with partner organisations across Europe, South-East Asia, Central and West Africa and South America.

 

Fern is looking for a new campaigner who speaks English and French to work at the European level and with partner organisations in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Liberia to improve forest governance. The campaigner will work towards increasing forest governance, by opening up space for West African CSOs, forest communities (including women’s groups, smallholders and other disadvantaged groups) within forest policy processes and reducing rights violations and deforestation by using EU market access regulations to trigger improvements in and enforcement of producer country legislation.

1. PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

We are looking for a Forest Governance campaigner who will work with partners in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Liberia towards effective European policies.

 

This role focuses on effectively implementing the EU Deforestation Regulation and the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Programme, with a focus on cocoa and timber. The successful applicant will work as part of Fern’s team; be hard working, politically astute, socially adept, dynamic, flexible, able to multi-task (networking, advocacy, researching and writing) and culturally sensitive. They will need to be able to liaise easily with both European officials and grassroots organisations specifically in Western Africa.

 

This role will help open up space for civil society organisations and forest communities within European development aid and forest policies. It will also focus on campaigning and movement building, working closely with West African partners on strengthening forest governance and opening up space for civil society organisations and forest communities in forest policies. The chosen candidate will specifically need to maintain networks with civil society organisations, farmers and smallholders.

 

You will also work with Fern colleagues to ensure that Fern has a strong understanding of forest governance in West Africa and European development assistance as they relate to West African forests, and a clear strategy for ensuring these policies do not have a negative effect on West African forests and the people who depend on them.

2. KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY AND ASSOCIATED TASKS

Campaigning Responsibilities

• Delivering, as part of a team, the long-term campaign strategy on European development aid and international forest governance issues.
• Acting as a support person for partner organisations in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Liberia in the implementation of work in country.
• Managing or co-managing the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office grant for Fern’s work on governance. This includes writing three-monthly narrative reports and being the liaison between the donor, Fern campaigners and partners.
• Facilitating and/or participating in relevant non-government organisation networks and coalitions
• Proposing communications products and working with the communications team to develop, design, deliver and disseminate them.
• Speaking at public events and policy tours in both English and French.
• Contributing to fundraising and building relationships with funders to ensure the campaign is fully funded (circa €150,000 per year).
• Managing the campaign budget, with Fern’s finance team.
• Conducting and/or project managing research for publications.
• Proposing and writing stories for Fern’s monthly newsletter ForestWatch and the Forest Governance Newsletter.
• Building and maintaining relationships with NGOs and facilitating civil society networks.
• Organising visits to relevant partner organisations.
• Working with internal and external contacts to organise events.
• Keeping abreast of political issues related to the campaign.
• Communicating complex policy issues in an accessible way.
• Following agreed internal policies.

General Responsibilities

• Inputting into Fern’s long-term strategies and developing annual workplans together with other team members.
• Working with team members to ensure there is inter-campaign agreement.
• Facilitating common NGO understanding and positions.
• Inputting into quarterly workplans and chairing/facilitating meetings when relevant.
• After 6 months – joining an organisational development team and mentoring other staff.
• After 6 months – joining and inputting into management team meetings.
• Attending and inputting into organisational meetings. 

B. Other requirements:

• Travel. As Fern is an international organisation with offices in three countries and activities in numerous countries (especially West Africa), travel will be necessary to attend crucial meetings and meet with partners.
• Flexibility. Fern is a campaigning organisation, and some flexibility will be required in working hours, for example in the case of preparing urgent funding proposals, budgets etc.