Sustainable Diets Campaigner

Profil

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

Required Skills: (equivalent experiences will be considered)

• At least 3 years of experience working in a relevant field (not counting studies)
• Ability to think strategically, choosing carefully out of many possible avenues which is most likely to have impact
• Networking and maintaining relationships with a very wide range of different stakeholders
• Experience in advocacy
• Originality and creativity – ability to think outside the box to propose new tactics that can cut through
• Communication: writing, public speaking, listening, resolving conflicts, expressing needs constructively, building consensus -- both with external coalitions of actors and also internally with colleagues
• Facilitating meetings involving a broad range of views, interest groups and cultural approaches
• Working independently and proactively, without supervision.
• Excellent organisational (especially the ability to prioritise activities) skills
• Enthusiasm and energy to take on a new challenge
• Fluency in English
• Eligibility to work in Belgium (Please note that Fern is only able to employ those who have the pre-existing legal right to work in Belgium.)

Desirable

Skills:

(equivalent experiences will be considered)

• Knowledge of European agriculture, public health policy, EU policy-making, forests, forest peoples’ rights
• Working proficiency in Portuguese and/or Spanish
• Experience working in tropical forest countries

Location: Brussels, Belgium (staff are required to come to the office at least once per week)

Working hours: Full-time, but part-time (3 or 4 days per week) is also possible if desired by the candidate. Fern offers a flexible working environment where possible.

Salary and benefits: €4,231 to €5,563 (full-time equivalent) per month gross salary (depending on experience), plus lunch vouchers (€8 per working day), health insurance (after the initial 6-month contract), 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.

Contract type: 6-month contract at first, going into a permanent contract if the first phase is successful.

Fern is a non-governmental organization (NGO) working to ensure European policies protect forests and the rights of forest-dependent peoples. We do this by coordinating networks and working with partners across Europe, South-East Asia, Central and West Africa and South America.

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 it is necessary to both highlight problems and present ways forward. We are committed to tackling power injustices and supporting people to improve the wording and implementation of policies that affect them.

We have no director and strive to make decisions by consensus. Details of our work areas and campaigns can be found n.org . We currently have 21 staff working from three offices, in Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and Moreton-in-Marsh (United Kingdom).

We are recruiting a Sustainable Diets campaigner to lead our work on ensuring European diets do not drive the destruction of forests and forest peoples’ rights. Your aim will be for the EU to develop policies that ensure interested consumers can access more nutritionally-balanced plant-based foods. This will involve some direct policy advocacy towards EU institutions; even more important is the work to build policy-oriented alliances with other actors such as health experts and institutions, Indigenous Peoples’ associations, companies and agricultural associations.

You will facilitate existing coalitions with health, consumer and environmental NGOs, guiding them to reach common positions and prioritisations. You will work with Fern’s communications team to design and…