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 European policies and practices. We do this by co-ordinating NGO networks and 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 have no director and make decisions by consensus.
We currently have 20 staff working from two offices, in Brussels (Belgium) and Moreton in Marsh (UK). Details of our campaigns can be found at www.fern.org
About the position
Forests and climate is one of Fern’s four work areas. 2021 will be a particularly exciting year as the European Commission will review its climate regulations. This gives us the chance to end harmful biomass subsidies and upgrade ambition to protect and restore European forests. In addition to reviewing policy, we focus on building a movement of NGOs, progressive foresters, scientists, and rural communities in favour of a just transition in Europe’s forestry sector. You will be part of Fern’s forests and climate team’s general work but your focus will be forest biomass for energy.
The position will be based in Brussels, and the ideal candidate will start as soon as possible or in March 2021 at the latest. This is a full-time position with a permanent contract.
A. Key areas of responsibility:
- Campaign tasks (70%):
- Researching, developing, implementing, and evaluating campaign strategies.
- Championing Fern’s positions at public events and stakeholder meetings.
- Building a broad network of European and international NGOs, scientists, forestry practitioners, communities from forested areas, and other stakeholders.
- Building and maintaining relationships with key policy makers, including high level contacts, in EU and Member States on forest and climate issues.
- Monitoring forest and climate developments in Member States, the EU and internationally.
- Conducting and/or commissioning research, writing publications, managing consultancy contracts.
- Communication tasks (10%):
- Seeking and maintaining useful press contacts.
- Analysing complex policy debates in the forest and climate field and communicating in an accessible way.
- Working with Fern’s communications team to develop and deliver communication and press strategies.
- Writing regular campaign updates and articles for, among others, Fern’s newsletter EU Forest Watch (10 issues per year).
- Other (20%):
- Reporting on meetings and producing workplans.
- Managing the campaign budget in close co-operation with the finance officer, campaigns coordinator and other forest and climate campaigners.
- Reporting to donors.
- Helping fundraise for the continuation of Fern campaigns and managing donor contacts.
- Internal management, including mentoring and assisting in organisations development teams such as fundraising, communications, knowledge management or gender and diversity.
B. Requirements:
The ideal candidate will have campaigning experience, a flair for building movements with people from a variety of backgrounds, and the ability to turn complex policy jargon into clear narratives. She/He/They will be an excellent team worker with a strong degree of autonomy, show initiative, and deliver accurate communications under pressure.
Essential
- Affinity with Fern’s mission
- Interest in and knowledge of (EU) climate and energy policies
- A good understanding of the functioning of the EU, its institutions and decision-making processes
- Experience of NGO advocacy and campaigning
- Ability to establish networks
- Creative communication skills including writing and editing clear, publishable material
- Fluency in English
- Good organisational skills - able to prioritise and manage workload
- Able to work in a team and a strong degree of autonomy
- An appreciation of power imbalances and social justice, commitment to our organisational values and to cultivating anti-oppressive practice internally and with partners.
- Travel: As Fern is an international organisation with offices in two countries and activities in numerous countries, some travel will be necessary to attend meetings (post COVID).
- Flexibility: Fern is a small campaigning organisation, and some flexibility will be required in working hours, for example in the case of preparing urgent funding proposals, budgets etc.
Desirable
- Understanding of the land-use pillar of the EU’s climate framework as well as bioenergy policies
- Another European language (especially French, German, Finnish, Swedish)
- Experience of working with different types of stakeholders in the forestry sector, including foresters, farmers, or communities
- Strong track-record in fundraising
C. Indicative salary (gross) :
- €3.689/month - €4.017/month (dependent on experience)
D. How to apply:
Applications should be made in English and comprise:
- a short covering letter explaining why you are interested in this job, including what attracts you to Fern and what you could bring to Fern
- a CV detailing all relevant work experience.
We acknowledge that the environmental sector lacks awareness of intersectionality in its approach to social change. As an organisation, especially one which works with partners around the world, we are on a continuing journey to understand these issues and power dynamics better. We encourage applications from people whose identities are underrepresented in the sector and welcome conversations about how to make our recruitment process more accessible.
Applications without a properly prepared covering letter will not be considered. Only selected candidates will be contacted.
Please send applications to julie@fern.org by 6 December. Interviews will take place in the week of 14 December (online).
For any inquiries, please contact Kelsey Perlman, kelsey@fern.org
