Director of Communications

Job title:

Director of Communications

Company

Oxford HR

Job description

IntroductionThere is widespread acceptance of the urgency to transform our economies to address multiple environmental crises that humanity is facing. This requires major changes in markets, with companies acting on sustainability gaining market share at the expense of those who neglect it. Achieving this will drive a self-reinforcing, accelerating loop of change in global markets and also serve as a driver of progressive legislation, which will level the playing field.I am proud to have been with Changing Markets Foundation since it was founded in 2015 and was delighted and honoured to step up to take over the leadership as CEO In 2023. The last two years have seen some big changes at Changing Markets Foundation. We have continued our impactful work, experimenting with innovative investigative methods, as well as achieving the highest level of media coverage ever.We have streamlined our campaigns to a few main topics, following the guiding principle that with a small team sometimes doing less is more. We ramped up the work on the Growing the Good campaign, which focused on reducing methane emissions from agriculture, calling on policymakers and big food companies to put in place robust climate and methane targets and reporting.Our landmark report New Merchants of Doubt, (published in 2024), revealed the tactics of Big Meat and Dairy companies to delay, distract, and derail action on transforming the food system, mirroring strategies used by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries. Food systems are responsible for around a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, with approximately 60% coming from animal agriculture, which is the largest source of man-made methane emissions. Our investigation revealed that the industry has largely succeeded in convincing policymakers of agricultural exceptionalism, getting several concessions, exemptions and delays to climate action in the sector. We were delighted to be referenced in articles in the FT, BBC, Bloomberg, to name a few.Meanwhile, the Fossil Fashion campaign continued to expose the ugly face of the fashion’s growing addiction to fossil fuels, showing both the devastating consequences of fashion’s plastic pollution problem and its growing climate footprint.We have continued to expose greenwashing, and the surprising outcome of our food work last year saw us dive into the turbulent flow of online misinformation. Misinformation is a growing risk for the green transition, particularly when it undermines climate policies around food and farming. This is an area we will continue with in our future work, exposing dark forces that lie behind this rising tide of dangerous misinformation.Our team have continued to be an inspiration with their commitment to the cause, their creative ideas and team spirit. When you work in such an emotionally intense and sometimes high-pressure job, it’s important to laugh, to celebrate successes and to acknowledge how far we have come and what we have achieved. As our team develops and grows further in the coming months and years, I look forward to continuing to build a collaborative and supportive organisational culture, where we don’t forget to have fun. Being collaborative and outcome-focused have been two of the key guiding principles of Changing Markets and I want us to continue bringing people together around the pressing issues of our time.I hope that you will consider joining our dynamic team in this new and exciting role as our Director of Communications, shaping our media relations and lifting our public communications to the next level.Nusa Urbancic, CEOAbout Changing Markets FoundationWe expose irresponsible practices and drive change towards a more sustainable economyThe Changing Markets Foundation was formed to accelerate and scale up solutions to sustainability challenges by leveraging the power of markets. We create and support campaigns that expose irresponsible corporate practices and shift market share away from unsustainable products and companies towards environmentally and socially beneficial solutions.We have a successful track record of achieving media coverage in mainstream publications, which has played a critical role in winning our campaigns. We have been running successful campaigns across climate, food, fashion, and circular economy issues, as well as impactful projects, such as a cross-sectoral greenwashing observatory.Our strategy, and our theory of change, is based on three central ideas:01 – Society needs transformational changeIncremental improvement will not be enough to address the systemic threats society faces. We need a low-carbon, clean and circular economy that shares prosperity fairly – and we need progress towards this urgently.02 – Markets can help deliver the changeTransformational change needs companies that have environmentally and socially advanced products and values, to rapidly succeed at the expense of companies that don’t. If this occurs at sufficient scale it will drive a self-reinforcing, accelerating loop of change in global markets.03 – More can be achievedWhen key companies in a specific sector have invested in transformation, they have an interest to also change policy environment to level the playing field. This cements progressive change at the political level.About the RoleThe Director of Communications will be responsible for lifting our public communications to the next level. We are looking for a proactive, hands-on leader, who will build relationships with journalists, as well as with other key audiences, secure media hits in top mainstream media, ensuring that communications are a strong part of our strategies to win campaigns.The successful candidate will work across all our projects and be responsible for developing and implementing communications strategies for our campaigns and organisational comms strategy. We are a small team, so this is a hands-on role, which requires managing all our communications channels and working closely with our team, external consultants and creatives. The Communications Director will report directly to the CEO. Candidate ProfileWe are looking for an experienced communications professional with at least 10 years’ experience in leading successful communications for a non-profit organisation, PR agency or similar. Ideally, you are a creative, hands-on individual with outstanding inter-personal skills, who is a team player and able to form collaborative working relationships with a variety of different stakeholders, ranging from journalists to creative agencies and our NGO partners.What we are looking for – Skills & ExperienceThe successful candidate must have:

• Demonstrable experience in leading and implementing communications to win corporate or public policy campaigns at the national and international level, including proven track record of achieving top-tier media coverage.
• Proven track record of engaging and developing relationships with journalists and an understanding on how we can successfully leverage press work around key campaign moments.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with a collaborative, creative mindset and the ability to build strong, effective working relationships at every level.
• Excellent writing, editing and communication skills in English, knowledge of other languages is a plus.
• An ability to lead, implement and coordinate the launch of our impactful reports (created either in-house or by external consultants). This entails working with Changing Markets campaigners, at every level, on report writing, developing press strategies for the launch, which includes liaising with our partners, and reaching out to journalists.
• A good eye for detail, combined with a strong ability to distil and critically evaluate key information and translate it into simple media and social media materials.
• Good organisation skills with the ability to deliver to tight deadlines, multi-task and operate in a fast-paced environment with occasional heavy workloads.
• The ability to think out-of-the-box and introduce new and innovative ideas, as well as to adapt our communications to changing circumstances.
• Digitally-savvy with experience leading online campaigns for social engagement and mobilisation
• The willingness to regularly create and disseminate content, such as social media posts, op-eds, blogs, and newsletters. Familiarity with web tools such as Word Press, Mail Chimp and Canva is a plus.
• An interest in environmental issues with a passion for creating lasting social change.

It’s a plus if a candidate has:

• Excellent knowledge of and experience working within the environmental and social impact sectors
• Good knowledge of the use of creative communication tactics, such as short videos.
• Passion to create narrative shifts on complex social issues and personal interest in countering misinformation and greenwashing.

Job Features Job Category Environment, Nicola, Zoe
Location Hybrid (Flexible working environment with at least 2/3 days a week in our London office based in Shoreditch
Salary £77,000 – 82,000
Benefits Pension contribution, Life Insurance, Income Protection Benefits, Private Medical Insurance and Sports allowance. Flexible working hours. An opportunity to be part of a diverse international team based in London, Brussels, Utrecht and Madrid; possibility to travel for work.
Closing Date 7th February 2025 (Applications reviewed on a regular basis)Apply For This JobAttach Resume*SubmitApplyInterested in this role? Download the appointment brief below for more information and then come back to this page to apply.Apply NowContinueBy applying with us, you agree to Oxford HR’sOpen Modal Open Modal Open Modal×Application submittedThank you for applying for this role, you will receive an email confirmation shortly.

Expected salary

£77000 – 82000 per year

Location

London

Job date

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 06:10:23 GMT

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