Overview

Community Engagement Officer – Thames Estuary
Reference: MAY20225608
Location: Purfleet – Rainham Marshes
Salary: £23,939 – £26,558 Per Annum
Benefits: Pension, Life Assurance, 26 days Annual Leave (pro-rata)
Duration: Fixed Term for 9 months until 31st March 2023, Full-Time

About The Greener Thames Estuary programme

The Greater Thames Estuary is fantastic for wildlife, but it’s under threat from habitat loss and climate change. With funding from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, the RSPB and its local partners, are embarking on a landscape project across Kent and Essex, to create a ‘Greener Thames’ Estuary, for wildlife and for people.

This includes with a suit of habitat restoration and enhancement projects across the Greater Thames Estuary, and an outreach programme, which is designed to actively open more opportunities for unrepresented groups in our communities through:

1) Youth and Community engagement

2) The piloting of a new traineeship scheme (run in parallel by the Youth Development Manager).

About the role

Your area of responsibility will be to lead a variety of outreach and community engagement elements including the piloting of a local Youth Council, building new relationships with humanities students at local colleges and universities, and running a programme of public events to help people engage with nature.

You will establish a volunteer youth panel to co-develop an and deliver a series of events to help people within the Greater Thames Estuary to engage with nature. Working closely with our partners, you’ll be energetic and innovative when it comes to organising events and activities that support our work in restoring valuable wetlands across Kent and Essex. The previous occupant of this role has already kick-started the development process including the recruitment for the Youth Council, by establishing a volunteer chair, who you
will work closely with. In addition, there is already a basic programme of events for you to deliver and add to, alongside the youth panel.

Key tasks include:

  •  Continue to plan, organise and deliver an ambitious programme of community events at sites across Kent and Essex, including practical tasks.
  • Recruit a Greener Thames Youth Council who will advise on community engagement approaches and activities.
  • Support the Youth Council to take action for nature through implementing their shared initiative/s.
  • Work with youth and community groups (including green prescribing) to encourage people to engage with nature.
  • Continue to develop and support partnerships with universities and their students from a variety of disciplines.
  • Help young people to learn new life skills and gain experience in the environmental sector.
  • Ensure productive relationships with project partners.
  • Contribute to project legacy planning, ensuring opportunities for the local people to continue local conservation activities.
  • Provide regular project progress reports

Essential skills, knowledge and experience:

  • An excellent communicator, with demonstrable people skills and the ability to engage with a wide range of people face to face
  • Event organisation experience, including undertaking Health & Safety procedures
  • Ability to work under own initiative and lead groups in practical tasks
  • Experience of working with volunteers and young people
  • Ability to work collaboratively as a part of a team
  • Willingness to travel around the Kent & Essex catchment area
  • Knowledge of conservation sector including basic knowledge of UK wildlife

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

  • Customer service or community engagement experience
  • Experience of working with, or lived experience of under-represented groups
  • Experience of partnership working or NGO sector
  • Some experience of project co-ordination and/or tracking a budget

We will be holding a number of online drop-in question and answer sessions, if you would like to find out more information about the role please go onto our website.

We are open to discussions on flexible working, and job shares will be considered.

The RSPB reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent on business needs at the end of the contract term.

Closing Date: 23:59, Sun, 5th Jun 2022
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position at RSPB Rainham Marshes on 9th June 2022.

Interested? 
 
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position. 

This role will require completion of a DBS/PVG/Access NI in addition to the standard pre-employment checks.

No agencies please.