BirdLife Europe is the European and Central Asian Division of BirdLife International, and is one of the six regional offices of BirdLife International, a global Partnership of autonomous, national non-governmental conservation organisations, with a large grassroots membership in 120 countries and territories.
BirdLife’s mission is to conserve wild birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, by working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.
BirdLife Europe has an international team of permanent staff covering conservation and science, policy and advocacy, capacity building, fundraising, communication, finance and administration supporting the 49 European and Central Asia Birdlife Partners. We are looking for a dynamic and digital savvy Communications Officer with commitment and intellectual capacity to grasp and respond to the variety of strategic communications goals and challenges of BirdLife in Europe and Central Asia.
BirdLife Europe seeks
Communications Officer – Digital Campaigning
Overall purpose of the job
Working within a highly focused small team, the Communications Officer will work closely with the Head of Communications, providing editorial, strategic, creative and operational support across our BirdLife Europe’s work.
S/he is responsible for engaging BirdLife Europe’s various internal and external audiences online, through creative use and effective management of digital channels, including the website, social media and blogs.
With excellent writing, copyediting and proofreading skills and sound technical ability, s/he creates high quality written and multimedia content.
Main duties
Support the implementation of the BirdLife Europe social media and digital campaigning strategy and initiatives;
Help built digital campaign tools and actions;
Develop and maintain BirdLife Europe blogs and websites, including updating and producing new content and campaign-specific websites or web pages;
Actively manage and develop social media content and profiles;
Maintain awareness of and familiarity with the latest and cutting edge digital and social media tools and developments to keep Birdlife’s digital presence innovative and compelling;
Plan and develop multi-media communications materials, including videos, photos, infographics, story-maps;
Produce in-house designed and web designed products;
Provide support to BirdLife Europe Partners on Communications-related activities;
Provide creative, editorial and operational support for communications projects and events, in cooperation with relevant colleagues in BirdLife Europe;
Act as the lead liaison point within the Communications Team point for the following BirdLife Europe’s programmes and Initiatives: Birds and Habitats Directives Campaign,
IBAs, Local Engagement and Empowerment, Spring Alive, EuroBirdWatch;
Assist with monitoring analytics, data entry and overall management of communications database;
As part of the One BirdLife Team, support the Heads of Communications with any other communications projects and activities and perform other duties and tasks as required, consistent with the skills and expertise of the post holder, in non-routine circumstances.
Required profile
Good general education – University Degree or equivalent in communications, journalism or marketing;
Fluent in English (additional languages are an asset);
Minimum of 3 year experience in digital communications or marketing with demonstrated success, preferably in the not-for-profit sector;
Proven ability to write and deliver effective, audience-focused communications and campaigns;
A strong track record of effectively using and developing a presence on, key social media platforms (including Facebook, Linked In, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter) to build relationships and share information;
Good written and oral communication skills with the ability to understand complex policy and scientific issues and to articulate these in a simple, catchy way including using story-telling, case studies, illustrations, infographics, videos and social media;
Communications ‘flair’ with the ability to think creatively, spot a good story and communicate this in the most interesting and/or effective way;
Good interpersonal, networking and team working skills with the ability to collaborate with, motivate and advice others (colleagues, BirdLife Partners and allies, stakeholders);
Demonstrable ability to create and follow work plans and prioritize own workload with minimum supervision;
Demonstrable ability to react quickly to unforeseen/unplanned communications opportunities;
Flexibility and adaptability (multiple assignments, working under pressure, responsiveness to requests, follow-up of decisions);
Openness and creativity: capacity to propose and integrate new ideas and approaches;
Ability and willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends and to be contacted out of office hours in particular policy occasions;
Appreciation of cross-cultural sensitivities with the ability to exercise discretion and show sound judgement;
Strong self-motivation and curiosity;
Problem solving attitude and ability to resolve potential conflicts;
Good understanding of Nature conservation challenges and priorities in Europe and Central Asia;
Knowledge about BirdLife Partnership work and Programmes.
Salary
Salary is established according to the internal BirdLife Europe salary grid under Belgian employment contract and includes holiday bonus, 13th month, pension scheme, luncheon vouchers.
How to apply
Please submit a full CV and a comprehensive cover letter (all in English) setting out your reasons for applying for the post and outlining the qualifications experience, knowledge and skills that you feel you can bring to the role to: recruitment.europe@birdlife.org.
Closing date: 30 April 2016 at midnight CET. Please consider that applications received after the closing date will be automatically discarded.
Shortlisting and interviews
Shortlisting is based on CV and cover letter. Successful candidates will be asked to attend face to face interviews and perform an additional test. Travel support or possibility of remote interview may be offered to candidates from abroad.
Please note that due to the large number of expected applications only successful candidates will be contacted.
Interview days: 11th May 2016, in Brussels.
Start day: as soon as possible.