Communications Officer (Biodiversity)

Communications Officer (Biodiversity)

EEB – European Environmental Bureau

Brussels, Belgium

The European Environmental Bureau
a network of more than 180 environmental citizens’ organisations
is recruiting for a new
Communications Officer (Biodiversity)

The European Environmental Bureau is the largest and most inclusive European network of environmental citizens’ groups – and the only one that works on a very large range of environmental, health, climate and social justice issues. We advocate for progressive policies to create a better environment in the European Union and beyond.

We are looking for a talented and committed Communications Officer (Biodiversity) who will be based at the EEB office in Brussels and be part a dynamic communications team. The Communications Officer will report directly to EEB’s Policy Manager for Biodiversity and Water and will be thematically anchored in the Biodiversity, Water and Soil Team. We want to interview candidates who are a creative, resourceful, and self-motivated, with excellent communications and interpersonal skills, eager to help build a better future for people and nature, and to promote stronger laws and policy coherence. The successful candidate should be able to clearly communicate conceptual topics and make them relatable to different audiences.

Key Responsibilities:

Content development

• Write attention-grabbing articles and punchy opinion pieces for media outlets, the EEB news channel META;
• Edit documents (e.g., policy papers, letters, reports) to improve their readability;
• Develop core messages for the team/ policy area/ project communication targeting various audiences and stakeholders at EU and national levels.

Digital communications

Following the framework provided by the communications’ team’s digital communications lead, support our work by:

• Effectively using social media to push campaign messages and promote events;
• Designing and developing digital content for social media and other communications materials;
• Preparing social media toolkits to broaden reach, engage audiences and achieve advocacy goals;
• Updating, maintaining and developing EEB’s web presence, online tools and social media.

Press

• Draft, edit and deliver press releases and other relevant materials for national and international media (with biodiversity and nature being your primary focus);
• Respond to/coordinate media inquiries by journalists and other stakeholders;
• Proactively identify opportunities, develop and pitch stories to media outlets;
• Build a lasting relationship with the media, monitor and report on press coverage.

Other

Support policy colleagues working on agriculture achieve their objectives, you will:

• Develop and implement communications concepts and plans for projects and campaigns;
• Deliver on campaign and advocacy objectives, in collaboration with policy and communications colleagues, and where applicable, project partners;
• Contribute to strategic discussions within the policy and communications teams;
• Support the EEB’s horizontal communications activities, and the development and maintenance of the EEB’s communications infrastructure;
• Coordinate work of external communications service providers;
• Offer communications support for events, e.g., develop key messages, plan promotion and dissemination, elaborate post-event report etc.

Skills, experience, and other requirements:

• A degree in a relevant field;
• A minimum of two or three years of experience in communications with a good command of social media, preferably in an international or European environmental NGO;
• Competency in CMS (WordPress), Mailchimp, social media and other relevant communications tools;
• Understanding of EU environmental policies and decision-making processes;
• Familiarity with Brussels-focused EU media landscape;
• Interest in and commitment to nature protection, restoration and sustainable use;
• Ability to communicate persuasively and explain complex and technical information clearly and succinctly;
• Experience in using graphic design tools (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, Canva etc.) and digital publishing;
• Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team;
• Strong organisational and project management skills;
• Ability to build productive working -relationships with people from different cultures and backgrounds;
• Native-level command of English required, other EU language(s) an asset;
• Subscribe to the EEB’s values.

What we offer:

• A competitive salary (gross monthly salary starting from € 2923¹ depending on level of experience) coupled with various legal and extra-legal benefits: holiday bonus, 13^th month, pension scheme, luncheon vouchers, teleworking indemnity, travel insurance;
• A two-year contract, with the possibility to extend, subject to funding;
• A pleasant working atmosphere in an international working environment;
• A worthy cause to work for.

Application process:

Please send your CV, a cover letter explaining your motivation to apply for this position and the responses to the two tasks below to [email protected] by 11 February 2024. The subject line of your email must clearly state: ‘Communications Officer (Biodiversity)’.

Tasks

• Write a blog post (max. 300 words) for our META news channel about why the Council should reject the European Commission proposal to downgrade the protection status of the wolf;
• Draft social media posts to promote your article on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Location: We offer Belgian contracts under Belgian law. The candidate must commit to being officially registered in Belgium and working partially from our office in Brussels. This currently entails structural teleworking scheme (with at least 1 day in the office per week depending on the position) and will work as part of the EEB’s Communication Team, under the supervision of the EEB Policy Manager for Biodiversity and Water and in close cooperation with other EEB Officers.
Deadline for Application: 11 February 2024
Interviews first round: middle of February
Starting date: as soon as feasible

Please note that we will ask shortlisted candidates to provide two references.

Due to limited staff resources and numbers of CVs anticipated, only candidates selected for interviews will receive a reply.

The EEB is an equal-opportunities employer. We respect our employees’ private life, including where they are taking up care roles. We strive to be an inclusive organisation and encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates. Please have a look at our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Policy.

Please read our recruitment privacy statement before applying.

European Environmental Bureau AISBL
Rue des Deux Eglises 14-16, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 289 10 90
E-mail: [email protected] – Website: http://www.eeb.org
International non-profit association – Association internationale sans but lucratif (AISBL)
EC register for interest representatives: Identification number: 06798511314-27
BCE identification number: 0415.814.848
RPM Tribunal de l’entreprise francophone de Bruxelles

¹ A higher salary could be considered for candidates with higher levels of experience. Please check our salary scale.