Engagement & Communications Officer

Job Title: Engagement & Communications Officer

Purpose: To deliver three main activities: Running the Living Lune catchment
partnership, running LRT’s communications, running a school engagement project.

Reports to: Trust Manager

Location: Hybrid. Working from home and from LRT’s office near Kirkby
Lonsdale. Arrangements are flexible, with the general aim to be working from the office 2-3
days per week. Frequent site work will be required at locations across LRT’s operational area.
Occasional meetings in the northwest region.

Hours: Full-time 37.5 hours per week. Flexible working hours.

Salary: £24,815 – £27,000

Contract: 12-month fixed term contract (with potential to extend)

The Lune Rivers Trust is a small but ambitious environmental charity dedicated to the
protection and enhancement of rivers and tributaries in the Lune catchment. We cover a large
area, from Tebay in the north, to Ingleton in the east and Pilling in the south.

We have just received a large donation from United Utilities to support our work. This will
enable us to expand our activities through the creation of several new projects. It will also
involve the expansion of our team, and the creation of two new posts. The post of Engagement
& Communications Officer is one of these. We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic
person to join our team and to run three of our activities.

Catchment Partnership

LRT hosts the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) partnership for the Lune catchment, called the
Living Lune Partnership. More information about CaBA can be found here: catchmentbasedapproach.org. It is a
partnership of organisations that are active in the Lune catchment and who can influence what
happens to the rivers. The partnership aims to be a forum where issues affecting the local
rivers can be raised and potential solutions discussed. We have run the Living Lune Partnership
for 10 years. With the upcoming expansion of our activities, the current staff member running
the partnership will be moving to a different project, and we are recruiting a replacement to
run the partnership. This is an important and exciting time for the partnership as we explore
how to refresh the way the partnership works and to develop an updated catchment management
plan.

Communications

We are a small Trust and our communications resources (website, social media, pamphlets, etc)
are not well developed. The Engagement & Communications Officer will manage the Trust’s
website and social media to keep them up to date, relevant, and appropriate. They will also
work with the Trust Manager to develop a communications strategy for the Trust. This will
include looking at how we engage face to face with the general public (e.g. at local shows) and
through our website/ social media. The Engagement & Communications Officer will also work
closely with other staff members to help them deliver communication requirements specific to
their projects.

School Engagement

We are about to launch a new project to engage with a number of schools (mainly primary
schools) in our catchment. We will do this through a programme of ‘Eels in the Classroom’ where
we help the schools nurture juvenile eels. We will assist the teachers to use caring for the
eels as a vector for teaching the pupils about environmental issues. At the end of the term,
the eels are released into a nearby river. The second component to this project is that we will
help develop teaching materials for environmental education using the local context. The third
component will be to run a series of education walks with the schools to help educate pupils
about their local environment. The Engagement & Communications will work alongside another
LRT staff member to develop and deliver this project.

We use a flexible working hours/ Time Owed in Lieu system. We also work a mixture of based from
home, based from our office near Kirkby Lonsdale, and on site across our catchment.
Arrangements are flexible, with the general aim to be in the office 2-3 days per week.

We believe that this role lends itself to either a full-time basis or a job-share/ part-time
basis. If you would like to explore the job-share/ part-time option, please mention it in your
application.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Living Lune Partnership

• Organise and run quarterly meetings of the Living Lune Partnership (part of the Catchment
  Based Approach partnership network).
• Establish, and maintain trusted working relationships with members of the partnership.
• Establish and maintain a trusted working relationship with the Environment Agency’s
  Catchment Coordinator assigned to the Lune catchment.

Communications

• Keep LRT’s website up to date with information on the Trust’s activities.
• Develop and manage LRT’s social media to ensure a current and appropriate social media
  presence.
• With the Trust Manager, develop a communications strategy for LRT, appropriate to the
  Trust’s size and ambitions.
• Develop a variety of communication materials to raise the profile of LRT and present the
  work that the Trust does (e.g. pamphlets, engagement notice boards, position statements).

School Engagement Project

• Assist with developing and delivering the ‘Eels in the Classroom’ component of the project.
• Assist with developing and delivering the teaching materials/ resources component of the
  project.
• Assist with or lead engagement/ education walks with schools.

PERSON DESCRIPTION

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate that they are exceptionally self-motivated
and are passionate about improving the environment. They must be an excellent communicator and
enthusiastic about continuing to develop their knowledge and skills.

Essential

• Prior experience in communications or engagement, or an academic background in one or both.
• Excellent communicator.
• Ability to foster partnership working.
• Ability to understand the environmental sector.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the environmental sector in general, and rivers in particular.
• Experience of running partnerships.
• Lives in, or is relocating to, the Lune catchment.

HOW TO APPLY: 

If you would like more information or an informal chat about the post, please contact Tim Pitt
(Trust Manager) on 079 49 24 26 55 or [email protected].

To apply for this post please send a current CV and a motivation letter to: [email protected]. Please use your motivation
letter as an opportunity to explain why you are interested in this post, the skills and
experience you can offer, how you meet the criteria set out in the Person Description, and any
other information you consider relevant.

Closing date for applications: Midnight 21st January 2024.