Project Officer

Would you like to empower young people aged 10-14 years to lead environmental Social Action
Projects in their local communities?

We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated individual with excellent people and
organisational skills to lead our Blue Influencers scheme, based in or able to travel regularly
to Rainham, Havering and Barking & Dagenham and surrounding areas. 

The scheme will assist young people, aged 10-14, from river and estuarine communities to create
deep, lasting and meaningful connections with the natural environment, with their local
communities and to embed a culture where youth social action becomes the norm. It is funded by
The Ernest Cook Trust and the #iwill Fund, the latter is made possible thanks to £66million
joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities.
The Ernest Cook Trust is acting as a match funder and awarding grants on behalf of the #iwill
Fund.

Day-to-day this role will involve:

• Mapping and building a network of organisations, charities and groups in the area that
  support young people and are looking to enable environmental youth social action
• Engaging with 180 young people, aged 10-14, across the 3 years of the project (to be known
  as Blue Influencers)
• Identifying Blue Influencers from a diverse range of people in the local community via
  connections with youth groups or other groups specifically targeting areas of disadvantage
• Facilitating Blue Influencers’ learning around environmental issues impacting their
  communities and support the conception, planning, delivery and continuation of youth-led
  environmental social action projects to benefit and involve the local community
• Connecting young people with other local organisations to embed their projects in local
  communities and facilitate intergenerational and cross-cultural projects
• Supporting Blue Influencers’ with planning, fundraising, delivering and evaluating their
  community projects.
• Being an active member of regional and national networks of Blue Mentors, including sharing
  best practice and lessons learnt
• Ensuring evaluation is built into all projects and report on project outcomes and
  evaluation data using reporting methods provided
• Acting as an ambassador for youth social action and youth-led work

The role involves working to targets and may involve some weekend and evening working.

This is a great opportunity for someone to have a direct impact on the young people and the
communities in which they are based, utilising learning from the project more widely across the
UK via RSPB colleagues and other RSPB work areas.

Essential skills, knowledge and experience (please address each point in your
application):

• Good knowledge of the local community and local youth provision, with the ability to
  collaborate with local leaders to inspire and empower them
• Ability to persuade and influence a wide variety of people, both internally and externally
• Awareness of health and safety, safeguarding and risk assessing in an outdoor setting
• Prior experience leading outdoor learning activities which connect people to nature, allow
  them to take action for nature and/or become advocates for nature
• Experience of working for, with and through young people using engagement techniques,
  youth-led ways of working or co-creation/co-design techniques
• Excellent organisational and planning skills 

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience (please address each point in your
application):

• Competent IT user including use of Microsoft programmes and social media
• Some prior experience of evaluating learning experiences and project outcomes

The role is home-based with frequent travel to Rainham, Havering and Barking & Dagenham and
surrounding areas. This is a Fixed-Term, Part-Time (0.5 FTE) role for 3 years. These 18.75
hours can be worked flexibly, but some weekend and evening working in the communities will be
required. 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.

Interviews will be via MS Teams in February 2024. For further information, please contact
[email protected]. We reserve the right to
close the role early so please do not delay in applying.

As part of this application process you will be asked to complete an application form including
evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience listed above.

We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone
feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a
world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People
of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate,
sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled,
we are particularly interested in receiving your application. Contact us to discuss any
additional support you may need to complete your application.

As part of the RSPB’s commitment to Safeguarding this role will be subject to an enhanced
police check. This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship – the successful applicant will need to have
a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.