Sustainable Communities Coordinator (Herefordshire and Gloucestershire)

England - South West, United Kingdom

Severn Wye is looking for a talented individual to empower people and communities living in rural areas to act on climate change

Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF), Energised Communities will empower disadvantaged rural communities in England and Wales to tackle climate change, providing support and inspiration for community-led action focused on reducing energy use and generating clean energy, resulting in reduced carbon emissions, increased community resilience, and long-term sustainability.

The Energised Communities project will support communities that don’t traditionally engage with climate issues, bringing them together for action-oriented discussions about energy and its impact on climate change. Communities will identify local challenges, establish what people care about and explore solutions. The project will provide inspiration for what’s possible and give communities the tools to make it happen. We will support communities in the long term, recognising that building the ideas, skills and confidence to see projects through takes time. The project will help communities take more control over their energy futures, creating opportunities for green skills, local employment and community regeneration.

Why you’ll enjoy working with us  

Severn Wye is a great organisation to work for.  We love what we do. You will enjoy a relaxed and supportive work environment, and colleagues who are knowledgeable, generous and committed to making a difference. Our flexible working arrangements are designed to accommodate the work/life balance our people need depending on where they are in their life and career, which means we benefit from the experience and enthusiasm of employees of all ages and backgrounds.  

We’ll provide the training you need to help you grow in your role and get to grips with the energy landscape. You’ll start on 24 days annual leave increasing to 29 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata for part time). You’ll have excellent support for the future such as Group Life Assurance and a company pension scheme with employer contributions of 7% when you put in 5% or more. We get together regularly for social events and look after you outside work hours with employee discounts on a range of outlets, including discounted gift cards and cashback.  

If this sounds like an environment in which you’d thrive, you’re looking to strengthen your career, broaden your experience and contribute to a sustainable future while doing so we’d love to hear from you.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Key Responsibilities

·       Programme Delivery: Deliver the Energised Communities programme across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire

·       Stakeholder Engagement: Identify, map and actively engage diverse local stakeholders including parish/local councils, rural development bodies, community groups, residents' associations, business representatives, academic institutions (schools, colleges, universities) and Health Boards/ NHS Trusts.

·       Work with Community: To champion a collaborative climate action vision, facilitate initial community engagement, and ensure inclusive participation in mapping exercises to identify local strengths and climate action opportunities

·       Co-design Leadership: Model and promote co-design/co-delivery approaches, actively including traditionally uninvolved groups in climate initiatives

·       Programme Development: Support evidence-based, community-led climate initiatives through event leadership, programme shaping, implementation support, resource leveraging, and ongoing guidance

·       Knowledge Building: Enhance community understanding of climate issues through informed advice, signposting, baseline data support, evaluation assistance, project planning guidance, and governance/funding support

·       Communication & Advocacy: Act as community project advocate, develop communication plans including social media strategies, and participate in knowledge sharing within teams and among stakeholders

·       Partnership & Innovation: Collaborate with rural communities and partner organisations to co-produce innovative climate projects, prevent work duplication, build beneficial networks, and identify additional funding sources

·       Capacity Building: Develop group knowledge and climate action capacity, establish necessary governance structures, and support long-term sustainability

·       Monitoring & Evaluation: Provide regular progress reports, support programme evaluation with impact data, facilitate group reflection and learning, and ensure consistent messaging and Fund guideline compliance

PERSON SPECIFICATION

You will have:

·       Education to degree level or equivalent experience 

·       Excellent communication and facilitation abilities with good verbal, written and presentation skills and ability to write reports

·       IT skills (Word, Excel, Outlook, online database systems) to conduct and accurately record all activities.  

·       Understanding of climate change and community development/engagement.

·       Experience of partnering with diverse groups of stakeholders, able to represent ideas and communicate proposals persuasively and creatively.

·       Project coordination and delivery skills

·       Able to multi-task and manage own workload efficiently with minimum supervision, within a team. 

·       Ability to travel is essential, this will be to regular meetings and events within rural communities where access to public transport may be limited. (This may also include some evenings and weekends)

·       A basic DBS check is required. 

And the following would be beneficial:

·       In depth understanding of community development, sustainable development, or rural regeneration with up-to-date knowledge and understanding of Climate action, social inequality issues and wider sustainable development issues in rural Wales/England

·       Experience of stimulating and enabling community action through coproduction with community, social enterprise and/or other third sector groups.

·       Climate, environmental programme experience

·       Co-design and participatory methods knowledge

·       Good knowledge of, and an ability to form, effective, collaborative working relationships across the public, private and third sectors

·       A practitioner in Asset Based Community Development and Co-production

·       Grant writing and fundraising experience

·       Written and spoken Welsh language skills (where necessary)

·       Knowledge of social media and print media as tools for communication and development.

How to Apply

If you are interested in applying for this role, please visit our online application portal and fill out our form with your details, attach your CV and provide a brief covering letter explaining why you are interested in this position and how your experience matches the requirements in the Job Description.