Head of Campaigns and Engagement

Job Description
Role outline
Job title: Head of Campaigns and Engagement
Salary: £52,522 FTE (full time equivalent)
Band 9 (provisional grading subject to potential role evaluation)
Hours: Full time (35 hours per week)
Managed by: CEO
Direct Management of: Communications Lead, Membership & Volunteer
Lead, Engagement & Policy Officer
Overall purpose
This is a new role, at the heart of a new organisational structure for Friends of the Lake District. It’s an opportunity to rejuvenate the campaigning DNA of a respected, well-established and well-resourced charity.
The Head of Campaigns & Engagement is very much a ‘hands-on practitioner’ in their own right, leading and managing high-profile campaigns, events, and projects across the organisation.
The Head of Campaigns and Engagement is a member of the Senior Leadership Team, playing a key role in the collective leadership of the charity, including the successful rollout of its strategic, organisational, and cultural evolution.
The Head of Campaigns and Engagement is responsible for developing strategies for Campaigning, Communication,
Membership/Volunteering,
and Engagement. They are accountable for delivery against those strategic aims, managing their team to achieve the targets agreed for each area.
Working Links
With the CEO, to whom this role reports.
With the Head of Planning and Policy and the Head of Finance and Operations, who are both part of the Senior Leadership team.
With the various teams which form part of the Campaigns and Engagement cluster.
With the other teams across Friends of the Lake District, particularly Planning & Policy, and Fundraising.
With stakeholders at the various external organisations we work with.
Key Responsibilities
Deliver a renewed focus, vitality, and creativity to our campaigning (which is where Friends established its roots). Work with the CEO, trustees, and the Planning & Policy Team to identify campaigns which will deliver value for Friends of the Lake District. For some campaigns you will lead on end-to-end delivery yourself, for others you will coordinate the work of wider teams. Establish partnerships to increase our campaigning effectiveness and introduce clear impact reporting for all campaigning activity.
Be accountable for the development and delivery of strategies for our Campaigning, Communications,
Membership/Volunteering,
and Engagement work.
As part of the Senior Leadership Team, you will help to lead the charity and achieve a successful strategic and cultural evolution. You will share responsibility for the implementation of the workplan for 2024-#####, linked to the new strategic objectives around Planning & Development,
Visits/Access/Transport,
Climate & Biodiversity, Water, and Nature-Friendly Farming.
Be an inspirational enabler for the communications operation at Friends, helping us raise our profile and cut through with our messaging. Lead effective and compelling storytelling across the organisation, to increase awareness of landscape threats, of our work and its impacts. Develop over-arching narratives and key messages that resonate with target audiences. Support the evolution of the Friends of the Lake District brand identity and tone of voice, ensuring consistency across all channels. Foster new ways of connecting with diverse audiences and encourage innovation in our media use.
Empower our engagement team, helping them deliver events and experiences which resonate with our members and supporters, and complement our strategic aims.
Help revitalise our membership and volunteering operations by supporting the team to re-imagine the relationships people, families, and corporates can have with Friends of the Lake District.
Work with our colleagues nationally at Campaign for National Parks and the Council for Protection of Rural England to support and add value to national campaigns with an eye on policy change in Westminster.
Work closely with our fundraising team to support their drive to increase income (while they’re not under the direct control of this role, this is a critical relationship).
Take overall responsibility for the budget setting and management in the Campaigns and Engagement cluster.
You will model positivity and excellence in leadership and management, helping colleagues to thrive in their roles, with high standards of performance and behaviour.
You will mentor and develop people to achieve their best output, whilst maintaining a healthy balance between their work and their well-being.
Embody a positive culture of collaboration and creativity to ensure all parts of the organisation are working together effectively. Champion the digital evolution of our systems and workflows, to improve effectiveness and impact.
Person Specification
An energetic and seasoned campaigner, with significant experience of delivering public facing advocacy campaigns and getting traction in the media.
An excellent communicator, with a high degree of emotional intelligence which enables you to deal with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including journalists.
A strategic thinker, with experience of designing and delivering strategies across a wide range of disciplines.
An experienced leader, with the ability to inspire and energise teams.
An effective manager, able to communicate clear targets and expectations to your teams, delegate where required, and take budgetary responsibility.
Creative, with the ability to unlock new thinking and innovation, both in your own teams and across the organisation.
Collaborative, able to see the opportunities for joined-up working and capable of contributing to a collective enterprise without requiring control or credit.
Positive, optimistic, and solutions-oriented - with the ability to see a path through any short-term challenges and maintain morale and vision.
An outstanding project manager.
A ‘do-er’, someone who inspires others to deliver by rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in themselves.
Other Requirements
You will relish the intellectual challenge of quickly understanding complex issues relating to the unique landscapes of Cumbria.
You will have the political sophistication to chart a course between positions which are often entrenched or polarised.
You will have an affinity for the convictions and beliefs of Friends of the Lake District, and a love for the landscapes of Cumbria.