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Hours: Full-time, but with some flexibility possible
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Brussels or within easy access of Brussels
Salary: €58-63k gross & inclusive of pension + luncheon vouchers + 25 days holiday
Deadline: Monday 15 June at 9am BST

Background

ShareAction is an NGO and campaigning organisation working to unleash the power of the financial system to drive social progress and protect our environment. We focus on transforming the investment system, using it as a lever to generate positive social and environmental impact in the real world.

We do this by:

• Educating and working with investors to improve their practices;
• Influencing the policy-makers and industry regulators that can ensure the investment system serves society’s interests in the long-term;
• Campaigning to unlock the power of investors, as shareholders in companies, to change corporate behaviour (on issues such as climate change, good work and human rights, sustainable food and public health);
• Mobilising ordinary people, who have a stake in the investment system through their pensions and savings, to demand a change in how their money is invested;
• Collaborating with other civil society organisations who share our vision.

Job Description

We are looking to appoint a Head of European Policy to lead ShareAction’s policy work in Brussels. We have been advocating for changes in sustainable finance policy in Europe for a number of years and we have had a small team in Brussels since 2017.

The EU is currently at the forefront of the most advanced package of sustainable finance regulation anywhere in the world. The Head of European Policy will have the opportunity to lead our work at this exciting time. They will be responsible for developing and implementing our strategy for influencing the Commission, the European Parliament, the European Supervisory Agencies and the wider policy debate around sustainable finance.

The success of the EU’s reform agenda on sustainable finance will depend on how member states implement new directives and regulations. The Head of European Policy will therefore develop our work to help civil society in member states influence how the EU’s agenda is taken forward at state-level.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrable interest in sustainable finance, including environmental and social issues. They may have particular expertise and experience in one area of these but will be interested in both. They will foster and manage relationships with policymakers, civil society organisations, trade bodies, funders and other stakeholders, and they will represent ShareAction publicly at events and in the media to promote our objectives and strategy.

The successful candidate will be a team-player and an excellent communicator, who is able to work independently away from ShareAction’s London head office, whilst maintaining strong working relationships with colleagues there. An important part of the role will be keeping colleagues informed about European policy and drawing connections with ShareAction’s wider work.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Although your role will be varied and open to some change in the activities you will undertake, below are the types of activities that you can expect to be doing:

Policy advocacy in the EU:

• Leading ShareAction’s policy advocacy work in Brussels to influence the Commission, the European Parliament, the European Supervisory Agencies and the wider policy debate around sustainable finance;
• Developing our strategy on European policy to ensure we focus our limited resources at the right activities;
• Responding to opportunities to influence policy development, including writing consultation responses, writing articles, attending meetings and organising events;
• Proactively influencing the policy debate on sustainable finance including writing briefings, speaking at events, seeking meetings, and writing articles;
• Building and maintaining good relationships with policymakers and other stakeholders;
• Working closely with ShareAction colleagues to keep them informed about European policy and to collaborate to reinforce each other’s work.

Amplifying the EU’s sustainable finance work across Europe:

• Building connections with civil society and other stakeholders in EU members states to encourage rigorous implementation of the EU’s sustainable finance legislation at member-state level.

Raising the profile of ShareAction’s European policy work:

• Working with ShareAction’s Communications team to promote our European policy work to different audiences and in different geographies.

Strategy and fundraising:

• Working in liaison with the CEO and senior colleagues on the design and execution of a multi-year fundraising strategy for ShareAction’s European policy work;
• Producing reports for funders in liaison with the Fundraising Team.

People and budget management:

• Line management of Policy Assistant, with ambition to grow the team subject to funding;
• Management of budget, with support from ShareAction’s Finance team;
• Adopting ShareAction’s project and data management techniques, with support from our Operations team.

Person specification

We are looking for a passionate, determined individual, with the following experience and skills:

ESSENTIAL:

• Experience of influencing European policy on sustainability (this may have had an environmental focus and/or a social/labour rights focus or otherwise);
• Excellent knowledge of how the finance sector works and a demonstrable interest in ShareAction’s vision;
• Excellent communication skills, fluent in both written and spoken English; experience of writing persuasively and concisely in a professional context;
• Project management skills with proven capacity to undertake varied tasks simultaneously to tight deadlines;
• Experience of public speaking;
• Experience of managing stakeholder relationships;
• Willingness to support colleagues delivering related ShareAction activities – such as research, campaigning, communications and website maintenance;
• Experience of managing others;
• Ability to work well alone or within a team; self-motivated;
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

DESIRABLE:

• In-depth knowledge of the EU’s sustainable finance agenda;
• Experience of working or campaigning on responsible/sustainable investment issues, whether in the private sector or in the third sector;
• Experience of organising/running networks of organisations;
• Experience of managing budgets;
• Experience of fundraising;
• Experience of working with Microsoft Office 365, particularly SharePoint;
• Experience of working with CRM systems, ideally Salesforce;
• Basic knowledge of data protection regulations/GDPR.

ShareAction values and respects all differences in people (see and unseen). One of the ways we do this is by actively encouraging staff to work in ways that best suit their needs and our flexible working policy outlines many of the options available - such as part-time and term-time working, job sharing, home working and working compressed hours. Please talk to us at the interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

Due to Covid-19 all interviews will take place online.

How to apply

Please send an up to date CV and cover letter to Bethan Livesey at recruitment@shareaction.org by Monday 15 June at 9am BST. Please ensure that your cover letter is no more than two sides of A4 and that you address all of the criteria in the person specification by giving details of work experience (paid or voluntary), skills and achievements relevant to this post, and any other information to support your application.

We welcome applications from all sections of the community. Note that all personal information will be removed from applications prior to shortlisting.

Please note that to be considered for this post you must be legally eligible to work in Belgium. Due to current restrictions we are unable to hire anyone that isn’t already living in Belgium.

this job offer is not open for applications