Policy and Public Affairs Assistant

ISEAL is offering an exciting early-career opportunity for a proactive and well-organised individual to join as an Assistant in our Policy and Engagement team. The role will provide administrative and coordination support to the activities and projects of the team. The successful candidate will provide thoughtful administrative, research, events delivery, mapping and tracking and communications support in a dynamic sustainability policy landscape, leading to valuable exposure to ISEAL and our community members’ work. If you are looking to kickstart your career in sustainability with a committed, respected and fast-paced international organisation, this role will provide you with some excellent insights and networks. 

ISEAL supports sustainability standards and similar market-based sustainability systems to improve their impacts on people and planet.  ISEAL’s Credibility Principles and Codes of Good Practice are used globally to guide the development of credible sustainability systems and to evaluate the credibility of sustainability claims. 

The core objective of the Policy and Engagement team is to support governments, civil society and other business influencers to understand, identify and use credible sustainability systems.  We do this through direct engagement with relevant government bodies in priority countries, engagement with individual businesses and business platforms and building community member awareness and knowledge about relevant policy files and implications of new policies for their schemes.  The team also has a key role in convening members on specific policy issues and supporting a more collective voice and approach to influencing policy developments around sustainability.

To be considered for this role, you will need to be highly organised and reliable, with attention to detail and an ability to follow instructions. You should be comfortable carrying out multiple activities concurrently, enjoy working on a varied and changing set of tasks related to Policy and sustainability. You have a strong interest in engaging with complex systems and problems and in learning more about topics related to sustainability standards and policy.  You have a positive and proactive attitude to support the team and its goals and are eager to expand your knowledge and skillset by working on a range of activities. You have a friendly and professional demeanour and are comfortable in your communications and interactions with colleagues and external stakeholders. Alongside basic skills in research and task management you have had experience with varied IT tools and systems and are able to support with the use of the platforms and tools ISEAL uses.

In return, the role will provide an exciting introduction to a range of policy topics and an insight into working in an international not for profile organisation.

Key Responsibilities we will entrust you with:

Events

• Assist in organising event logistics for virtual member working groups on various topics (due diligence, claims, deforestation regulation) including tech support with platforms such as Zoom and MS Teams
• Support content preparation e.g. power point slides
• Communicate with speakers and draft and send event follow up e-mails
• Support project management, engagement tracking, outreach and administration
• Assist with any in-person events, including scouting for venues, support with logistics and preparation of agendas, communication with participants etc.

 Communications and platform management

• Maintain relevant pages on the ISEAL internal platform and ISEAL website
• Support with drafting external communications and liaise closely with the ISEAL communications team
• Draft text for position papers, briefs and reports to be used on ISEAL social media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn)
• Contribute to newsletter drafting and coordinate distribution

Team organisationand support

• Assist with scheduling team meetings, preparation for away days and any workshops
• Support with note taking for team meetings, key external partner calls or member meetings
• Assist Director Policy and Engagement with team coordination activities
• Keep team organised with maintenance of team calendar, external events tracking, tracking of key metrics or KPIs, maintenance of folder structure

 General Administrative support

• Support with contract management, using ISEAL templates and agreed timelines
• Be first point of contact for Community Members and external partner queries
• Proof-read, edit, design, and format documents in Word and Powerpoint, using ISEAL templates

Experience, Knowledge and Attribute

• Experience working or interning in a support/administrative role, ideally in international NGO, professional or membership organisation
• Interest in and possibly some knowledge of policy areas (due diligence, sustainability claims, etc)
• Some understanding of, sustainability standards and certification, which may have been gained in academic, internship, employment or voluntary settings
• Strong organisational skills, and experience supporting on administration, meeting coordination, logistics, contracts, budget tracking, etc.
• Confidence in communications with peers and external partners, comfortable in public speaking situations (e.g. webinars, workshops etc)
• Good time management and ability to organise multiple simultaneous tasks efficiently with precision and strong attention to detail
• Excellent written & spoken English, with proven ability to write clearly and concisely
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with cross-functional teams in a fully remote, international environment, including regular international time-zone calls
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic work environment with changing projects and working with multiple project leads
• Confidence in using the Microsoft Office suite and IT systems, familiarity with virtual meeting tools (e.g. MS Teams, Zoom, etc), use of contact management databases (e.g. Salesforce)

Additionally desirable

• Interest in social and economic sustainability
• Some experience working from home and/or with a manager off site
• Experience using newsletter systems, preferably MailChimp

About ISEAL

ISEAL supports ambitious sustainability systems and their partners to tackle the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges – from the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis to human rights and persistent poverty. ISEAL Community Members include many of the most respected sustainability schemes worldwide and are active across a diverse range of sectors. Read more about us on our website iseal(.)org. 

ISEAL´s culture and how we will help you thrive

Our values are Connection, Empowerment, Inspiration, Wellbeing, Effective Working and Creativity.

These are traits we value in each other and in the organisation overall and we instil these in all our processes and interactions.

The issues we work on are of a global nature and our team reflects this, with individuals from many different backgrounds and nationalities. We know this diversity adds to the high quality of work we deliver as an organisation and through our commitment to diversity and inclusion we want to add strengths and perspectives in our team with each recruitment. Diversity for us includes race and gender identity, age, disability status, sexual orientation, religion and many other areas forming part of someone´s identity. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer.

As an organisation, we also support our people in their personal and professional development, with specific budgets and processes enabling individuals to take advantage of growth and development opportunities.

We offer 25 days of annual leave, to which we will add a day a year after 2 years (to a maximum of 30 days), as well as an extra five days as a one off once you have been with us for a full five years.

We recognise individuals’ preferences when it comes to where and when to work through a hybrid working model with a minimum of 4 days per month in the London office as well as the opportunity to apply for flexible working arrangements to suit individual´s needs.

Other relevant information

Term: This is an initial contract of one year with the possibility of extension

Working hours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week

Salary:   £25,500-£28,500 p.a. depending on experience (full time, 37.5 hours per week)

Location: London. Applicants will need to provide evidence that they are entitled to work in the UK. An ability and willingness to work in a hybrid work environment is required.

International travel: The post holder will be required to undertake occasional international travel