Policy Officer

This role will work directly with the ED providing programme support to the SHOAL Executive Director. This will require the successful applicant to be actively involved in all aspects of SHOAL’s work aimed at halting the loss of freshwater species biodiversity. This includes supporting our partners across the world, increasing engagement with new and potential partners, research, fundraising, communications and programme and project administration. The position provides an exciting and excellent opportunity for somebody seeking valuable early career experience in international nature conservation. 

While the SHOAL programme officer will work exclusively for the SHOAL Initiative, the officer will be part of the Synchronicity Earth team.

Synchronicity Earth and SHOAL

Synchronicity Earth is an environmental grant-maker. We channel philanthropic donations from trusts and foundations, corporate foundations, corporates or individual donors through partners and grantees (identified by our in-house team of conservation experts who make up the ‘Programme Team’), which are undertaking conservation work in the areas that most critically need support.

Our workplace values and culture

We pride ourselves on having an open and inclusive culture. We aim to apply the same dedication to a flourishing diversity of people and wildlife on our planet through our programmes to our working environment, and we strive to make this environment open and inclusive for everyone. This means we also actively support a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible work hours as agreed with your line manager. We support everyone in our team to grow, including through organisation and individual level training opportunities and we have competitive (and longevity of service related) benefits, including maternity/paternity leave and pension packages.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme: We recognise that people from Black, Asian, and Minority-Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and people with disabilities are under-represented in our sector, and that there are often additional barriers present for people from these groups when applying for roles in the charity sector and beyond.

We are committed to attracting and retaining talented individuals from under-represented groups to the conservation and environment sector. If you belong to either of these groups, and your application demonstrates that you meet 80 per cent or more of the ‘Skills and experience required’ for the role, you will be eligible for our Guaranteed Interview Scheme which we offer alongside our standard recruitment process. In the case of an extraordinary number of applicants, the first-stage candidates (including GIS) will receive a short assessment. The results of this assessment will be used to select candidates for the second-stage interview. If you belong to one of the groups above and would like to be considered for the Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please opt in when filling out the candidate survey. You must have completed the candidate survey by 25th February 2024 to be eligible for the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

SHOAL

SHOAL is a global initiative and network committed to ending the extinction of freshwater species, in particular freshwater fish. The SHOAL Inititiative was launched in 2019. SHOAL is hosted in the UK by Synchronicity Earth and falls under the organisation’s Conservation goal, specifically the Freshwater Programme. It is also hosted in the US by Re:wild.

It is an exciting time to join SHOAL, as it has begun Phase 2 of its strategy which is centred on growth and expansion. In April, we will launch our flagship programme, the blueprint for protecting 1,000 of the world’s most threatened freshwater fish species.

SHOAL’s mission: To halt extinctions and recover populations of threatened freshwater species in the wild.

SHOAL’s principle objectives:

• ACT: To mobilise meaningful action for the conservation of threatened freshwater species.
• BUILD: To build capacity of partners to implement impactful freshwater conservation work.
• INSPIRE: To raise awareness of the need for more and better freshwater conservation action.

More information about SHOAL can be found on our website.

About this role

This role will work directly with the ED providing programme support to the SHOAL Executive Director and the global SHOAL team.

Specific responsibilities

Conservation programme development:

• Help manage partner relationships, including building trusting and open relationships, identifying capacity needs, administrating grants, monitoring progress and fulfilling reporting requirements.
• Undertake research, such as identifying intervention points and opportunities to make a difference in conservation, and analysing SHOAL’s impact.
• Manage the programme management tools and systems for SHOAL.

Teamwork:

• Support active and efficient cooperation between SHOAL and the full Synchronicity Earth team, including integration between SHOAL  the Freshwater Programme and the wider team and systems of Synchronicity Earth.
• Support the team with research and administration as required.

Communications:

• Contribute to communication products, including donor reports and proposals, to support SHOAL’s fundraising and philanthropic goals.
• Support analysis of indicators of success for SHOAL’s engagement with its audiences.

Administration:

• Update and undertake due diligence for partners.
• Database entry into Salesforce.

About you

We are looking for an individual who can bring their passion for conservation to the overlooked issue of the freshwater biodiversity crisis. As we are a small team, throughout the recruitment process we will be looking for someone self-motivated, with an ability to work independently, and has a willingness to learn and adapt. This role will include holding external relationships such as conservation partners, so interpersonal and communication skills will be important.

Skills and experience required

• Bachelor’s degree or three or more years’ work experience in a relevant area (for example: field biology, zoology, conservation, ecology, environmental sciences).
• Demonstrable interest in ecology, endangered species and biodiversity.
• Strong research and analytical skills.
• Proven ability to produce high-quality written materials.
• Good organisational and project management skills.
• Fluent written and spoken English.
• Willingness to undertake occasional travel both within the UK and overseas.
• A commitment to our core values, including equity and inclusivity in the conservation sector.

Your development: skills and experience from this role

For the right candidate, there may be opportunities to increase your experience and responsibilities, take on individual responsibilities/projects and potential career development as SHOAL grows. Within Synchronicity Earth there are also a number of cross-cutting Working Groups in which we welcome engagement from new staff, these currently include Reimagining Philanthropy; Youth; and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

The following list is meant to provide guidance for your application while also demonstrating the type of skills and experience you will develop as part of this role. If there is anything here which you have currently had no experience in, but would like to develop, then this would be a great role for you.

Desirable

• Experience of community- and rights-based conservation
• Direct experience of species conservation work
• Knowledge and interest in freshwater fishes, specificially threats and conservation
• Additional language skills
• Experience using Salesforce and/or Asana.
• Postgraduate degree/s or equivalent experience and/or training in a relevant area (for example: field biology, zoology, conservation, ecology, environmental sciences).

Reporting, location and work hours

Synchronicity Earth operates a hybrid working environment. This full-time role requires the candidate to attend the office and/or meetings in Central London (Chancery Lane) for a minimum of 2 days a week. Due to the international aspect of the SHOAL team, there may be a need to work at flexible hours of the day.  

The successful candidate must be already eligible to work in the UK.

Salary:  £26,000 to £30,000 (plus benefits, including a health benefit after successful completion of probation) FTE (dependent on relevant skills and experience).

Start date: As soon as possible.

Closing date for applications: 25th February 2023

Annual leave: 25 days per year for a full-time position (in addition to public holidays), adjusted for part-time. We also run an employer-supported volunteering programme, where employees may take additional time-off to volunteer for community organisations and other charities (in accordance with our policy).

How to apply: Please complete our candidate survey and apply via Charity Jobs with: a cover letter (no longer than two sides of A4) outlining any relevant skills and experience you have for this role, why it interests you, and any particular skills you would like to develop in this role; and your CV (no longer than two sides of A4).You must have completed the candidate survey by 25th February 2024 to be eligible for the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

Inclusion is a priority throughout our workplace culture, and is embedded in our recruitment process (and we are actively still seeking to improve it through employee and candidate suggestions). For example, the first stage of recruitment will be anonymised to mitigate against unconscious bias. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds for this role, particularly non-graduates, and are happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Please let us know at any stage during the recruitment process if you have any accessibility requirements we can accommodate for you and if you have pronouns you would like to be referred to by.

Contact information: Questions and queries should be sent via email and addressed FAO Mike Baltzer (hr@ synchronicityearth. org).