Rural Communities Officer / Senior Communications Officer

The Royal Countryside Fund
Full time (London and hybrid)
£30-32k + pension

Founded in 2010 by His Majesty King Charles III, then The Prince of Wales, The Royal Countryside Fund’s vision is of a thriving countryside – a living landscape of working family farms and prosperous rural life, built on connections and relationships – which in turn shapes rural places, creating vibrant, sustainable communities. The Royal Countryside Fund was established in recognition of the unprecedented pace of social, economic and environmental change contributing to the countryside’s steady decline, with rural incomes falling, a loss of local services and amenities, rising costs for farmers, increasing isolation and mental health issues.  We are working to accelerate our scale and reach, aiming to develop a network of over 6,000 farm businesses and 500 Rural Communities, building on the more than £12 million we’ve invested in rural community-led projects and farming programmes to date, addressing business, environmental, and social issues.

Through this work, our ambition is to be the countryside charity of choice for people living and working in rural and farming communities across the UK, and for those who care about helping them secure a sustainable future.

1. Rural Communities Officer

You will support the Rural Communities Engagement Manager and wider team in the delivery of RCF’s work supporting Rural Communities. This encompasses a wide range of activity, including:

• Administration of grants and projects with Rural Communities.
• Supporting the development of our Confident Rural Communities Network.
• Building engagement with Rural Communities through drafting content including reports, newsletters and seminars, visiting beneficiaries and connecting with other rural organisations and stakeholders, including funders. 

You will demonstrate:

• Project or event administration skills, including working to project plans and meeting deadlines.
• Excellent organisational, planning, prioritisation and time management skills.
• Good people skills with an ability to develop successful working relationships with a range of people.
• Strong communication and presentation skills and be able to operate credibly at all levels.
• Experience of implementing processes and systems and have strong attention to detail. 
• A pro-active and a ‘can-do’ attitude and a calm, polite and customer-facing manner.  
• Flexibility and open-mindedness.  
• Enthusiasm and affinity for the work of the Fund and rural matters.

• Senior Communications Officer

This role will boost our communications capacity at an exciting time of growth for The Royal Countryside Fund. You will be responsible for promoting the charity’s programmes, events and research through writing compelling press releases, news stories, and other communications material. A key part of this role is speaking with charity beneficiaries and coming up with creative promotional opportunities, developing relationships with key journalists and stakeholders, and working with the programme delivery teams to ensure the charity’s programmes are found by those who need them. You will lead on the production of collateral for the charity, working with freelance designers and copyeditors and have responsibility for the coordination of production and delivery of materials. Experience required:

• Project or event administration, including working to project plans and meeting deadlines.
• Excellent organisational, planning, prioritisation and time management skills
• Good people skills with an ability to develop successful working relationships with a range of people
• Strong communication and presentation skills and be able to operate credibly at all levels
• Able to implement processes and systems and have strong attention to detail. 
• Enthusiasm and affinity for the work of the Fund and rural matters.

Deadline for both roles: 17th July

For full details and job descriptions please visit: https://www.wildsearch.org/rcf-opportunities