Senior Policy Officer

ISEAL Alliance

Hours
37.5 hours per week

Length of contract
12 month

Salary
£40,000 - £45,000 per year

About the Organisation

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. Our values are Connection, Empowerment, Inspiration, Well-being, Creativity, and Celebration. These are traits we value in each other and in the organisation overall, and we instill 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 to 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 opportunity 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.

About the role

The Senior Policy Officer will help drive engagement with policymakers in key countries in which ISEAL and its partners have a strategic policy interest, with a view to influencing the policy narrative on sustainability and specific policies. The role will identify policy engagement opportunities and provide insightful analysis of policy developments and trends.  In addition, the role will work closely with ISEAL members based in these regions to combine efforts and align on policy influencing.

The ideal candidate will have had exposure to working in an international policy context, either working as part of civic society with governments or as part of a government department. A strong grounding in sustainability issues and related key political and policy debates will be essential, along with some working knowledge of key policy trends in the human rights, climate, and sustainability standards space. Prior experience in working in the EU, UK, at the policy and regulatory landscape or public affairs level will be an advantage. The Senior Officer reports to the Director, Policy and Engagement.

Responsibilities

Policy and Government Engagement:

• Support ISEAL´s strategic engagement with identified key policymaker targets and audiences from a policy influencing and role of voluntary tools perspective
• Keep track of policy developments in key areas and jurisdictions and provide insights and analysis to inform ISEAL’s policy engagement work
• Help identify opportunities for engagements with relevant policymaker audiences and government agencies in key jurisdictions, and engage with them as delegated and supported by other colleagues
• Set up direct meetings and other engagement opportunities for ISEAL, coordinate ISEAL’s input, advice, and engagement, and prepare briefs, reports, and submissions for engagement purposes
• Contribute to establishing engagement and influencing strategies, and to the development of ISEAL’s policy positions
• Provide internal advisory support to other teams on critical policy files based on own subject matter and jurisdiction knowledge
• Support team in development of policy papers, position papers, press releases, and  strategic messaging on policy issues
• Facilitate webinars and workshops on policy-related topics

Other:

• Track policy developments and analyse how they  affect sustainability systems, ISEAL, and its members
• Help shape ISEAL’s work on global policy engagement and outreach in the next strategy period
• Conduct or support other team members with background research on specific regulatory proposals and policy frameworks, and related topics
• Support ISEAL’s member-facing policy activities, liaising with the rest of the team
• Provide policy advice and analysis as requested on priority topics
• Participate actively in team and organisational planning and activities
• Participate in internal staff management processes such as performance reviews, supervisory meetings, etc.

Skills, Competencies & Experience

Experience, Knowledge & Attributes:

• Proven experience working in a policy context as part of civic society or within a government department supporting policy engagement
• Good working knowledge of the sustainability policy landscape and key debates in the space
• Strong skills in policy analysis and policy intelligence
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills
• Excellent writing skills and ability to synthesise information
• Prior exposure to sustainability standards, passionate about sustainability-linked policy issues such as human rights, climate, nature, and due diligence  
• Some experience and comfortable with public speaking, facilitating webinars or workshops
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with cross-functional teams in a largely remote, international environment, including occasional international time-zone calls
• Confidence in using IT systems, familiarity with virtual meeting tools (MS Teams, Skype, GoToMeeting, etc), use of contact management databases (Salesforce), and proficiency in MS Office

Additionally Desirable:

• Other languages: Spanish
• Prior experience working with a remote manager and team
• Exposure to working on strategic policy questions
• Experience in tracking, engaging in development issues in Global South countries

Required Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree in a relevant subject sustainability and environmental studies, human rights, law, int. development/ social policy, EU policy etc., and equivalent work experience

Compensation & Benefits

• 25 days of annual leave
• Extra five days after the full five years.

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely
• International travel will be required to undertake a fair amount of international travel, and should ideally have a passport (UK, EU) to enable this smoothly

How to apply

• Apply online
• Specific enquiries about this role and the application process can be sent to [email protected].

Interviews

• Please note that we will only contact shortlisted applicants.
• First interviews (Teams): 1st-3rd October
• Pre-interview timed exercises (between 60 – 90 minutes from home): 7th - 9th October
• Panel interviews (Teams): W/C 13th October
• Decision: W/C 20th October

Policies

If candidates require additional time or other considerations for the interview process, we are committed to accommodating any reasonable requests. Please note that ISEAL will cover travel expenses for in-person interviews for candidates travelling from outside of Greater London. ISEAL also covers caring expenses for candidates who are carers and need to arrange cover for the duration of the interview/exercises.

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