Senior Communications Associate

The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes.

Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests  and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people.

As an international nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production.

At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.

• Why: To protect nature and improve lives it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we approach the way we use our land and produce food and other products in more sustainable ways. For this to succeed we need to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate and source, and the choices we all make as consumers.
• How: Our growing global alliance aims to transform our relationship with our natural resources and each other, to create a better future for people and nature together.

ABOUT THE ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK INITIATIVE

The Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) is a collaborative effort, led by a diverse group of 25+ NGOs from around the world, to bring about a “new normal” of ethical supply chains that are protective of forests, other natural ecosystems, and human rights. Rainforest Alliance leads the secretariat (“Backbone Team”) for this initiative, providing strategy development, technical support, communications, coordination, and administration to support the work of the AFi’s coalition around the world. For more information, please visit: https://accountability-framework.org.

Position Summary:

At the Rainforest Alliance we are looking for a collaborative and results oriented Senior Communications Associate for the Accountability Framework initiative. This position is part of the Advocacy & Themes team within Rainforest Alliance’s Global Engagement division. The Senior Communications Associate will contribute to the AFi communications program of work to build awareness of, support for, and adoption of the Accountability Framework as the premiere global reference for achieving ethical supply chains in the agriculture and forestry sectors.

This includes highlighting the AFi’s value propositions and explaining how the Framework can be practically applied in a variety of contexts for the AFi’s key target users, which include companies engaged in commodity production and trade, industry groups, policy makers, and peer sustainability initiatives.

The Senior Communications Associate will play a central role in managing the AFi’s social media, design and graphics, website, translations, and engagement analytics. They will also support other aspects of the AFi’s communications program, including content strategy, content production, and engagement with members of the AFi coalition to coordinate on messaging, strategy, and cross-promotion of relevant content.

Locations: Amsterdam, London, Washington, D.C.; other UK, Netherlands, or US locations may be considered.

Responsibilities: 

• Develop and implement the AFi’s social media strategy – with a focus on the LinkedIn and Twitter platforms – including the development of social media and messaging toolkits and collaboration with AFi partner organizations to align and amplify key messages;
• Conduct research and draft content for AFi communications products, including newsletters, blogs, case studies, press releases, brochures, and user-friendly presentations of the Accountability Framework for specific audiences;
• Co-manage the AFi website, including content management, site updates, and ongoing maintenance via direct work through the website’s content management system (CMS) as well as coordination with IT vendors as needed;
• Collaborate with the Communications Manager on ideation, design and layout of communications products including infographics, reports, and other content;
• Develop micro-content for social media to compellingly convey key messages;
• Manage and enhance the AFi’s suite of engagement analytics to assess and continually improve the effectiveness of AFi’s communications mechanisms;
• Manage foreign language translation of AFi content and the dissemination of translated materials on the website and through other suitable channels;
• Support other AFi communications needs related to events, webinars, workshops, and engagement with the broader AFi coalition;
• Provide support for the effective functioning of the AFi communications team, e.g., processing invoices, organizing meetings, updating communications schedules, databases and archives, etc.; and
• Other duties, as assigned.

Qualifications & Experience: 

We seek candidates who have proven experience developing and implementing effective social media strategies and delivering or overseeing the creation of high-quality graphics and web content in the service of strategic communications and marketing efforts. Specific qualifications are as follows.

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field
• At least five years of experience in communications or marketing, ideally with experience working on mission-driven initiatives related to the environment, social justice, or other public-interest topics
• Demonstrated success in planning and implementing social media strategies or campaigns
• Superior writing, editing, and communication skills, with an ability to convey complex and technical subjects clearly and concisely
• Portfolio of high-quality written work, showing both creative and technical writing
• Strong research skills, with an ability to identify, distill, and convey essential findings
• Excellent organization, attention to detail, and thoroughness
• Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team, and to deliver high-quality products under strict deadlines
• Experience using CMS to dynamically update and upgrade websites
• Experience designing high-quality slide presentations in Powerpoint and social media graphics in Canva (or similar)
• Willingness to travel up to 10% domestically and internationally, as required

Preferred:

• Experience communicating on sustainability issues, ideally in the context of private sector initiatives or impacts, commodity supply chains and/or tropical forest contexts
• Experience (individually or in collaboration with design vendors) creating high quality document layouts, infographics, and other assets using industry-standard design software
• Written and spoken language ability in Spanish, French, Portuguese or Bahasa Indonesia is a plus

Salary:

• Commensurate with experience.

Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until a successful candidate is selected.

Note: If you have any questions about the job vacancy, please contact the HR department: recruitment@ra.org.

The Rainforest Alliance is an equal opportunity employer. Only candidates authorized to work in the UK, Netherlands, or United States will be considered.