Communications & Events Manager

Are you a strategic and results oriented communications professional? If you’re eager to work in a dynamic, fast-growing membership organisation committed to improving sustainability in the sugarcane sector, we would love to hear from you.

In this exciting role, you will be responsible shaping and delivering Bonsucro´s communications strategy and overseeing the day-to-day management of a small communications function. A crucial part of this role is to ensure that colleagues, the Bonsucro board and external stakeholders are provided with tools and resources to confidently and effectively communicate about the organisation and its mission.

Bonsucro is the global sustainability platform and standard for sugarcane. Our purpose is to collectively accelerate the sustainable production and uses of sugarcane. We work with people and organisations across the sugarcane supply chain, including small scale farmers and some of the world’s biggest brands.

Climate change, human rights, farmer livelihoods, women’s empowerment, pesticide reduction, and water use are some of the issues that Bonsucro works on. As our Communications and Events Manager you will be expected to create narratives on these issues and link this to Bonsucro’s work on standards and certification,  market development and collective action.

We are looking for someone with strong experience in strategy, planning and delivery of communications and events in a comparable organisation.   You are versatile and stakeholder-oriented and comfortable working in a busy environment with multiple concurrent priorities, deadlines and activities. Your strength lies in creating compelling content and results-driven campaigns that supports the achievement of higher-level strategic goals. You bring a track record of turning very technical and complex information into compelling content and have some insight into agricultural production systems and/or Bonsucro’s countries of operation outside of the UK.

Key responsibilities

Strategy and delivery

• Develop and execute effective communications strategies to continuously strengthen Bonsucro’s profile, reputation and, as a result, to attract new members and partners
• Develop and manage effective communications tools, channels and partnership with media service providers, to deliver on the agreed communications strategy.
• Develop and implement monitoring processes to assess the effectiveness of Bonsucro’s communications strategies, outputs and channels in order to identify areas for continuous improvement.
• Line manage the Communications and Events Coordinator to ensure delivery against plans, timelines and quality work and personal development and growth
• Develop and tailor to stakeholder needs and interest a series of events to contribute to effective member engagement and strengthen Bonsucro’s profile as a convening actor.  
• Develop and deliver the Annual Operational Plan for the Communications and Events function in line with organisational quality standards, adapting to changing context and needs where relevant.

Messaging and content

• Tailor Bonsucro’s key messages to targeted audiences and communications (e.g. articles, press releases and statements) in various languages as needed to ensure consistency of communications across channels, regions and media.
• Develop compelling sustainability ‘impact’ stories from regions and projects and on specific sustainability issues to promote Bonsucro’s impact.

Branding and stakeholder guidance

• Advise and build the capacity of other functional teams on how to effectively communicate about Bonsucro, making them aware of key messages and channels to use to increase the impact of Bonsucro’s communications.
• Advise internal and external stakeholders on adherence to brand guidelines to ensure consistency and appropriateness of use.
• Coordinate and monitor services delivered by sub-contractors
• Act as a representative of the company, where relevant, with both internal and external stakeholders.

Channels, reports and events

• Maintain and optimise an effective public facing website and social media presence to continuously strengthen Bonsucro’s external profile and community building.
• Oversee logistics, planning and delivery of key Bonsucro’s events, in particular Bonsucro Global Week.
• Continuously improve and evolve Bonsucro’s external reports (e.g. Outcome report, Annual report etc) to ensure clarity of layout and language and strengthen them as tools to increase Bonsucro’s profile and value back to members.
• Regularly report on operational progress updates to the Director of Engagement and Markets and other teams to identify areas of strengths and continuous improvement.
• Identify, track and monitor appropriate KPIs that assess the effectiveness of the communications strategies and plans and which inform decision-making.

Person Specification

Essential criteria

• Significant prior experience in development and implementation of communications strategies and a full range of media        services, ideally in a global context
• Strong technical acumen in relation to all aspects of communications and events delivery
• Previous line-management experience and experience in managing moderate budgets
• Significant experience in writing, editing and publishing compelling content
• Proven ability to translate complex information into engaging campaigns and stories
• Excellent editing and proofreading skills for a range of media (online and print), including the ability to convey complex          ideas clearly and simply.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal, written and visual
• Strong time/process management skills and ability to establish priorities and work to deadlines
• High level of communications IT proficiency, covering a range of tools and applications
• Knowledge of and experience in working professionally with online tools and social media
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team and build strong relationships across the organisation
• Self-motivation and adaptability to thrive in a dynamic environment of a small but growing organisation

 Desirable Criteria

• Previous exposure to sustainable agriculture commodity programmes.
• Fluency in additional languages, especially Spanish and/or Portuguese
• Significant experience in communications and social media activities in a professional environment

How to apply

Please note that we are operating a rolling application process and will consider applications as they come in. We will arrange initial screening calls with suitable applicants on an ongoing basis and are looking to hold first formal, in person interviews w/c 14 October.

The interview process is:

1.      Screening call (30 minutes with Recruitment consultant)

2.      First interview, in person at Bonsucro office, panel interview (w/c 14 October)

3.      Second interview, in person at Bonsucro office, panel interview (w/c 21 October)