Job Title:Policy and Media Advisor, Scotland

Job Description

Reference:SUS1368

Salary:Grade H: £27,109 - £31,546 per annum

(dependent on relevant skills and experience)

Hours:37.5 per week

Fixed Term: maternity cover

Base:Rosebery House 9 Haymarket TerraceEdinburgh, EH12 5EZ

Dimensions of Job:

The Policy and Media Advisor, Sustrans Scotland will influence decision making in the Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament and wider civic society by building effective relationships and by using the news and social media to influence the political process and the development of policy and practice in Scotland whilst engaging with the wider public, NGO’s and campaign groups.

Working closely with staff across Sustrans Scotland as well as the Media and the Policy teams in Sustrans offices in Bristol and London, the Policy and Media Advisor will represent Sustrans to decision makers and effectively communicate the changes necessary to support all of the organisation’s work and projects. The postholder will ensure maximum media coverage of Sustrans Scotland’s projects and achievements.

Management Structure:

The postholder will report to the National Director for Scotland.

The postholder will work closely with the National Director both in responding to and generating new policy initiatives and in communications with the media. In addition, the postholder will work with colleagues in the Behaviour Change and Built Environment teams ensuring their work benefits from good communications.

Finally, the postholder will work closely with the Policy Director, Communications Director and the Head of Media in Sustrans offices in Bristol and London.

Key Relationships:

Internal:National Director, Scotland

Deputy Director, Behaviour Change, Scotland

Deputy Director, Built Environment, Scotland

Promotions Manager, Scotland

Communities Manager, Scotland

Engineering Manager, Scotland

Land & Estate Manager, Scotland

And other staff within Sustrans Scotland

Policy Director (UK) Bristol

Communications Director (UK) Bristol

Head of Media (UK) London

Research and Monitoring Unit Senior Project Officer

External: Scottish Government, Transport Scotland Sustainable & Active

Travel

Transport Team,

Local Authorities, Scottish Government Delivery Agencies, Forestry

Commission Scotland, Universities

Partner groups: including but not restricted to Cycling Scotland, SNH, Paths for All, Living Streets, Transform Scotland, Pedal on Parliament, Spokes, Greenspace Scotland, Central Scotland Green Network and the National Parks.

Key responsibilities:

To promote and drive Sustrans policies in the media, Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.
To identify key contacts in Scotland through which Sustrans should work and to build relationships with those contacts and channels, influencing decision-makers and opinion-formers in line with our objectives and policies and assisting staff to do likewise.
To spot opportunities to use our practical and policy work to influence the news agenda.
To develop relationships with key journalists in Scotland and work with the London-based press team to secure coverage for Sustrans’ initiatives in all relevant media.
To support greater adoption of Sustrans work by Scottish Government, both in policy and through commissioning, through pro-active relationship building and responses to policy development and consultations at all levels of government in Scotland, in Westminster where appropriate and wider civic society.
To assist in the work of the Sustrans communications and policy teams to inform the delivery of the Sustrans communications and policy strategies.
To lead, where appropriate, on collaboration with other organisations which share similar policy goals to jointly advocate policies to decision makers.
To support teams delivering Sustrans Scotland’s key projects, events and conferences through media work, turnaround of press releases and statements, and briefing of journalists and political spokespeople where appropriate.
To expand Sustrans Scotland’s presence on social media networks.
To advise on key messages on Sustrans Scotland’s web pages (part of the Sustrans UK web site) and to develop and maintain policy content for the website.
To maintain an overview of the wider policy landscape and how developments in that landscape impact on Sustrans’ work generally and in Scotland in particular.
To contribute to the development and maintenance of the policies needed to deliver Sustrans aims and objectives.
To provide detailed advice on key issues and principles of sustainable transport in Scotland to the Bristol-based policy team and senior staff.
To work with the Scottish team, the Policy Director and the Director, Research & Monitoring Unit to fully integrate Sustrans research work into policy and to identify relevant connections to both the wider policy landscape and to key sustainable transport issues.
To lead on developing and enhancing relationships with others who are developing policy in associated areas, sharing knowledge and seeking to influence research and policy work.
To assist with the linking up of policy content from different projects, liaising with senior staff across the organisation and to ensure consistent policy strategy and communication.
To undertake any other duties appropriate to the Grade, as directed by the management group or line manager.
To support and comply with the organisation's Policy for the management of Health and Safety.
To work in accordance with the arrangements described in the organisation's health and safety management system including any project or department specific requirements.
Attend a variety of meetings including: Stop Climate Chaos Scotland policy group, Cycling Action Plan for Scotland Delivery Forum, Transform Scotland members’ sessions, National Walking Strategy Delivery Forum
Draft blog posts for the Sustrans’ website.
Respond to relevant consultations.
Work closely with other NGO’s and campaigners working to increase the impact of active travel in Scotland.
Keep the Sustrans Scotland strategic plan up to date and relevant.

Working Conditions:

The post-holder will be based at the Sustrans offices in Edinburgh. The post-holder may also be expected to occasionally work on a flexible basis including some weekends and overnight stays, and will be asked to travel as sustainably as possible.

Special Note:

This job description does not form part of the contract of employment, but indicates how that contract should be performed. The job description may be subject to amendment in the light of experience and in consultation with the post-holder.

Compiled by: National Director, Scotland / Policy Director

Date:January 2015

Policy and Media Advisor, Scotland (SUS1368) Maternity Cover

Person Specification

Criteria / Essential
Qualifications, education and training / Educated to degree level or equivalent
Experience / Substantial experience of advocacy and policy
Experience in researching successful advocacy and policy strategies across a varied range of issues
Experience of understanding and communicating complex policy positions
Experience of developing productive working relationships with a wide range of people, including journalists and the media, and establishing credibility
Experience of developing media coverage
Skills and abilities / Ability to balance an understanding of the big picture with the need to focus on detailed information
Excellent communications skills with the ability to communicate policies, ideas and concepts both verbally and in writing for different media, policy, political and public audiences
Excellent negotiation skills
A good understanding of the media and how it works, and what makes a good news story
Ability to use own initiative to make decisions and work independently within busy team
Ability to plan and organise a varied and busy workload to meet deadlines
Good IT literacy, particularly in the use of social media
Knowledge / A good understanding and knowledge of the Scottish media
Other / A commitment to the ideals of Sustrans
Criteria / Desirable
Experience / Previous experience working on sustainable transport or environmental policies
Working with local authorities
Working with public health professionals
Knowledge / An in depth understanding of the sustainable transport agenda