Fairfood International Manager Press Relations

Manager Press Relations

Fairfood International is a non-profit global advocacy group with its head office based in Amsterdam and hubs located in several parts of the world. Fairfood encourages food and beverage companies worldwide to address socio-economic and environmental sustainability issues within their supply chains. Fairfood International envisions a future with a fair and sustainable food system, which is able to feed the world in a way that preserves the environment for future generations, respects human rights and secures a thriving economy for all.

Fairfood International is currently is looking for:
Manager Press Relations
Based in Amsterdam
Part-time (32 hours)

Purpose of the position
The Manager Press Relations ensures media coverage and visibility and is responsible for both pro- and reactive media relations and for all matters relating to the press, including monitoring national and global news to ensure timely response. By regularly liaising with journalists and other media contacts, the Manager Press Relations will expand national and global outreach. Providing senior management and the board of directors with relevant and timely news updates, the manager press relations recognises the need for a quick response, thereby enhancing Fairfood’s profile vis-a-vis media, global civil society and in relevant political fora.

Department
The Communications and Fundraising department is composed of two specialised and interdependent teams headed by the Director Communications and Fundraising. Each team is composed of several managers headed by a senior manager. The Manager Press Relations reports to the Senior Manager Communications and is a member of the  Corporate Communications team whose role is to enhance Fairfood’s brand, culture and external reputation in support of positioning a fair and sustainable food system as desirable, possible and inevitable and to establish Fairfood as a leading voice in this context.

Responsibilities
1. Ensure media-coverage
The Manager Press Relations will write and disseminate press releases, OpEds and explore other media opportunities; organise press briefings, respond to media inquiries on a day to day basis and brief experts/spokespeople on interview techniques.  He/she integrates Fairfood’s  awareness-raising strategy across corporate communications, advocacy and fundraising activities. In collaboration with the corporate and campaign communications teams, the Manager Press Relations will identify newsworthy content and link Fairfood’s activities and achievements to journalists’ interests. He/she builds relationships with journalists in national and global press agencies, broadcasting stations and online media, responds quickly and efficiently to their needs and keeps the media contact database up to date.

2. Monitoring and Evaluation of media-coverage
The Manager Press Relations monitors global and national news and is able to connect relevant news updates to Fairfood’s work and pro-actively provide senior management and board of directors with draft reactions, in line with Fairfood’s goals and vision. He/she will carry out evaluations of media coverage and report results to the Senior Manager Communications.

3. Advise senior management
The Manager Press Relations regularly provides senior management with key information about new developments in the media to ensure the organisation can maintain its strong global profile.

Competences
• News addict
• Native spoken and written Dutch and fluent spoken and written English; other languages are an asset
• Ability to convert complex information into simple and accessible language
• Excellent writing, editing and proofreading skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Able to meet tight deadlines in a high pressure  environment and juggle several assignments simultaneously

Knowledge & Experience
• Minimum higher education (Bachelor degree) in journalism
• At least 3 years of experience as a journalist, communications officer or related position, preferably in an NGO
• Proven experience working with global, national, and online media and a sound knowledge of their audiences
• Knowledge of the food industry is an advantage
• Affinity with Fairfood’s goals

What we offer
We offer a highly responsible position within an international organisation, providing sufficient opportunities to achieve results and impact. The position is part time (32 hours). Fairfood International remunerates its staff in line with industry standards, including a gross monthly salary of 2,189.25 EUR, a personal budget in lieu of pension of  175.14 EUR and reimbursement of work-home travel. Fairfood strives to ensure that its staff is representative of its international workforce, comprising of both men and women from different backgrounds.

Interested?
If you recognise yourself in this function, we would like to meet you! Please send your motivation letter and CV to Ms. Gihan Hassanein, Senior Manager Communicationsgihan.hassanein@fairfood.org and cc Uma Banerji, Manager HR,uma.banerji@fairfood.org no later than 15-05-2013.