Commercial Partnerships Volunteer

COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS VOLUNTEER

The Fairtrade Foundation is a passionate and ambitious development organisation committed to tackling poverty and injustice through trade. We are best known as the independent, not-for-profit body behind the FAIRTRADE Mark, a product label assuring consumers that their purchase helps disadvantaged farmers and workers in developing countries secure a better deal. The FAIRTRADE Mark is the best known and most trusted ethical mark amongst UK consumers.
Headed by the Commercial Director, the Commercial Partnerships team is responsible for managing all the business relationships involved in buying and selling of Fairtrade products. Covering food and non-food products, the team is responsible for getting businesses engaged in Fairtrade. They do this by working to deepen existing business commitments to Fairtrade, by building prospective relationships with businesses new to Fairtrade and by ensuring that consumers see the FAIRTRADE Mark.

The team comprises two distinct but complementary parts – Commercial Partnerships and Innovation & Business Services Team.
The Commercial Partnerships team is responsible for developing and managing relationships with businesses that sell Fairtrade products directly to consumers. They work with a wide variety of organisations from major retailers, to brand companies and the Out of Home (OOH) channel.
The OOH sector is a huge and diverse industry, ranging from contract caterers to hotels, travel operators and workplaces. A variety of Fairtrade products are sold across this sector via a range of outlets.
Our primary objective is to protect and grow Fairtrade coffee sales and other Fairtrade products, however the OOH team is also working to increase their communications to all operators in the industry to further drive engagement in Fairtrade.
Role description: The OOH volunteer will be working to support the team’s strategy to protect and grow sales of Fairtrade coffee, developing our communications to a variety of businesses in the industry from independent coffee shops to workplaces, coffee-to-go and vending.

Commitment: Ideally we would like to have a volunteer for 3 days per week for at least 3 months.
This arrangement is not intended to be legally binding or to create a contract.

Tasks include:

Writing engaging and inspiring articles for the Out of Home Newsletter
Supporting with the promotion of, and leading on the distribution of All-Year-Round marketing materials
Developing our communications service to the Out of Home channel
Research best practice of campaign communications to the Out of Home channel
Developing an events calendar for tea, coffee and foodservice industry events to attend
Providing reactive support to business contacts, including independent coffee shops and workplaces
Sharing information and queries as needed with the Partnership Manager


Skills required:

- An interest in coffee and the coffee shop market
- Strong written and verbal communication skills. Experience of a communications role, or an educational background in communications is desirable
- A creative mind, with the ability to think outside of the box and share innovative ideas
- Competence in IT and general office skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work independently as well as within a small team
- An understanding of (and sympathy with) the aims and objectives of Fairtrade and of the Foundation’s operating environment as an NGO working with companies


What will you have learned / achieved by the end of this assignment?


- An understanding of the foodservice (Out of Home) sector and how Fairtrade works within this
- An appreciation of corporate partnership building between NGOs and private companies
- An understanding of how Fairtrade communicates to operators
- An understanding of how foodservice companies market their ethical credentials
- Experience of researching and communicating with companies and operators within the OOH sector with support from the OOH team
- Strengthened research skills
- Experience of involvement in working in a cross-functional team

What are the hours?

Flexible, but normally 10.30am-5.00pm Monday to Friday

Location

Unless otherwise stated, positions are based at the Fairtrade Foundation's offices in the Minories, Aldgate EC3N 1DY.

Do I get expenses?

We refund travel expenses (maximum £15 per day, preferably off peak) on production of a receipt or ticket and actual expenses incurred for lunch to the value of £5 on production of receipts, if volunteering for more than four hours a day or over the lunch period.

We regret that we are unable to assist non-UK residents who are planning to volunteer during a short stay in the UK with visa applications, finding accommodation etc.

The Fairtrade Foundation is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.


Applications:

To apply for the above volunteering position please email volunteering@fairtrade.org.uk with a completed volunteer application form by Tuesday, 6th June 2017.