About Community Power Agency

Established in 2011, Community Power Agency (CPA) is Australia’s leading organisation supporting communities to engage in and benefit from the transition to renewable energy. We are a a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to drive a faster and fairer transition to clean energy. We believe all Australians, regardless of where they live or what they earn, should have the right and the opportunity to participate in the clean energy transition, and by involving them we build the strong groundswell of support needed to facilitate a rapid transition to a clean energy future.

Our small dynamic team delivers advocacy, innovation, advice and capacity building to achieve our mission. We are a radically different organisation as a workers co-operative with both advocacy and fee-for-service work streams. We specialise in supporting communities navigate the complex process of developing their own clean energy projects and focus on building the capacity within communities, industry and government while fostering collaboration. We also work to address the systemic barriers facing the sector as a whole and play an active role in bringing socially-responsible, community-beneficial business models into the Australian renewable energy market.

The role

• Position: Communications Coordinator.
• Salary (FTE): $80,925 per annum pro-rata plus 10% superannuation.
• Location: ideally east-coast of Australia, however Community Power Agency has a flexible approach to working, with most staff working remotely and for the right candidate will consider candidates outside of this area.
• Time commitment: Part-time 3 days per week (22.5hrs) flexibility is possible according to your needs. Tuesdays, Fridays + your day of choice.
• Contract period: 12-month position, with view to extend pending funding.
• Travel: At least twice per year for team planning retreats (2-3 days), with other opportunities if desired.

We are seeking an experienced and driven Communications Coordinator to support our organisation in achieving greater impact. This key role will be responsible for strategic growth and development of our communications efforts. You will work closely with the wider team to build and grow our supporter base, encourage broader engagement in our various projects, campaigns and activities and strengthen our fundraising efforts. While we are a dispersed, virtual team we work in a highly collaborative way and have a range of online strategies to support this. The right candidate will be willing to contribute to facilitating effective collaboration across the organisation and our external partners.

Here’s what your role might look like week to week:

• Craft a blog post. You write an engaging and informative article explaining a current topic of our work, with input from the team.
• Mobilise existing supporters. You craft a compelling email to encourage our supporters to take action using our engagement tools.
• Design an ad campaign. You develop an advertising strategy, decide which channels to use, what audience to target and how to make the most of our limited budget.
• Drum up media interest. You notice a newsworthy moment related to our work area and write a media release or op ed and secure a media hit.
• Collaborate with the team. You see a potential comms opportunity with another team member, so you draft a plan and create a solution together to promote their project.
• Maintain our online presence. You regularly post to our social channels and ensure our website is up to date with recent team projects and find a better way to display our resources.

Responsibilities

• Proactively identify and respond to strategic external opportunities to raise the profile of Community Power Agency and further the our organisational goals
• Prepare a range of internal and external communications materials, including campaign and project collateral, video, annual reports, supporter communications, newsletters and briefing papers
• Grow our presence and brand through a range of traditional media, social media and digital frameworks, for varied audiences including writing editorial articles for key publications
• Keep our website and social media platforms up to date with accurate and timely information
• Undertake relevant research, co-development of funding proposals and deliver reporting requirements
• Liaise with external organisations and partners and maintain strategic networks
• Work collaboratively with the rest of the team and support the smooth functioning of Community Power Agency with other tasks as required.

The CPA team work on a diverse range of projects, so while these tasks will be your primary responsibility there may be times we need you to help out on our other projects. These could involve contributing to designing a community engagement strategy or an interactive community workshop with a community energy group, or researching the profile of a council area.

People that will thrive in CPA are:

• Driven by values and mission for positive change
• Highly self motivated
• Enjoy collaboration both within our organisation and externally
• Community-focused
• Task orientated and well organised
• Interested in modelling more democratic ways of working
• Reliable and can be counted on to deliver in a virtual team environment.

Selection criteria

Essential

1. A passion for building Australia’s renewable energy future and improving the outcomes for regional communities.
2. Very strong interpersonal skills, as well as excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to write compelling content.
3. High level of initiative and ability to be self-motivated, responsive and flexible with a proven track record of working both independently and collaboratively.
4. Excellent organisational, time management and delegation skills and demonstrated capacity to manage competing priorities with deadlines and time pressures.
5. Demonstrated experience managing social media channels and website.
6. Demonstrated experience in media relations, securing traditional media, such as articles and opinion editorials.
7. Experience working with diverse stakeholders to achieve common goals.

Desirable

• Strong facilitation skills, both online & in person.
• Keen interest in Australian politics and news/current affairs.
• Fundraising or business development skills, demonstrated experience in donor relations or grant writing.
• Multimedia design skills such as photography, video production and design layout.

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t have all of the above characteristics. A passion for the work and an eagerness to learn are the most important things.

Our values and how we work

Community Power Agency is a workers cooperative – a business entity that is owned and controlled by the workers. Employees of the cooperative actively contribute to the direction the business takes. The work we choose to do and why, is directed by the employees – their shared values, hopes and visions – as well as by a mutual responsibility and care for the cooperative.

We strive for egalitarianism. We have a flat management structure and as such, we all take responsibility for holding ourselves and each other to account. A key part of this commitment is our policy of pay equity. We believe that people are inherently of equal value, so instead of paying some people more, we have sought to share/ redistribute responsibility, power and knowledge. Instead of a typical line of management we build people’s capacity, skills and confidence through mentoring, working collaboratively, and opening up opportunities for passionate people to ‘give it a go’.

CPA recognise that the way we make change is as important as the outcomes. We are supportive, honest and transparent in the way we work internally and externally. We offer pro-rata public holiday leave so regardless of whether your normal work day falls on a public holiday you receive the pro-rata additional leave. As a nimble, dynamic and dispersed team, we put energy into remaining connected as best we can. We invest in getting together face-to-face twice a year to evaluate, strategise and connect as a team. We are continuously improving our way of operating, to address issues and challenges as they arise.

How to apply

Please complete the form via clicking Apply Now.

Note – we are also recruiting for an Operations Coordinator, if you are interested to combine both roles into a full time position please indicate this in your application.

We are an equal opportunity employer. First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, LGBTIQ people, and people with a disability are encouraged to apply.

• To be considered for this position, applicants should have current working rights for Australia.
• We respectfully request that recruitment agencies do not submit applications for this position.

Want to have a chat before you click submit? You can contact Kristy Walters, Director on 0490 505 802 with any questions you might have.