Agroecology Comms Network (ACN) Coordinator

Part time (0.4 FTE, 7.5 hrs/day, 15 hrs/wk), UK-based, remote with some travel required
Two-year fixed term contract; option to extend contract, funding permitted.
Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

Ideal start date: w/c 20th April 2026

About the Real Farming Trust

The Real Farming Trust (RFT) runs a number of programmes which bring people of all food and farming backgrounds and experiences together to build the case for agroecology. One of these programmes is the Agroecology Comms Network (ACN). We are a small charity and value honesty, empathy, care and compassion in our interactions with each other in the organisation and with the partners we work with.

About the Agroecology Comms Network (ACN)

The Agroecology Comms Network (ACN) emerged from the 2020 Oxford Real Farming Conference and connects communications staff working to promote agroecology across a wide range of organisations, big and small, to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing. The network helps to resource the movement from within by providing opportunities for upskilling, networking and building our collective voice. We do this through offering online skills sessions, in-person gatherings, and building and producing shared resources.

The group has grown quickly and now has more than 150 members from more than 70 organisations. The ACN supports those in comms across the movement to deepen their collaborative work beyond their organisations, and amplify the messages coming from the movement to support a wider societal narrative shift. The ACN is dedicated to building a strong collective voice for agroecology by providing direct links to Parliamentarians through the Agroecology News Digest, and the media through the ACN Media Liaison Officer.

About the role

We are looking for an ambitious, creative and dynamic coordinator with a background in communications and event coordination and a strong interest in agroecology to support a vibrant network of people working in communications across the UK food and farming movement. This is an exciting opportunity to strengthen and expand a UK-wide collaboration and be part of a key piece of movement infrastructure for the real food and farming sector.

The coordinator will work closely with the Real Farming Trust Comms Manager and ACN Media Liaison Officer, as well as with the ACN Steering Group made up of network members from organisations across the real food and farming movement. They will also work with the Parliamentarians for Agroecology coordinator to maintain alignment across media and policy messaging. The role is remote, with some travel required across the UK, and a commitment to being at on-site events 3-4 times throughout the year.

Key Responsibilities

Network convenings

• Organise and deliver in-person network collaboration events: typically, this is at least a winter networking social at ORFC and a spring/summer collaboration day
• Organise and deliver any additional ACN workshops and events in collaboration with relevant staff members or external partners
• Organise and chair the monthly ACN steering group meetings (online)

Event production

• Produce six online Skillshare events for network members per year
• In collaboration with the RFT comms manager and external partners, produce and facilitate two ACN sessions at ORFC 2027

Communication and Outreach

• Produce a monthly ACN member bulletin
• Maintain regular contact with all ACN members (annual individual check-in), including outreach to new and prospective members
• Create an outreach strategy to ensure members from the smallest grassroots orgs are being served by the network
• Run annual surveys for ACN members to monitor and evaluate progress and new areas of focus
• Support the creation of the Agroecology News Digest with contributions from the network

Shared Resources

• Work with the RFT web developer to create a new ACN member directory and shared resources site
• Continue to build a shared image library for all members to use
• Continue to build a shared resource database for members to share and find contacts for trusted freelancers and creatives

Reporting

• Produce ACN funding reports as necessary

General

• Support a culture of peer-to-peer support, knowledge and resource exchange within the network.
• Work with additional third parties/freelancers/interns/volunteers as the need arises
• Keep documents, spreadsheets, and creative assets up-to-date and filed for ease of reference and collaboration with the remote team
• Maintaining GDPR compliance across all areas of work

This role requires the following skills

Essential

• Significant demonstrated experience of programme coordination, communications and event organisation, either in a not-for-profit or corporate environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distil complex issues into simple and impactful messages
• Creative thinker who can translate complex ideas into successful workshops and events
• Skilled relationship builder who enjoys building, maintaining and sustaining contacts and has a participatory approach
• Skilled in the use of Google Suite, Wordpress, Mailchimp, Slack, Canva and other collaboration and communication tools
• Extremely well-organised and self-motivated
• Ability to work remotely both independently and as part of a team, and to understand and fulfil role with minimal supervision
• Knowledge of the agroecological movement
• Ability to work seamlessly with freelancers and creatives

Desirable

• Knowledge of event ticketing platforms (we use Ticket Tailor)
• Demonstrated experience of supporting large-scale values-driven networks
• Demonstrated experience of media relations and managing press

You will thrive in this role if:

• You are creative, people-focused, and enjoy building connections and networks
• You are a natural leader and feel comfortable driving progress and building trust
• You are organised, deadline-driven and enjoy seeing an idea come to life
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills
• You are confident working with collaboration and communications tools including Google Suite, Wordpress, Mailchimp, Canva, Social Media and Content Management Systems
• You are happy remote working and enjoy collaborating with a small team
• You remain calm under stress and time-pressure
• You can prioritise tasks to meet deadlines under pressure
• You are passionate about the food and farming movement.

What else you need to know:

• We do not have an office. You will need to provide your own workspace and laptop; however, an equipment subsidy is available to support with home working expenses (upon successful completion of the probationary period).
• We all work remotely from home and meet twice a year in-person for a few days each time. All staff are expected to attend.
• We all work flexibly, but you will be expected to do the majority of your work weekdays between 8am and 6pm. Some evening and weekend work may be required to join Twinning events.
• This role is a fixed-term contract through to the end of January 2028.

The benefits you will get:

• Annual salary: £30,890 (pro rata at 0.4 FTE equates to £12,356)
• 20 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays, pro rata increasing by 2 days for every year of completed service up to a maximum of 25 days (33 including bank holidays)
• Flexible working to suit your other commitments during the week
• Employer matched pension of 4%

Closing date: 12pm GMT (midday) on Monday, 16th March 2026.

If you have questions about the role, please contact Lucy Harding on [email protected].

Equity and Anti-Oppression

We are committed to becoming a more inclusive workplace with a diverse staff body. We believe this is essential to our effectiveness as an organisation and our ability to fulfil our mission of “good food for everyone, forever”. We need to address both inequity and oppression within our work if we are to meet our aim. There will be tensions that this work creates and difficult questions that we need to address both internally and externally.

We know that people with certain backgrounds and characteristics are underrepresented in our team and in the alternative food and farming movement, and we want to address this. We are committed to working proactively to dismantle these systems of oppression and ensure equal opportunities for everyone, regardless of their background.

We have started to do this work internally, but we know there is much more to do. Every member of RFT staff is involved and part of this work.

Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form

The Real Farming Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity in line with the Equality Act 2010, providing an inclusive and co-operative environment in which all individuals feel respected. Filling in this equality and diversity monitoring form is voluntary. The information you provide will be kept confidential and will only be used for monitoring purposes. Please don't enter any information that would identify you. This form is kept separately from your application and will not be seen by interviewers.

Please note that due to the volume of applications we usually receive, we regret that we are unable to offer feedback to individual applicants.

Thank you for your interest in the Real Farming Trust.