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Sustain is recruiting for a short-term part-time Campaigns Intern to support the Recipe for Change with planning, promotion and delivery of a citizens’ charter for healthier food. This is an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on experience in public mobilisation, event support, community engagement and communications. Download the full job information pack here. |
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Job title: |
Campaigns Intern – Recipe for Change |
| Closing date: | 5pm, Monday 13 October 2025 |
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Contract: |
Part-time, short-term fixed-term contract for approx. 26 weeks. The successful candidate is expected to be in post in mid/late November 2025. |
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Accountable to: |
Campaign Coordinator |
| Place of work: |
The Campaigns Intern will join the Recipe for Change team, a coalition led jointly by Sustain, The Food Foundation and Obesity Health Alliance and supported by an additional 43 organisations. The role will be based within Sustain and is offered on a flexible basis, with around half the working hours expected to be carried out in Sustain’s London office: The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9DA In-person attendance at events and staff meetings is expected. Some travel may be required. |
| Salary: |
£25,207 per annum FTE pro-rata (London Living Wage, £13.85 per hour). £10,083 per annum for 2 days per week. In addition, Sustain matches pension contributions up to 5% of gross salary. Expenses for travel to events outside of London will also be covered. This role is funded by Impact on Urban Health. |
| Pension: | Auto enrolment rules apply if employed. |
| Annual Leave: |
For a full-time worker: 20 days holiday pa, plus bank holidays, plus office closure days between Christmas and New Year (approx. 31 days). Allowances will be pro-rated accordingly if employed part-time. In this part-time role, the annual leave for 26 weeks will be pro-rated and is expected to be 4 holiday days and 1.6 pro-rated bank holidays. |
| Pension: | Sustain is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive employer, including recruiting for diversity. Read more about our approach here. |
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Right to Work |
Entitlement to work in the UK. Sustain is not able to assist with applications for work permits and cannot employ people living or working outside of the UK. |
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Benefits |
Cycle to Work scheme available on salary sacrifice basis. |
About the campaign
Recipe for Change is calling for a fairer, healthier food system by holding food companies to account. While our long-term goal is to secure an industry levy on unhealthy food to incentivise companies to make healthier food, we are focusing in 2025-26 on building public awareness and mobilisation more broadly around the need for companies to put healthier food on our shelves, now.
A key strand of this work is the development of a citizens’ charter for healthier food, to be co-created with communities and lived experience groups. The charter will amplify citizen voices, demonstrate public appetite for government action to regulate food companies, and keep the conversation rooted in the need for industry accountability.
Purpose of the role
The role will be part of the Recipe for Change team, a campaign calling for a levy on food companies to incentivise them to produce healthier food.
This year we are focusing on building public awareness and mobilisation around the need for companies to put healthier food on our shelves, now.
The role will support the development of a citizens’ charter for healthier food, to be co-created with communities and lived experience groups. It will include event coordination, writing and communications. Support and opportunities for learning and development will be provided.
Support offered
Following an induction into Sustain, the Campaigns Intern will be supported in their journey within the organisation, and in the wider Recipe for Change coalition. Opportunities to attend relevant internal training will be available during this period, as well as external events and development opportunities that are relevant to the work of the Campaigns Intern.
Learning & development opportunities
- Training and exposure to campaign strategy, mobilisation methods, and community organising.
- First-hand experience in co-developing a public-facing campaign with lived experience contributors.
- Opportunities to work alongside coalition partners, parliamentarians, academics, and public figures.
- Mentoring and regular check-ins with a member of the Recipe for Change campaign team.
- Opportunities to learn more about food and farming policy through Sustain’s broader campaigns and projects.
Role & responsibilities
Community outreach and co-design
- Working with the Recipe for Change team, coordinate outreach to lived experience groups and communities to shape and promote the citizens’ charter.
- Support the facilitation of workshops, discussions, and events with communities to develop the charter’s content.
- Record and write up findings from workshops.
- Synthesise findings from workshops to support development of the charter content.
- Coordinate outreach and engagement with public-facing champions who will promote the charter.
Communications and events
- Create and share campaign content (e.g. social media posts, newsletters, supporter toolkits) to support the public mobilisation drive when the charter launches.
- Monitor and evaluate mobilisation activities (tracking signatures, social media engagement, event feedback).
- Coordinate event logistics, such as catering, invites and materials, for the launch and final delivery of the charter to No.10 Downing Street, with a possible additional parliamentary event.
- Write blogs or news items as appropriate.
- Other communications and campaign activities as relevant to the Recipe for Change team at the time.
- Support and actively participate in stakeholder events and meetings.
IT, administration and other duties
- Plan and manage own workload, set targets and deadlines and be self-supporting regarding administration and IT.
- Attend 1:1 meetings and provide written progress and work reports as required.
- Comply with all Sustain policies and practices.
- Undertake administrative tasks necessary to achieve the outcomes of the role.
- Undertake any other duties agreed with your line manager and to also undertake training and development relevant to the role.
Person specification/ What we’re looking for
E = Essential, D = Desirable
Knowledge
- Knowledge and interest in policy related to healthier food (D)
Attitudes
- Passion for healthier food, social justice, or public campaigning (E)
- A strong commitment to diversity and inclusion – particularly to making healthy and sustainable food accessible to all, ensuring the inclusion of wide and different perspectives in our work and to tackling inequality (E)
- Flexible & adaptable: Event planning is dynamic, so the ability to adapt to changes, whether it's a sudden issue or a shift in needs, is vital (E)
- Creative: A flair for offering unique ideas and a fresh perspective helps make an event memorable and stand out (E)
- Proactive: A proactive attitude means taking initiative, anticipating potential problems, and working to resolve them before they escalate (E)
Skills and abilities
- Excellent attention to detail (E)
- Good communication skills in English, both written and verbal (E)
- Excellent organisational skills to manage event logistics and administrative tasks (E)
- Ability to work collaboratively and independently (E)
- Strong interpersonal skills to engage with diverse communities and stakeholders. (E)
- Good time management skills (E)
- Ability to use Microsoft Office: Word, Excel and PowerPoint, & related IT systems (E)
- Strong writing skills for creating campaign content, blogs, and news items (E)
- Ability to create engaging social media content (D)
- Ability to synthesise information in a clear, consistent and thematic way (D)
- Ability to work with data to monitor online engagement with the citizens’ charter (D)
Experience
- Experience developing social media content (E)
- Experience collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds (E)
- Familiarity with digital mobilisation tactics (D)
- Experience of studying or working on food, public health or farming issues (D)
- Experience in organising events (D)
- Experience in facilitating group discussions or workshops (D)
- Experience in community engagement, or volunteer coordination (D)
Qualifications
- GCSE English or equivalent (E)
- GSCE Maths or equivalent (E)
- A relevant qualification related to the role (D)
How to apply
Download the full job information pack here. Please email recruitment@sustainweb.org including:
- Your CV
Your CV should be no more than 2 A4 pages, (min font size 11) and saved with your full name in the document title. Please label the file in the format ‘CV-your-full-name’.
- Your covering letter
Detail how you meet the person specification requirements of the role.
Your covering letter should provide a brief outline of your interest in the role, detail your relevant skills and experience and describe how you meet the criteria for the role, and should be no longer than 2 pages, in an additional document also saved with your full name in the title. Label as ‘covering letter-your-full-name’.
Please complete our equal opportunities monitoring form which is separated out from your CV and covering letter and is only used for monitoring purposes.
We particularly encourage applications from people from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, and especially those with first-hand experience of living or working in communities affected by health inequalities.
We will only accept applications where a CV and covering letter has been received and the monitoring form has been completed.
