Engagement Manager

Title:

Engagement Manager

£42,000–£52,000 (depending on experience)

Permanent

37.5 per week (Monday to Friday)

25 days per year plus bank holidays; an additional 3 days holiday between Christmas and New Year

Home based with regular travel within / to London and across the UK

3 months

Head of Department

Flexitime policy, 5% pension contribution

Depending on experience, may line‑manage the Senior Engagement Coordinator.

We are River Action

We are a small and agile campaigning organisation on a mission to rescue Britain's rivers from a toxic cocktail of agricultural, sewage and industrial pollution and water shortages. We support community action, galvanise and mobilise public opinion, influence government policy, take legal actions and call out destructive industrial practices to incentivise changes that end river pollution and secure freshwater.

We are building a talented team of positive disrupters and stakeholder mobilisers to deliver our strategy to urgently protect and restore our rivers for the benefit of communities, rivers and wildlife.

Britain’s rivers are our life support system and they are dying. We need urgent action to bring them back to life.

As River Action’s profile, influence and policy impact continue to grow, we are expanding our Public Affairs function to strengthen engagement with decision‑makers, regulators, businesses, NGOs, strategic partners and local communities.

The Engagement Manager will play a critical role in helping River Action influence change by developing high‑level relationships, building strategic partnerships and providing strategic leadership across River Action’s engagement programmes to advance our policy, legal and campaigning objectives.

This is a senior engagement leadership role responsible for providing strategic oversight of both stakeholder engagement and community engagement activity, ensuring River Action’s grassroots campaigning and external influence work are mutually reinforcing.

The Engagement Manager will lead River Action’s overall engagement strategy, providing strategic oversight of both stakeholder engagement and community engagement activity across the organisation.

Building and managing relationships with senior leaders across government, regulators, NGOs, businesses, financiers, academia and civil society, the postholder will identify opportunities to increase River Action’s influence, support policy and advocacy objectives, and help position the organisation as a leading voice on river protection and environmental reform.

The role will provide strategic direction and oversight to River Action’s community engagement work, including the River Rescue Kit, Community Toolkit and catchment‑based campaigning activities, working closely with the Senior Engagement Coordinator who will lead day‑to‑day delivery, community support and programme implementation.

Working closely with colleagues across Public Affairs, Campaigns, Communications, Legal and Development, the Engagement Manager will ensure engagement activities contribute directly to organisational priorities and campaigns and that community insights help shape River Action’s policy, legal and campaigning work.

• Develop and deliver River Action’s stakeholder engagement strategy.
• Manage relationships with senior stakeholders and decision‑makers.
• Develop and implement engagement or public affairs strategies.
• Identify, map and prioritise key stakeholders across government, regulators, business, NGOs, academia and civil society.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with senior external stakeholders.
• Create opportunities for strategic collaboration that advance River Action’s mission and objectives.
• Monitor stakeholder developments and identify opportunities and risks.

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of River Action’s stakeholder and community engagement programme.
• Ensure effective delivery and continuous development of the River Rescue Kit and Community Toolkit as…