Corporate Engagement Manager

We are looking for a Corporate Engagement Manager based in the UK to join our international team and support us in our mission to create a better world for humans and animals alike.

Salary: £40,000 gross per annum

Contract: Full time (37.5 hours per week) maternity cover FTC until March 2025

Reports to: International Head of Policy and Communications

Work base: Home-based within the UK

About Veganuary

Be part of a small, but dynamic organisation that makes headlines in January and throughout the year!

Veganuary is an international non-profit organisation that encourages people worldwide to try vegan in January and beyond. Veganuary’s popular cultural appeal, along with our positive and non-judgemental approach to veganism, is making a measurable difference for animals and the planet as well as improving people’s health. We proactively support people and businesses alike to explore the diverse world of plant-based foods and the benefits they bring.

Millions of people – from nearly every country in the world – have taken part in Veganuary since our launch in 2014, and thousands of new vegan products and dishes have been added to shop shelves and restaurant menus worldwide. With plans to launch campaigns in several additional countries in the next 4 years, this is indeed a very exciting time to join our international team of talented, valued and committed people who enjoy their ability to collaboratively contribute to this amazing cause.

Role Description

The Corporate Engagement Manager will lead Veganuary’s work with companies in the UK food sector and have their finger on the pulse of all things plant-based in the UK market. You will manage the UK Corporate Engagement Administrator and work closely with our teams in Germany, USA, Spain, India and Latin America. The Corporate Engagement Manager should be extremely organised and a well-versed, skilled communicator – we’re looking for a real people-person who can build relationships! You will bring experience and knowledge of the UK food sector, especially retail, foodservice and the restaurant sector. You will play a crucial role in Veganuary’s work in encouraging and convincing companies to support the Veganuary campaign during January and pledging to increase their vegan offerings, as well as encouraging workplaces to join the challenge and increase vegan offerings in their cafeterias. This role will also lead our corporate sponsorship program in the UK to help ensure we meet our 2025 fundraising goals.

Core Responsibilities

• Build and maintain relationships with businesses (retailers, restaurants, brands and food service), setting meetings well ahead of January to encourage them to support the Veganuary campaign with PR activities, new product or menu launches and opportunities for collaborations and big PR stories
• Lead on outreach to UK businesses for 2025 corporate sponsorship and ensure we reach Veganuary’s fundraising targets in this area
• Liaise with businesses throughout the year, including during our focused mini-campaigns during the spring and summer, to keep abreast of their latest plant-based offerings, exciting collaborations, etc and inform our social media and marketing departments as appropriate
• Identify, support and encourage businesses (mostly, but not exclusively from the food industry) to grow their plant-based offering by sharing research, news and materials as relevant
• Work closely with the fundraising, social media and marketing teams to co-ordinate paid promotions for sponsors or any new opportunities that might be of interest to our audience
• Build and maintain our Salesforce database of leads and key contacts
• Keeping abreast of what is happening in the plant-based space by attending trade shows, networking events and webinars
• Manage and oversee the work of the UK Corporate Engagement Administrator
• Facilitate effective communication between our corporate engagement departments in different countries through the organisation of our international bi-weekly corporate calls and co-ordinating any international projects
• Facilitate the evaluation and tracking processes by coordinating the set-up and completion of our corporate tracker spreadsheet at the end of the campaign as well as supporting the data management through Salesforce
• Working with the UK Corporate Engagement Administrator to identify, support and encourage UK businesses and other organisations to take part in the Veganuary Workplace Challenge
• Create or adapt outreach templates, toolkits, resources and other necessary materials
• Host corporate meetings or webinars and prepare presentations for stakeholders
• Undertake any further duties that may reasonably be required of the role

Person Specification

• Proven relevant experience in a similar role (for example in account or project management, corporate affairs/outreach/engagement, brand marketing)
• A comprehensive understanding of the UK food sector and businesses within it
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and proven track record of building and maintaining long-term relationships with corporate contacts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. A clear communicator is essential when working with people whose first language may not be English
• Highly self-motivated with a strong sense of urgency and the ability to prioritise tasks to meet deadlines. Consistently takes initiative to drive our corporate work forward
• Excels in a team-driven, collaborative environment
• Exceptional organisational skills, including attention to detail and the ability to multi-task
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality
• Experience in Asana (or a similar project management tool), Salesforce (or a similar CRM) and WordPress is a plus
• You share and will support Veganuary’s vision and values (see below)

Veganuary is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to creating an inclusive work culture that reflects and celebrates our diverse world. We therefore welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons, regardless of their ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marriage and civil partnership status, or age. We recognise our duty as an employer to foster an environment that embraces diversity and are constantly reviewing our practices to become even more inclusive as an organisation. We also recognise that certain groups in our industry are under-represented – we welcome applications from all who meet the role’s requirements and are making efforts to attract a diverse pool of candidates to combat the lack of representation.

A copy of our recruitment privacy notice can be found here: Veganuary Recruitment Privacy Notice.pdf

Application Process

Please submit your CV and a cover letter of no more than 1000 words that answers the following questions:

• Why do you want to work for Veganuary?
• What will you bring to our charity?
• When can you start?

This job advert will close at 12 noon GMT on Friday 7th June 2024. We will review all applications after the advert has closed and all candidates will be responded to.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are high on the agenda for Veganuary. We recognise that certain groups in our industry are under-represented and are working hard to combat the lack of representation. Therefore, reasonable adjustments can be made to allow anyone who requires additional assistance to apply for this role. Please email our friendly HR team at [email protected] if you require such assistance.

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons, regardless of their ethnicity, sex, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marriage and civil partnership status, or age.

Recruitment Process

Our recruitment process will take around 4 weeks from when the vacancy closes and will consist of 4 stages as follows:

1. A job specific pre interview task (to be sent out to shortlisted candidates on 12th June 2024)

We’re lucky enough to receive many amazing applications for our roles and it’s sometimes difficult to select a small number of people to interview. By having a pre interview task, it allows us to learn more about our shortlisted candidates than a CV and cover letter can tell us.

2. A first interview with the Hiring Manager and one other team member (to take place on 20th June 2024)

This is always competency based and job aligned so there isn’t anything for you to prepare.

3. A timed trial task (to take place during w/c 24th June 2024)

You will be given a job specific task to be completed with a short window of time at at time agreed with our HR team

4. A follow up second interview with the Hiring Manager and one other team member (to take place on 4th July 2024)

This final stage allows the team to ask any follow up questions or explore areas that they have reflected on since the first interview. There isn’t anything to prepare.

If you have any questions on this role, please do email [email protected]. We look forward to receiving your application.

Thank you for your interest in Veganuary!