Sustain is seeking a Research & Campaigns Intern to join the Food for the Planet team for a six-month internship to support our research and campaign activities.
To apply for the role, please email your updated CV with a covering letter and your recruitment exercise to recruitment@sustainweb.org before the closing date:
Your CV should be no more than 2 A4 pages, (min font size 11) and saved with your full name.
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. It should be no longer than 2 pages, either as part of the email or as an additional saved and labelled document.
Recruitment exercise: Please complete a short 2-paragraph exercise (no more than one A4 page) detailing what research challenges you might expect in the role and how you would plan to overcome them. Email this as a PDF along with your CV and covering letter.
Job title: Research & Campaigns Intern – Food for the Planet
Organisation: Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming
Gross Annual Salary: £25,207 per annum for 35 hours per week or £20,165 per annum for 28 hours per week. In addition, Sustain matches pension contributions up to 5% of gross salary.
Hours: 28-35 hours a week worked over 4 to 5 days per week, between Monday to Friday as agreed with the line manager in line with the needs of the charity.
Location: Role is offered on a flexible basis, with some working hours expected to be carried out in our Cambridge Heath office; 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.
Annual Leave: 25 days pa plus pro-rata bank holidays for full-time employees. Pro-rata holiday for part-time if employed: In this role, the annual leave for 26 weeks is expected to be 10 – 12 days (for 4 or 5 days pw worker). Bank holidays will be prorated accordingly too.
Equal opportunities: Sustain is committed to being a welcoming and inclusive employer, including recruiting for diversity. Read more about our approach here.
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.
Cycle to Work scheme: Available on a salary sacrifice basis.
About Sustain: Sustain is a powerful alliance of organisations and communities working together for a better system of food, farming and fishing, and cultivating the movement for change. We represent over 100 food and farming organisations. Together, we advocate food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture, and promote equity.
Purpose of Role: Sustain is seeking someone to join the Food for the Planet team to work on a six-month internship to support our research and campaign activities. The focus of the role is "Planning for the Planet," a campaign addressing factory farming through the local planning system. The goal is to understand how planning policies contribute to the rise of factory farms and their negative environmental impact, such as nutrient pollution and harm to wildlife. The intern will help research local policies, analyse data, and create reports to identify areas for improvement in planning systems.
What is Food for the Planet? Agriculture is both a driver of and impacted by the climate crisis. Over 30% of the UK’s emissions can be connected to the food system and it is the biggest cause of biodiversity loss. Food for the Planet is fighting for food systems that work for people and planet. Our campaigns are driven by research that supports engagement with policy actors at the local and national level. Food for the Planet encompasses a handful of campaigns that focus on some key issues: procurement, intensive farming, advertisement, and the just transition.
Support offered: The successful candidate will receive an induction into Sustain and will be supported in their journey at our organisation by their team. They will have the opportunity to attend relevant internal training available during this period, as well as external events and development opportunities that are relevant to their work.
What will the work focus on? Planning for the Planet is Sustain’s campaign tackling factory farming. We focus primarily on the planning system at a local level. The planning system is not fit for purpose right now, with the number of very large factory farms increasing 20% between 2016 and 2023. The faecal waste produced by these animals is creating a nutrient pollution crisis in our rivers, decimating wildlife and harming local communities. We want to better understand what the planning policy environment looks like in the UK. We have developed an exciting and novel methodology for approximating factory farm hotspots. We are seeking a researcher to analyse relevant local policy documents in the worst polluted areas, identify trends, and report on where great policies exist and where there could be improvements. Your work will involve research, analysing and synthesising data, and producing written outputs, as well as ad hoc campaigns and communications work. You will also help the team to create and deliver a strategy to disseminate the results. This will support our campaigning and cement us as an authoritative voice on UK planning and factory farming.
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Sustain
The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London E2 9DA
Sustain advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, promote equity and enrich society and culture.