Location: Brussels, Belgium (regular office attendance is required)
Working hours: Full-time (38 hours/week) or 80% FTE (30.4 hours/week)
Contract type: 6‑month fixed‑term contract, with the possibility of a permanent contract thereafter.
Salary and benefits: €4,315 to €5,674 (full-time equivalent) per month gross salary (depending on experience), plus lunch vouchers (€8 per working day), health insurance (after the initial 6-month contract), and a contribution to travel costs from home to office.
Fern offers full-time staff five extra days’ holiday in addition to legal holidays, and up to four additional holidays between Christmas and the New Year. Staff also earn an additional vacation day for every two years worked at Fern, up to a maximum of five days.
About Fern
Fern is an NGO working to ensure European policies protect forests and the rights of forest-dependent peoples. We do this by coordinating networks and working with partners across Europe, South-East Asia, Central and West Africa and South America.
We believe that to be effective, it is essential to understand and address the social dimension of environmental conflicts; that strong coalitions are more likely to achieve lasting change; and that it is necessary to both highlight problems and present ways forward. We are committed to tackling power injustices and supporting people to improve the wording and implementation of policies that affect them.
Fern has a non-hierarchical (flat) management structure. We have no director and strive to make decisions by consensus. Details of our work areas and campaigns can be found at www.fern.org. We currently have 21 staff working from three offices, in Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and Moreton-in-Marsh (United Kingdom).
Purpose of the Role
Fern’s communications team is key to our flat structure; the communications team is made up of 4 full-time positions (2 based in Brussels and 2 based in the UK) and hosts an internship programme. The strategic communications role is the bridge between campaign and the communications teams, allowing us to not just think about what to communicate, but why we communicate it, to whom and with what aims.
This role is both advisory and operational. The chosen candidate will support campaigners to plan and execute impactful communications, and the communications team to deliver on agreed activities.
This will require challenging campaigners’ communications and advocacy priorities (and the tensions between them) and identifying unforeseen opportunities that could help them achieve campaign goals. The strategic communications adviser also supports campaigners to shape and develop content with compelling stories and narratives, and ensure projects are led to completion. This position requires strong interpersonal and facilitation skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to work under pressure and to propose how to deal with competing priorities. High flexibility and adaptability are required (i.e., the ability to respond to unforeseen developments in a timely manner and to cover colleagues’ work in case of absence).
Key Responsibilities
- Offer targeted strategic communications advice and agree high-impact communications. This will mainly be done through joining campaign meetings and co-designing Terms of Reference for products and events (ensuring they have clear audience, narrative and impact indicators). Sometimes it may also be necessary to lead on delivering these.
- Keep abreast of relevant news to identify and share communications opportunities
- Build and maintain relationships with a broad network of NGOs and think-tanks
- Cover the work of the communications coordinator, media adviser and communications project manager during absences
- Join communications team meetings to monitor workplan progress, co-create future workplans and alert the team to comms related discussions at campaign team meetings
- Work closely with colleagues across different teams, sharing knowledge and expertise to promote an inclusive work environment
- Work closely with partners and propose ways to communicate that open space for voices that are under-represented in media and policymaking
- Help shape Fern’s approach towards strategic communications in the long-term strategy
- Input to Fern’s other long-term strategies and develop annual workplans together with other team members
- Co-management of the organisation (after induction period)
- Sign off all French language material (after induction period)
- Travel within Europe (and possibly to tropical forest countries) will be necessary
What Fern Offers
- A supportive work environment
- Opportunities for professional development and training
- Flexible working arrangements outside of core hours (1 day per week in the office mandatory, in addition to meetings)
- Freedom to co-develop the direction of the communications team and campaigns, in line with Fern’s mission, values, 5-year strategy and annual workplans
- Competitive pay and benefits
Induction to the role will take at least six months. During that time, you will learn Fern’s communications tools (website, social media and database), processes, strategies and style. You will be helping to deliver already agreed communications and campaigns workplans. We will incrementally introduce you to Fern’s campaigns with the aim of you being up-to-speed enough to help co-create the 2027 communications and campaigns workplans towards the end of 2026.
After 6-months, if the position is working for both you and Fern, you will become part of the co-management of the organisation and, in addition to the activities outlined above, be part of the team proposing the direction for the strategic communications role for the next five-year strategy (2028-2032). This will be a key opportunity to guide Fern’s use of strategic communications in fast-changing political and communications environments.
How to Apply
Please note that Fern is only able to employ those who have the pre-existing legal right to work in Belgium. Only candidates that are eligible to work in Belgium will be considered.
To apply, please submit the following:
- Your CV
- A cover letter that includes:
- your motivation for applying (including how you learned about this vacancy)
- how you meet the person specifications (essential and desirable), and how you would work to address any specifications that you don’t meet
- how you define “strategic communications”, and what this means for Fern
- your thoughts on how NGOs should respond to the EU’s present “simplification drive”
- at least one example of the impact of your previous strategic communications work
Applications should be sent by email to recruitment@fern.org with the subject line “Strategic Communications Adviser”.
We strongly encourage applications from individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and are committed to providing accommodations throughout the application process. If you need support, please contact Aislin Ryan, aislin@fern.org.
If you would like to discuss the content of the job, please contact Richard Wainwright, richard@fern.org.
Selection process:
- Deadline for applications: Monday 6 April 2026 at 23:59 CET
- Invitations to interview will be sent week of 20 April 2026
- First Round Interviews will be 28 April 2026 in Brussels
- Second Round Interviews will be 11 May 2026 in Brussels
Travel costs to both interviews will be reimbursed.
Please note that the interviewing process takes an entire day - accommodation could be provided where possible.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
Fern values a diverse work force and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. If you have any reasonable adjustments you need Fern to take into consideration for either the application or the interview process, please get in touch with Aislin Ryan, aislin@fern.org.
