Ben & Jerry’s Activism Manger Nordics
Do you have experience working in campaigning within the NGO, charity or grassroots movement-building space? Have you got a passion for the idea that business can be used to drive positive change in the world? Do issues of social and environmental justice drive you to take action? Values-led ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s is recruiting an Activism Manager to lead activism campaigns with our team in Sweden.
Role & Responsibilities
The Activism Manager role joins a global Activism team as part of the Europe region, and works with local colleagues in Sweden to implement their work. The role is based at Unilever’s office in Stockholm.
The primary role of the Activism Manager is to build successful fan-facing social justice campaigns that drive progressive systemic change in partnership with movements and progressive civil society organisations. This includes:
- Lead in building impactful activism campaigns in Sweden that tie in with our global Social Mission goals, including refugee and asylum rights under the direction of the Head of Activism for Ben & Jerry’s Europe and in partnership with the local team for Ben & Jerry’s Nordics. These campaigns should drive action primarily in Ben & Jerry’s fan-base, leveraging the tools we have as a for-profit ice cream company including communication channels, creative messaging and marketing know-how.
- Work with external partners to build and execute activism campaigns that follow the strategy of the movement
- Build our relationships in the movement, including non-profit, non-governmental organisations, progressive advocates, civil society organisations and grassroots groups,
- Given Ben & Jerry’s unique position within Unilever, the ability to build excellent relationships within both Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s at the Nordic, regional and global levels will be essential. Having the right energy and attitude to connect both parts of our organisation will be critical for success
- Play an active role in the European Activism team – six managers across six countries, plus the Head of Activism
- Work closely with the digital, social media, PR and marketing teams and agencies to support the delivery of activism campaigns in Sweden as well as increasing knowledge and understanding of our activism model, and our current issue focus areas of refugee & asylum rights and climate justice, within the team and agencies we work with in Sweden
- Support social mission communications and initiatives across the Nordics, maintaining relationships with existing partners e.g. Fairtrade
- Support the development of social mission content for websites and social media in the Nordics
- Influence other businesses to use their platforms and practices to help create progressive, systemic change
Skills & Experience
Given Ben & Jerry’s unique position within Unilever, the ability to build excellent relationships within both Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s will be essential. We are looking for people who can ultimately leverage the marketing excellence and operational effectiveness that is built by Unilever – while preserving the three part mission and community of connectivity within Ben & Jerry’s.
Essential:
- Three to five years of previous campaign experience and a proven track of campaign strategy development.
- Knowledge of public policy and the political process in Sweden.
- A belief in the power of grassroots campaigning and commitment to movement-building as a theory of change.
- Experience and understanding of how to use a diverse set of tools and channels, including digital and social media, to inspire people to action in support of progressive social change.
- Strong interpersonal, leadership, and communication skills.
- Ability to build relationships with external partners and allies
- Ability to influence internal partners in order to establish a collaborative stakeholder alignment across a complex globally matrixed organization
- Attention to detail, planning and preparation.
- Professional level English is required
- Fluency in Swedish is required; the local team use Swedish for business operations
Desired:
- Excellent public speaking and presentation skills (media experience is a plus)
- Experience working across multi-cultural and diverse communities
- Experience of working in the refugee or climate justice sector
- A good network of allies and groups in the migrant/refugee movement
- Experience working within a large, multi-layered organization (business or NGO)
Our people profile
To support our 3-part mission, Ben & Jerry’s also has an outspoken people-mission. We look for people with these characteristics to strengthen our team:
- Purpose-driven: passion and drive to make a real impact through our Social Mission
- Empathy: curious to collaborate with a variety of personalities and styles and to build excellent relationships with internal & external stakeholders – this includes cross-functional relationships and striving for collaborative success
- Mastery: continuously learn, grow and develop to contribute to B&Js
- Autonomy: dare to make choices and take ownership
- Activism: interested in bringing about political or social connectivity