Industry Issues Groups Manager
- Job status: This is a full-time, permanent role.
- Location: Homebased (UK) or office-based in one of our offices in Edinburgh or Grimsby
- Salary: The salary range for this role is £36,918-£46,149.
About Seafish
Seafish is here to give the UK seafood sector the support it needs to thrive. Our work makes a huge difference. We collaborate with a wide range of partners – from seafood businesses and trade bodies to government, regulators and environmental organisations – and we engage in everything from research to campaigns, insight and training.
About the Responsible Sourcing Team
Responsibly sourcing seafood, from well-managed capture fisheries and aquaculture farms, protects the marine environment while allowing for responsible economic use. This is essential to ensure a long-term future for the seafood industry and all those who depend on it for their livelihoods. It is therefore in our collective interest to support sustainable seafood production and supply.
Seafish’s Responsible Sourcing Team works to ensure the UK has an environmentally and socially responsible seafood industry. While there are ongoing issues to be addressed, there are also plenty of positive stories to tell.
As a team and organisation, we all come together for face-to-face catch-up sessions throughout the year and additional travel may be required for conferences or events.
How we work
At Seafish, we have a trust and performance culture. Performance driven results mean having autonomy and accountability in equal parts, so you can work in the way that’s most effective for you, as long as you deliver your work to the expected standards. You’ll have a personal development plan that outlines the objectives and competencies for your role and learning and development goals. You’ll have regular catch-ups with your line manager, along with mid-year and end of year reviews to discuss your work and performance.
Seafish’s Issues Groups Manager brings stakeholders together to find common solutions to shared challenges across the seafood supply chain, providing the space to discuss the topics facing the seafood industry in the UK.
You will play a key role, working across the organisation and our stakeholder community to identify emerging issues and trends, and to deliver in-person and online events to ensure businesses, researchers, government, regulators and the NGO community can stay abreast of these issues. You will also produce e-newsletters and briefing papers and manage the exchange of information to Seafish’s internal and external stakeholders.
For more information visit our Issues Groups web page.
The main dimensions of the role are:
- Keep a detailed watching brief on key upcoming and developing issues affecting the UK seafood sector and manage related communication to industry, and wider seafood stakeholders, via up-to-date information.
- Act as a Seafish ambassador and manage all aspects of our Issues Groups (Common Language Group; Aquaculture Common Issues Group; Fisheries Management and Innovation Group; Pelagic Industry Issues Group; and Seafood Ethics Common Language Group).
- Research, analyse and synthesise often technical and scientific content, to produce industry briefings and written content relevant to the Issues Groups and wider seafood industry. These are required to be factual and fully referenced, but also understandable to a lay reader.
- Contribute to one of the following Seafish workstreams:
- Provide the secretariat to the SEA Alliance (a pre-competitive collaboration of retailers and seafood businesses aiming to strengthen human rights due diligence carried out in the global seafood supply chain, and ensure respect for human rights) and support the Head of the SEA Alliance with all related aspects of its work programme.
- Provide support to key projects under our Supply Chain Resilience Priority, to equip businesses to respond and adapt when issues emerge, highlighting where change is necessary and creating pre-competitive spaces for businesses to forge solutions and realise opportunities.
Key accountabilities will be:
Issues Groups
Direct responsibility for managing industry Issues Groups. Provide asecretariat role:
- Convene the advisory panel for each Issues Group, to guide work with key internal and external stakeholders and agree meeting agenda topics; identify and secure speakers; manage all meeting arrangements; produce minutes; and maintain web pages.
- Maintain and update a stakeholder database for each Issues Group e-newsletter.
- Current awareness of emerging and developing issues impacting upon the seafood sector and its UK and international supply chains, understand any sensitivities and the strategic impact these may have.
- Direct and regular engagement with a large number of industry stakeholders, at all levels.
News reporting
- Monitor a wide range of news channels and industry communications on all issues that could impact the reputation of the seafood industry in the UK.
- Disseminate information and manage the output and flow of impartially presented information and communication to and through Seafish’s Issues Groups and respective e-newsletters.
- Research seafood industry topics of relevance to the Issues Groups, to provide clear, accessible information for all sectors.
- Provide monthly monitoring updates on the Issues Groups performance to Seafish’s Reputation Oversight Group.
Briefings and Articles
- Analyse and synthesise information from a wide range of suitable, credible sources, on complex scientific and technical topics.
- Produce briefings and articles on chosen topics, for use by other Seafish staff and teams e.g. for use as media briefing materials or factual rebuttals in the media), as well as the wider seafood industry.
- Produce articles (drawing on expertise of Seafish staff and external sources as appropriate) with high technical content, but understandable to lay reader for publication.
- Build a network of credible and efficient internal and external peer reviewers who can comment and vet work produced.
- Collaborate with relevant internal colleagues and industry stakeholders on particular topics; maintaining a horizon-scanning service for any emerging topics with particular relevance to the Issues Groups.
Contribute to one of the following Seafish workstreams
SEA Alliance Secretariat
- Organise and attend meetings: all members, Steering Committee, Working Groups and specialist focus groups.
- Produce and share agendas and minutes; responsible for membership administration; and managing internal and external comms.
- With a secretariat focus, support the Head of the SEA Alliance to progress the Alliance’s work programme through its Steering Committee and various working groups.
- Provide the day-to-day contact point with Seafish, as the SEA Alliance’s fiscal sponsor, in relation to accounting and financial reporting to external funders.
Supply Chain Resilience Priority
- Provide insights and support to internal stakeholders on key projects.
- On a topic-by-topic basis, provide intel’ to ensure key projects draw on the latest subject knowledge and/or technical readiness, as well as signposting to the most relevant go-to stakeholders.
- Provide a critical peer review role on draft key Seafish reports and outputs.
Essential working relationships will include:
Internal relationships
- Collaborate with colleagues across Seafish, particularly the Communications Team, to ensure Issues Groups continue to be supported effectively.
- Ensure other teams understand the purpose of the Issues Groups and how they can add value to their work; including the delivery of presentations, dependent on agenda topics.
- Dependent on the topic, build a network of internal go-to stakeholders, to provide suggestions for agenda contents and speakers.
External relationships
- Maintain a good working relationship with key Seafish colleagues and the Steering Group chair and members (internal and external) for each Issues Group.
- Maintain regular 121s with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to identify their needs and ensure a full understanding of new developments and innovations.
- Continue to expand personal contacts to help with finding speakers for events, and experts for curated, expert information.
- (Where the SEA Alliance secretariat is delivered as part of the role) maintain a good working relationship with the members of the SEA Alliance to support members and help prioritise issues.
To be a suitable candidate for this role you should have:
- Comprehensive understanding and in-depth knowledge of the UK seafood industry, and an ability to stay abreast of the emerging issues and news, often of a sensitive nature, which are likely to be crucial to industry stakeholders.
- Degree or equivalent qualifications, in either marine biology, business, law, geography, engineering, or environmental management.
- Strong and demonstrable post-graduate experience of the seafood industry and/or pertinent experience of research (ideally both desk and field), including preparation of detailed, technical written reports, briefings and articles at an intermediate/advanced level.
- Strong network with excellent organisational skills and the ability to distil complex information, and communicate effectively, both verbally and particularly in writing, to a wide range of audiences. Experience of delivering secretariat duties.
- The confidence and ability to communicate with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
- Advanced experience and competence in using Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Microsoft Teams/SharePoint.
Every role in Seafish is linked to our bespoke competency framework. The competency levels for this role are:
- Growing Expertise – Creates a learning and development environment
- Embracing Change – Shows the ability to adapt to change
- Building Relationships – Builds effective teams to deliver corporate strategy
- Achieving Results – Overcomes challenging circumstances to achieve high-quality results
- Influencing with Impact – Communicates complex messages
All roles within Seafish are graded and have defined salary bands. This role is a grade 5 post, and the salary range for this role is £36,918-£46,149. A new member’s appointment on the pay spine is dependent on the experience they bring to the role when they start. New candidates normally start at the lower end of the range unless they can demonstrate considerable experience in the requirements of the role.
Additional benefits include:
- 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays and wellbeing break when the organisation closes between Christmas and New Year (3 additional days).
- Optional five days per year paid volunteering leave for an activity of your choice.
- Trust and Performance culture – you work in a way that suits you to get your work done to the expected standard.
- A generous employer pension scheme – we'll double your contribution up to a maximum employer contribution of 10%.
- A range of health and wellbeing benefits including the Cycle to Work scheme, private medical insurance, gym discounts and eye care.
- Our unlimited employee assistance scheme is a support service available 24/7 – it offers confidential, impartial advice on anything you need such as work, family, finance support or anything else personal to you.
- A professional development culture with plenty of learning opportunities.
- Rewards for high performance each year.
To apply for the post, you should email your application to recruitment@seafish.co.uk. Please include “Industry Issues Groups Manager” in the subject line of your email.
Your application should include:
- A covering letter or a short video explaining why you are a suitable candidate.
- A recent copy of your CV so we can find out more about your skills and experience.
- A completed copy of our recruitment consent form.
The deadline for applications is Sunday 15th September.
Candidates invited to interview will be given at least one weeks’ notice of proposed interview date to allow you to prepare. At this stage you might be asked to complete a short task in advance of interview and then answer some competency-based questions during interview.
If you need any accommodations or adjustments during our recruitment and selection process, please reach out to us.
Further information
For any queries about the job description or the salary and benefits on offer, please email recruitment@seafish.co.uk.