Engagement Officer (2048)

The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys worldwide. Our vision is a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and our mission is to improve the lives of donkeys every day. We will achieve this by transforming the lives of donkeys in need worldwide by fostering greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships.

We have an excellent opportunity for an Engagement Officer to join our team. This role is crucial to the global influencing work within the Public Affairs, Advocacy and Campaigns department; the Engagement Officer is responsible for identifying and maintaining meaningful relationships with global stakeholders, including governmental, non‑governmental and educational institutions. We are tackling the greatest threats working donkeys face locally and around the world, from the donkey skin trade to challenges working animals face in disasters. By coordinating engagement around sustainable development, wildlife crime, One Health and One Welfare agendas, the Engagement Officer will enable the cohesion within the member groups that The Donkey Sanctuary are currently part of and inspire new ways of working. This includes the International Coalition of Working Equids (ICWE) and developing and building new coalition opportunities around working animals.

About you:

• Able to demonstrate excellent communication skills with the ability to flex communication style depending on the audience and the message being delivered;
• A proven record organising online events for international audiences;
• High level analytical skills combined with the ability to draft strategic responses;
• Strong organisation and coordination skills with the ability to multi‑task and demonstrate working with a number of conflicting demands to meet multiple deadlines;
• Demonstrate a previous experience of delivering positive stakeholder engagement activities;
• A good understanding of the challenges and opportunities when ensuring integration between internal departments and external partners;
• An understanding of animal welfare and/or international development with evidence of working on these topics;

About the role:

Your principal duties and responsibilities will include –

• Build strong internal and external partnerships with global stakeholders, including governmental and non‑governmental organisations to grow existing and build new relationships.
• Coordinate and assist with accreditations and processes that support our access in policy forums.
• Assist in the coordination of coalition and alliance engagement opportunities globally.
• Lead on agreed coalition / alliance priorities such as creating material, meeting with partners and planning international events.
• Create supporting materials and reports for stakeholders that advance our influencing agenda.
• Engage with, and support, team processes around strategic planning for external events and activities.
• Support the wider activities of the influencing work including helping to identify key external stakeholders and new forums.

What we offer in return:

This is a full‑time, permanent contract starting as soon as possible, working 35 hours per week, 08.30‑16.30, Monday‑Friday. We are a flexible employer and open to flexible working requests to ensure the role meets the candidate needs and, due to the nature of the role, flexibility will be required for working outside of core hours, and for occasional UK and international travel.

Location

Our globally working team is spread across the UK and overseas. This role is primarily remote, with flexibility to work from a location based in the UK that suits your needs and the needs of the organisation, in line with our Hybrid Working Guidelines. While the post is nominally linked to our Sidmouth office, there is only an occasional requirement to travel (around 3–4 times per year) to Sidmouth or another UK location for team meetings or organisational events.

There may be occasions when the post holder may be required to work at another location considered reasonable by the Charity.

We would recommend you refer to the FAQs section on our Candidate Journey page regarding travelling to work.

31 days holiday (including Bank holidays), rising to 34 will each full year of service.

Wellbeing team.

Recorded Pilates and Yoga classes.

Long service awards.

Healthshield plan –

• Reimbursement of some medical expenses up to the specified limits per membership.
• Offers, discounts and cashback on shopping, travel and entertainment from participating outlets.
• Access to a 24/7 GP and counselling service.

Free parking.

Subsidised restaurant and shop.

Closing date for completed applications: Thursday 1 January 2026.

Please note:

• Interviews will take place the week commencing 19th January 2026.
• We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the advertised date and therefore encourage early applications.

The Donkey Sanctuary is a Disability Confident Employer.

The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.

The Donkey Sanctuary also participates in the Inter‑Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and, for relevant posts, may request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

Please note: The Guaranteed interview scheme is only applicable to candidates who consider themselves to have a disability applying for roles based within the United Kingdom.

NOTE TO APPLICANTS: We look forward to receiving your application, but we do ask you to complete this in your own words, and not to employ an Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tool or assistant. Applications that are considered not to be an applicant’s own work may not be shortlisted for interview.