Strategic Comms & Community Lead

Strategic Comms & Community Lead 

About Beanstalk: 

Beanstalk exists to unleash the potential for agriculture to be a leading force for good. We believe our food system needs reinvention to feed a growing global population on a healthy planet, and we are working hand-in-hand with innovators, agribusinesses, and public sector leaders to make it happen. If this excites you, we would love for you to apply! 

We are a specialised team of strategy, venture building and innovation experts dedicated to the global agriculture and food sector. Our role ensuring that technology is built, deployed, and scaled effectively for producers and agribusinesses to focus on what they do best: feed the world with care for both people and the planet. 

About the Beanstalk Drought Venture Studio: 

Australia is one of the driest continents on earth, yet we have a vibrant agricultural sector that constantly adapts to climate change challenges - necessity has made us amazing innovators. This resourcefulness makes Australia the natural home for our Drought Venture Studio (DVS).  

This world first partnership between the Commonwealth - through its Future Drought Fund - and Beanstalk AgTech will identify problems from the ground up and develop and fund solutions through practical commercialisation. Beanstalk will work with the eight Drought Innovation Hubs across Australia and industry to enable the creation of new startups and technological innovation in response to drought.  

The program’s mission is to support nearly 100 commercial solutions, and to intensively back the commercial validation of 8 high growth ventures over the next 2 years, positioning Australia as a global leader on drought   solutions to agricultural resilience. 

About the Role 

We are hiring a Strategic Comms & Community Lead for Beanstalk on a fixed term contract. 

Across Beanstalk at large, your role will be to help build the reputation and profile of Beanstalk as a thought leader through a creative approach to learning, engagement, and communications through the marketing and communications plans and implementation of various internal and client-focused projects. In collaboration with organisational and project leadership, and with support of a dedicated Marketing & Communications Coordinator and events management support, you will actively promote knowledge sharing and deep industry engagement through establishment and utilisation of digital platforms, contemporary communications, and design principles. Further, you will steward Beanstalk’s community-building and -convening efforts, helping to embed Beanstalk as an innovation & advisory partner to a cross-section of emergent innovators, investors, agribusinesses, and public & social sector players across the Australian and relevant international ecosystems. 

Within the DVS – wherein you will spend an estimated 60% of your time over the course of the fixed-term employment period – your role will be to embed, adjust, and implement a clear strategy for communications and bespoke community-building to underpin the Drought Venture Studio’s ability to support the growth and impact of innovators delivering drought-resilient solutions. You will be working closely with the Studio Operations Lead, Head of Venture Studio, and Head of Ventures at Beanstalk to develop a cohesive series of activations such as (but not limited to); thought leadership, community events, formalised investor communities, campaigns, digital marketing plan and event activations. In this role you will be the glue that binds the ambitions of the Drought Venture Studio into a self-actualising tribe of innovators, producers, investors, experts and influencers. This role will work with the team across Australia to help spread the story to attract the best talent from Australia and abroad.  

In this role you will: 

• Create and coordinate dynamic and compelling marketing and content initiatives to engage with media and industry stakeholders across phases of project & program delivery

• Monitor food, agricultural, and sustainability social and media landscapes and proactively identify opportunities to develop the project marketing and communications plan and grow brand awareness/awareness of the project and Beanstalk’s point of difference, to help us extend our impact/ make a difference for the people we support

• Further develop and guide brand voice (including brand and language guidelines) for each project in collaboration with the client and other stakeholders

• Provide leadership, guidance and support to the BD team to respond to emerging and immediate issues and manage day-to-day marketing, communications and public relations activities

• Introduce and co-manage with the Marketing & Communications coordinator a CRM system for strategic BD and communications activities

• Drive and implement the communication strategy for the Drought Venture Studio

• Work with the Head of Ventures, strategically positioning the program’s communication activities to maximise program reach and engagement

• Manage a high-performing Marketing & Communications Coordinator as well as PR firm, graphics designer, and other sub-contractors to clearly articulate and amplify our message and mission

• Engage with Venture Builders to find stories to share through the course of the Venture Studio

• Enable and support our venture-building team – based across the East Coast of Australia and servicing our Drought Hub partners across Australia – to build locally-oriented, trusted communities and relationships across the Ag(Tech) ecosystem

• Specifically, you will develop and maintain a strategic engagement framework for key stakeholders of the program. This includes:

• Founder pipeline

• Investor community – local and international with an active interest in climate, drought, and AgTech

• Corporate community and industry bodies – for sponsorship and partnering opportunities

• Technical experts – to support in the validation and mentoring of ventures

• “Alumni” network for program participants to continue to receive support and guidance through mentors and the broader program network

• This list is not exhaustive and will be reviewed regularly to meet the changing needs of a dynamic, growing organisation

About You: 

• 5+ years’ experience in a comms and/or community engagement role

• Previous experience working in the agriculture/agribusiness/agtech/food sector is highly desirable, but not required

• Strong ability to generate multi-faceted communications & marketing materials

• Strong ability to curate and convene multi-stakeholder communities

• Understanding of strategic engagement within the venture and startup ecosystem

• Ability to clearly understand and articulate the unique value proposition of a venture services program to different stakeholders, and tailor content to these stakeholders

• Excellent written and verbal abilities

• Strong attention to detail

• Demonstrated ability to manage junior colleagues and/or sub-contractors

• Track record of taking initiative and leadership within teams

• Experience in managing emerging communications and learning platforms, systems, and channels for professional content and engagement

• Public speaking skills a plus

Location:  

• Preference for one of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane (hybrid working arrangements for shared workspace), but willing to consider strong candidates outside of these geographies

• Ad hoc travel across the program to local Drought Hub or for program workshops, offsites, or industry events (expectation 4-5 nights every 3 months)

Still with us here? You are probably one of us. Research out there suggests that women and underrepresented people are less likely to apply for a role despite being perfectly qualified.     

We would love for you to introduce yourself – as a business with global ambitions and working deeply amongst remote communities, diversity in people, experiences and perspectives brings us closer to our mission of building a regional food system that serves the communities we work across. We're looking for people of all genders, races, ethnicities, orientations, and abilities to join us. Beanstalk highly encourages Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to apply. We are especially seeking applicants who have demonstrated knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander culture and social ways of life.  

This is a great opportunity for a driven professional that is looking for an opportunity to work for a forward-thinking business that has an amazing culture built through their people.  

Apply for this role: 

Click the following link: Application Form; 

or type this into your favourite browser: https://form.typeform.com/to/Q2f4ZPGv 

Closing date is 11 November 2024.