(Green) Campaign Manager

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A Campaign Manager devises and runs campaigns aligned to the focus areas where their employer wants change to take place. Campaigns might be concerned with changing policy, influencing the way a sector or industry operates, or drawing attention to a specific subject to ignite cultural change.

The role may have a particular environmental or social focus. It will likely involve public affairs, building influence, and creating communications both to raise awareness of the campaign itself, and to mobilise campaigners.

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£30k – £50k

Salary range

The work of a Campaign Manager can be concerned with a very wide variety of social, economic, and financial matters. However, increasingly raising awareness of sustainability-related issues and the green agenda are areas of focus for campaigning.

Please note: the information in our job profiles aims to give a general overview of the role and a guideline to what it involves. The content is not intended to be exhaustive and roles will vary depending on the organisation and sector. The salary ranges are a guide only, as these are dependent on the size and location of the organisation.

How does this role align to the green agenda?

Campaign Manager roles connected to environmental matters are found both in organisations where sustainability is a primary concern, like green product manufacturers, and where it is a growing priority, for example in government organisations and universities.

Sustainability-related campaigns may have high-profile, wide-reaching political aims with many different organisations working together for a common goal (for example the campaign that led to the banning of plastic vapes). Or, they may have a more specific focus for one organisation, for example, the protection of a particular species living in a specific area. Either way, a Campaign Manager can wield wide-reaching, important influence in creating a better future and a healthier planet.

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Skills and capabilities

Campaign management is all about garnering influence to affect change and a passion for the subject that you are campaigning for is important. It is a multifaceted job and successfully fulfilling all its demands requires good prioritisation and a broad skills base. Maintaining a level of expertise in a specific campaign subject is also an ongoing challenge, albeit a rewarding one if you find the opportunity to champion a cause that matters to you.

Interpersonal skills like relationship development, diplomacy, and negotiation are key to the stakeholder engagement element of the role. Effective written and spoken communications, an organised approach to project management, and the ability to use data to inform decision-making are also important.

Learn more about upskilling

Transferable skills

Adaptability
Attention to detail
Collaborating
Creative thinking
Critical thinking
Delegating
Empathising
Influencing
Listening
Management
Planning
Presenting and public speaking
Problem reframing and resolution
Storytelling
Strategic thinking
Time management
Writing.

Technical knowledge

Area specific technical knowledge will be required as a Campaign Manager working in some sectors. A Campaign Manager with, for example, a sustainability remit may need to bring that experience and knowledge to the role. The job requires an individual to be both persuasive and informed – they need to be armed with a depth of subject detail to help them get their point across effectively.

Comprehensive research skills and a willingness to keep learning at every career stage are essential for a Campaign Manager, who needs up-to-date knowledge to inform their arguments in debate and lend them professional authority.

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A day in the life of a Campaign Manager

A Campaign Manager’s daily life will vary considerably depending on the sector and size of the organisation they work for, as well as their current campaigns and level of seniority.

Rather than affecting change at an individual level, a Campaign Manager tries to make changes at an organisational or governmental level. However, running communications that target individual stakeholders may be part of the role too. Sustainability and environmental matters can be the focus of a Campaign Manager’s work.

The term ‘Campaign Manager’ is also used to describe someone who runs campaigns on behalf of political candidates in elections. Additionally, it is used to describe a person who leads advertising campaigns for products or services. There is some crossover, but these are different jobs.

Typical duties and responsibilities:

Planning and delivering agreed campaigns, and reporting back to key stakeholders, acting as a key point of contact, both internally and externally.
Analysing data to inform strategies to reach the right people with messages that earn their trust and campaign buy-in.
Meeting and engaging with stakeholders including politicians, the general public, community and business leaders, and people from within their own organisation.
Creating and disseminating communications materials like leaflets and digital information.
Generating and managing funds to keep the campaign going, alongside managing the expenditure budget.
Project management and administrative tasks, plus potentially directing the work of colleagues.
Garner insights, keep up with industry developments and upskill in the subject area. This enables you to participate in relevant conversations.
Internal communication to influence key stakeholders and get buy-in for the campaign.

The work of a Campaign Manager is sometimes referred to as ‘advocacy’ because it involves advocating for a particular cause or group. Different Campaign Manager positions may be weighted towards different activities:

Lobbying – where you seek influence in political circles
Writing, influencing, or contributing to governmental policy

Some of this type of work is desk-based so there are opportunities for at least partial remote working. There are also likely to be in-person meetings with stakeholders, and events to attend. Part-time Campaign Manager opportunities also exist.

Entry routes

There are several routes into Campaign Manager roles.

Qualifications

Experience

Potential career progression

Campaign Managers can move in several directions:

Achieve a more senior level of management,

for example overseeing a campaign team.

Move into consultancy,

providing expertise to different organisations but covering the same campaign specialism.

Move into a position in advocacy,

or as a Policy Officer or Policy Advisor working for the government, a charity, membership organisation or thinktank.

Become a lobbyist working on behalf of a businesses, pressure groups, charities, trade unions,

or other organisations to directly influence local and central government, or other public bodies.

Relevant sectors

Campaigning can be relevant across all sectors, although demand is higher is some than others.

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Learn about the green agenda across different sectors

View sector pages

Information kindly supplied by:

Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS UK)

Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOS UK), supports students and wider society to learn, act and lead for environmental justice.

View website

Success stories

Aydn Loffman went from waste administration to environmental agenda champion

Maddy Diment grew up on England’s south coast, which inspired her to work in sustainability from a young age

Fiona Quinlan-Wells: a decade of change

Richard Naylor’s career in furniture has taken him from sales to sustainability

Cathie Mackay on greening traditional jobs and the huge responsibility of speaking up on our planet’s behalf

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Oluwaseun Johnson on the tangible, real-world rewards of sustainability volunteering 

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Carmel McQuaid on championing sustainability for one of Britain’s most beloved retail brands

A squiggly career led to a new perspective for Daniel Anderson

Mat Owen’s career change has taken him in a new sustainability direction

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Founding a sustainable business: Emma Pye’s journey to independence

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