Local Community Campaigns Advisor

About the role

As both the Leader of the Victorian Greens and the State MP for Melbourne, Ellen’s work spans both pursuing reform on the big issues impacting all Victorians, and pushing for change on local issues and providing direct support to our local community. This role focuses primarily on local issues and local community support.

Ellen’s time is divided between attending community events, sitting in Parliament, doing public events and media, and meeting with stakeholders and colleagues. With an election approaching in November 2026, the pressures on Ellen’s time will become more intense.

We need someone to be Ellen’s eyes and ears in the electorate of Melbourne and ensure that we can continue to deliver the support in the local community that Ellen is known for. You will be our team’s expert on local issues. You love talking to people and building relationships, and are passionate about driving change on things like winning extra funding for our local schools, cyclist and pedestrian safety, accessible transport, supporting our public housing residents, and saving our community health centres. You’re passionate about helping Ellen be a great local MP and achieving wins, big and small, for our local inner-Melbourne community.

Responsibilities

In this role, you will:

• Be Ellen’s eyes and ears in the local community, staying across issues that are important to constituents and identifying strategic opportunities to support the local Melbourne community and deliver outcomes.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with local community groups and stakeholders, from school principals, to local residents groups and bike advocacy campaigners.
• Develop and implement local campaigns designed to achieve outcomes, ensuring local work remains a priority within the team even when Ellen is pulled away into state-wide priorities.
• Work closely with the Communications Advisor to deliver communications on local issues, including drafting copy for petitions, flyers and supporter emails, and contributing ideas for social media.
• Maintain Ellen’s presence in key local newspapers by pitching stories on local issues and drafting columns about Ellen’s work in the community.
• Coordinate opportunities for Ellen to engage with the local community, including organising meetings and events with key stakeholders, managing her attendance at important local events.
• Attend events and community meetings with Ellen where required, take photos, take notes and build relationships with local community organisations.
• Prepare letters to Ministers and other decision-makers, briefings, and Parliamentary speeches on local issues when needed.
• Work with volunteers to help run events or activities in the local electorate.

Key Skills and Attributes

• Values-driven: Your values align with the Greens’ commitment to social justice, environmental sustainability, peace and non-violence, and grassroots democracy.
• Interested in local politics and grassroots activism: You’re passionate about grassroots organising and community-led change and have an interest in politics at a local level. You’re keen to work in a political environment, have (or are developing) an understanding of the role an MP plays in the community, and can think strategically about how to achieve outcomes.
• Organised and self-motivated: You’re comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities. You can manage your workload independently, stay organised, and meet deadlines — even when things change quickly.
• A clear and confident communicator: You communicate well in writing and in person, are comfortable engaging with people from diverse backgrounds, and can tailor your communication to different audiences and purposes. You might be speaking with a school principal in the morning, with African-Australian community leaders in the afternoon, and passionate bike-lane campaigners in between!
• Friendly and approachable: You’ll often represent Ellen in the local community. You’re approachable, respectful, and able to build positive relationships with a wide range of people.
• Able to identify what matters: You have the ability to digest a large amount of information, understand complex issues, distill the information to identify what is important and communicate this concisely to Ellen and other team members.

There are a range of additional skills and experiences that would be highly valued, though they are not essential for the role. We strongly value the knowledge and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and First Nations people are encouraged to apply. Applicants with existing connections in Melbourne’s inner-city communities will be highly regarded, as will people from diverse cultural backgrounds, particularly those with the ability to communicate with our multicultural communities in languages other than English.

We are able to accommodate requests to make this role accessible and encourage applicants to let us know if they have any access needs.

Finding someone with the qualities that make them a great fit for our team is more important than meeting every skill or experience listed above. Even if you don’t have all the skills, tell us why you’re a good fit for the role!

Next steps

To submit your application please click 'Apply Now' on Ethical Jobs by the closing date.

For more information, please email ellen.sandell@parliament.vic.gov.au using the subject line: Local Community Campaigns Advisor enquiry via EthicalJobs.