Strategic Organiser

We are excited to be hiring a Strategic Organiser at the IWGB. We encourage applications from anyone who has experience of workplace organising and campaigning.

The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is a growing and dynamic union which consists of mainly low-paid, migrant and precarious workers, such as outsourced cleaners and security guards, workers in the so-called “gig economy”, such as Deliveroo couriers and Uber drivers, and foster care workers, video game workers, charity workers and more.

In this role, you will be working at the cutting edge of the trade union movement in Britain, organising in new and unorganised sectors and taking on rogue employers to fight for equality, dignity and respect.

You will be based in the organising department at the IWGB and will report to the Head of Organising, as well as working closely with elected officials and branch organisers. In this role, you will be deployed to strategic organising projects in different sectors with an aim of developing union activists, increasing union density, and winning disputes.

The role is fixed term for one year and is for 5 days (35 hours) per week. We are open to discussing a mutually beneficial working pattern with the right candidate. The role is based in London and we can offer a mix of in-the-field working, remote work and work in our London office.

Person specification

We expect the successful candidate to have:

Essential:

• Experience of workplace organising and campaigning, either as a union activist or as staff in a trade union, including:
• Proven ability to organise and win fights over workplace issues.
• Proven ability to recruit workers to a union and to motivate workers towards action, particularly through 1 to 1s.
• Proven ability to build and organise functioning teams of workplace activists.
• Proven ability to coach / train workplace activists and reps.
• Passion for building a combative, member-led trade union movement.
• Commitment to the principles of the trade union movement, including a passion for equality, fairness and social and economic justice.
• Self-motivation, perseverance, a high level of personal organisation and ability to prioritise and make decisions in an unstructured environment.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.

Desirable:

• Fluency in additional languages to English, particularly languages spoken among the workforces we organise with, such as Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Somali, Bengali, Urdu or otherwise.

Please do not count yourself out if you feel you do not meet all the requirements above. We will be offering support and training as part of the role.

Duties will include:

• Carrying out organising activities as part of strategic organising projects:
• Building density and collective organisation in target workplaces, e.g. through organising workplace visits, identifying workers to get involved in organising, supporting the formation of organising committees, etc.
• Supporting active members and workplace reps to develop skills and leadership roles in their workplaces and in their branches.
• Supporting active members and workplace reps to organise campaigns of collective action to fight for improvements at work.
• To produce communications to members and the public where relevant to organising activity or where required to fill in for support.
• To assist with some casework and member support where relevant to organising activity or where required to fill in for support.
• To record, keep secure and make use of data for organising purposes.
• Maintaining an overview of your work and liaising with and reporting back to the Head of Organising and elected officials.
• any other duties consistent with the post

Pay, holiday and annual leave

• Annual salary of £30,667 salary will be adjusted in line with any London Living Wage uplifts
• Generous leave entitlement of 30 days annual leave per year not including bank holidays (prorated for part time staff)
• We believe in pay parity so everyone at IWGB earns the same hourly rate of pay

Benefits

• Flexibility around working patterns and hours
• Hybrid working options (dependant on position)
• High employer pension contributions: 6% employee-paid and 13% employer-paid pension
• Equal maternity and paternity pay enhancements for parents

How to apply:

You can download an application form from the ‘Work with us’ page of our website. Please send your completed application form with the subject “Caseworker Team 1 job application” to applications@iwgb.co.uk by April 15 2025.  Please let us know in your email where you have seen our advertisement so we can improve our hiring processes.

Who is the IWGB?

Founded in August of 2012, the IWGB now consists of 12 branches. The branches are highly autonomous and lead on campaigning for better pay and conditions in their industry. IWGB campaigns are known for being bold, vibrant, loud and effective. In addition to campaigning, the IWGB’s Legal department is also highly active, providing representation on a range of employment matters such as disciplinary processes, grievances, private hire licensing, and employment tribunals. The IWGB organises social events for members, Spanish and English classes, and holds regular meetings where members can engage and feed into policy. We are a democratic organisation with all officials being regularly elected.

As an organisation that fights for workers’ rights, we strongly believe no applicant or employee should face discrimination or harassment based on their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status, age, or marital/domestic partner status. You can read more in the IWGB Statement of Inclusivity. Please let us know if you have any requirements for interview.

Above all, we’re looking for someone with empathy and the determination to support workers who fight for better conditions.

The interview process:

We like to be open and up front with what our hiring process looks like so people know what to expect. Please see below the typical steps in our recruitment process.

Review candidates

Once the advertisement has been taken down, a shortlist of candidates will be selected by the hiring committee to proceed to the next steps. All candidates will be informed of their application outcome within two weeks of the closing date, whether or not they’re proceeding to the next stage.

Remote interviews

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed via Zoom by a panel of IWGB elected officials and/or staff. Candidates will be interviewed by the same panel to ensure consistency.

Following these interviews, it is possible that there will be a second stage of interviews.

Offer stage

The hiring committee will convene with the goal of selecting and making an offer to one of the candidates. We will offer feedback to people who were interviewed but not selected.