One of the most heartbreaking moments of the 2017 election was that moment at about 6am when we realised that we had only just missed out on winning back North East Fife. The SNP MP and his wife were his own majority. Just two votes in it.

That’s one hell of a bar chart.

North East Fife recently selected the wonderful Wendy Chamberlain as PPC and the irrepressible Scottish Party Leader, Willie Rennie is MSP – winning the constituency seat back in 2016.

They’re now advertising for an organiser. Don’t ever tell him I said this, but I worked for Willie when he was MP for Dunfermline and can totally vouch for him as an employer. We had an amazing team. He’s also done the job of organiser himself back in the day. Wendy is a brilliant candidate who is also a pleasure to work with. You will also be working in one of the loveliest areas in the country.

Here’s their job ad:

This is an exciting opportunity to work in the most marginal constituency in the UK with the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie and our new Westminster Candidate Wendy Chamberlain.

Do you have what it takes to help us win? We are looking for someone who will be able to engage our volunteers, build teams, sharpen our messages and manage our campaigning at ward levels.  This might be a person with considerable experience or it might be someone relatively new: we are prepared to invest in the right person through intensive development from our local political experience and with support from Scottish and Federal staff.

Send your application and CV to Liz Barrett, Liberal Democrats, Unit G2, The Granary Business Centre, Coal Road, Cupar KY15 5YQ or email [email protected]  by midnight on Monday 29th October.  Interviews will take place on Monday 5th November in Cupar.  If you would like to talk about the job before applying, please email Paul Moat on [email protected]

The job description is as follows:

In advertising what is potentially a development post we recognise that some applicants may need support initially to fulfil some of these responsibilities and that this might vary in different candidates.

• Work with the PPC, MSP, and NEFLD Executive Sub-Committee to identify, refine and manage our campaign
• Work with PPC, MSP, and ward teams to identify local campaign issues and support them in developing campaigns
• Oversee the development, updating and delivery of the annual constituency campaign plan to a budget agreed by the NEFLD Executive Sub-Committee
• Ensure the local party has a coordinated approach to all communications including digital campaigns, canvassing and print
• Work with volunteers to build teams of people to support activities including administration, printing and different aspects of campaigning, and identify training needs and make arrangements for training as required
• Manage the production of literature including contributing to the design and content and undertaking layout as required
• Provide analysis of our campaigning data to make decisions about where we place our effort, building the understanding of data and targeting in the local party
• Undertake such training as is recommended, and provided through the management, in order to develop and update required skills
• Attend NEFLD Executive Sub-Committee and other meetings as required
• Undertake such other duties as the line manager may require to further effective communication, campaigning and organisation in North East Fife.

Specification

(E denotes Essential, D denotes Desirable)

• Committed to the aims and values of the Scottish Liberal Democrats (E)

• Familiarity with election campaigning techniques and tools, including database management, desktop publishing, website maintenance, and use of social media (E)

• Ability to communicate and liaise effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders including the MSP, PPC, councillors, and local party officers (E)

• Excellent written communications skills (E)

• Ability to engage volunteers, build volunteer teams and develop their campaigning skills (E)

• Ability to work with little supervision and prioritise a variety of tasks on a day to day basis (E)

• Experience in delivering training (D)

• Experience of writing press releases and handling media enquiries (D)

• Available and willing to work some unsocial hours (E)

• Full driving licence (E)

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social