You can always expect a green, taxpayer-funded non-job in the Guardian Society pages every week. Over the weeks the proliferation of adverts for "climate change officers" and their lackeys is clear to the eye. And it's worrying too as we're the ones paying for them. They mean well, yes, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
If you are a climate change officer at Guildford council you may think you can save the world, but you can't. Instead you're using up our money just to appease the guilt-ridden consciences of establishment politicians. If you want to help, join the bandwagon to get India and China to lower their carbon emissions and don't use taxpayers' money just to appease liberal guilt.
So, our non-job of the week is the "principal climate change officer" at Guildford council:
"Principal Climate Change Officer
Hours: Full Time
Salary: Grade B/C £28,286 pa - £36,130 pa with possible progression to £38,801 pa
This is an excellent opportunity for somebody to take the lead role in managing, implementing and reviewing the Council's Climate Change strategy.
You should have broad experience of dealing with sustainability issues and full understanding of how this relates to services provided by local authorities. You should be educated to degree standard in a relevant subject area and will need to manage the works of other highly motivated staff whose workload includes environmental issues and project delivery, including an ongoing programme for schools of promoting energy efficiency and use of renewable technology.
We need you to be self-motivated and flexible with excellent presentation and communication skills. The post will occasionally involve working irregular hours."