Coastal Rangers x2

We are seeking highly motivated and organised individuals that have excellent communication and engagement skills to join the Bird Aware Essex Team.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a cross-county project in Bird Aware Essex which would allow you to engage with local communities, visitors, schools and recreational users of the Essex coastline, protecting the internationally important bird life that rely on its estuaries and coastal habitats.

Bird Aware Essex is a partnership project that raises awareness and understanding of the overwintering and breeding birds on the Essex coast while encouraging all visitors to enjoy the coast responsibly, sharing our shores with wildlife. We work on the coastline covering all 10 Designated Habitat Sites, from the Thames Estuary in the South up to the Stour Estuary in the North and are a partnership made up of twelve local councils, Essex County Council, Natural England, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Essex Wildlife Trust. For more information about Bird Aware Essex view our website: www.birdaware.org/essex/ 

Working across the Essex coastline, the successful applicants will be experienced in communicating and engaging with a wide range of people, bringing a passion for conservation and inspiring positive behavioural change, to reduce the impacts of recreational disturbance to coastal birds and their habitats.

Coastal Rangers provide an on-the-ground ranger service, undertaking patrols along the coast and delivering a varied programme of engagement activities and events, promoting awareness and understanding of the effects of human disturbance on coastal birds. Therefore, experience of delivering engagement activities and of leading the planning and delivery of events to the public and volunteers is essential.

The successful candidates will be capable of working in a physically active environment through all weathers, so a passion for the great outdoors and wildlife is essential. A full clean driving licence and access to own transport is also essential as the role will involve regular travel to sites along the Essex coast.

The Rangers will undertake patrols along the coast from the Stour Estuary along the coastline to the Thames Estuary & Marshes, building effective relationships with a range of partners and stakeholders, and develop on the ground projects.

The role of a Coastal Ranger involves the following responsibilities:

• Working on the ground to reduce disturbance to coastal birds by influencing the behaviour of coastal visitors.
• Undertaking site visits and patrols along the Essex coastline and designated estuaries and habitat sites, engaging with the public to deliver the key Bird Aware Essex messages.
• Engagement with recreational groups and users along the coastline reducing disturbance impact on nesting and overwintering coastal birds.
• Be a public facing ambassador and a point of contact for public queries. The Rangers will have a knowledge of the project and will deliver seasonal work with support of the RAMS Delivery Officer, develop volunteer programmes and work in partnership with various groups and organisations across Essex.
• Deliver targeted initiatives such as those to encourage responsible dog walking and encourage dog owners to go to less sensitive parts of the coast.
• Set up a monitoring scheme to track the implementation of mitigation measures and to assess their effectiveness.

There are two Coastal Ranger positions currently available, one on a full-time basis of 37 hours per week and one on a part time basis of 22.2 hours per week. Please state which you would like to apply for in your application form.

For more information and to apply, please visit the jobs page of our website.

Closing date: 18 March 2024. 
Interview date: w/c 25 March 2024.

Chelmsford City Council is committed to safeguarding vulnerable groups and expects all employees to share this commitment and have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across our services. The Council's Safer Recruitment process contains pre-employment vetting which includes safeguarding training, obtaining references and ensuring compliance with Disclosure and Barring Service process.