Project Ecologist

Project Ecologist – Grade 4

Westcountry Rivers Trust is recruiting a Project Ecologist.

The starting salary for this role is between £30,000 and £34,000 per annum (dependent on experience).

The role is 37.5 hours per week.

Benefits while working for Westcountry Rivers Trust

• 25 days Annual Leave per annum, with a reward for long service - an additional 1 day per year for each year worked over 5 years, up to a maximum of 30 days for employees serving 10 years.
• An additional 3 days Leave for the Christmas Closure period.
• 9% Employer Pension, plus Life Assurance cover
• Flexible and Hybrid Working

Apply by midnight on Sunday 14th July 2024.

Interviews will be held in person at our offices in Stoke Climsland on Monday 29th July 2024.

For queries about this role or the application process please contact recruitment@wrt.org.uk 

Westcountry Rivers Trust’s office is in Stoke Climsland and whilst we have adopted hybrid working there is an expectation to work from the office on a regular basis and to travel to sites across the delivery area.

About Westcountry Rivers Trust

Formed in 1994, the trust was established to restore Westcountry rivers and everything we do is informed by the best available science.

Our work is driven by an ‘ecosystems approach,’ considering the function of the entire catchment, not just the rivers that flow within them.

We work with a wide range of stakeholders from landowners to local communities, businesses, farmers and water companies to restore and protect the rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal areas for the benefit of people, wildlife and the local economy. Measures to protect rivers can help to save money for farmers, lower costs for water companies, boost tourism, reduce the need to dredge estuaries and benefit human health.

There has never been a more important time to work for the rivers of the Westcountry as the impacts of the climate emergency and the ecological crisis forces society to invest in building catchment resilience.

Spurred by a shared love of rivers, the Westcountry Rivers Trust is very much a grassroots organisation, brought into existence from the bottom up. In the early 90s, a group of individuals, passionate – but concerned – about the waterways around them, began to stitch together their ambitions for restoring Westcountry rivers, laying the foundations for the trust we know today. We now have circa 75 employees with an annual turnover of c£3m, running multi-annual projects spread across a wide range of funders.

The Role

An exciting and new opportunity to provide support to ecological activities across the Trust in delivering project work on our catchments, with a particular focus on biodiversity and ecology.

Across the Trust, there are a growing number of projects delivering habitat creation, fish passage improvements, nutrient neutrality and natural flood management through the establishment of Nature based solutions and land use change. As part of this there is a need for specialist ecology and biodiversity support such as watching briefs, before and after interventions and BNG assessments to ensure suitable site location and determine habitat change. Much of this is around working with landowners to deliver solutions, including wetland restoration and creating riparian buffers.

Reporting to the Head of Fisheries and Ecology, the post holder will be encouraged to develop their knowledge and experience of ecology to support the delivery of conservation interventions such as those outlined above to develop resilient transformational land management, contributing to the sectors climate mitigation and environmental efforts.

The role will be office, home and site-based working at various locations on our catchments throughout the South West, supporting on the delivery of an array of project outputs for the Trust

Key responsibilities include:

• Producing and contributing to technical reports including Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEA), Ecological Impact Assessments, Invasive Species, Habitat Regulations Assessments and BNG assessments including River Condition Assessment for the Watercourse Metric, particularly as part of baseline assessments of conservation projects including fish passes, wetland creation and land enhancement schemes.
• Work across grant funded conservation projects to deliver best ecological outcomes
• Understand and advise appropriate ecological survey design requirements across conservation projects across the trust.
• Watching brief and ecology oversite at sites where works are taking place (ECoW)
• Supporting the Trust’s nature based solutions outputs and opportunities for tree planting, natural flood management schemes, habitat creation and restoration
• Compiling and applying for consents, permits and exemptions required to deliver project work.
• Design and input ecological screening process for WRT’s conservation activities
• Working with the in house Operations Team to safely and professionally deliver work on WRT projects.
• Support on applications to environmental schemes such as the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) and tree planting projects.
• Undertake desk and site based ecological surveys and assessments including habitat and species surveys, impact assessments, licensing and mitigation requirements.
• Co-ordinate, attend and contribute to relevant meetings, workshops or stakeholder groups to achieve project aims and to share best practice, raise awareness and promote WRTs role.
• Work closely with Project Managers to ensure project outputs, deadlines and reporting are met as well as with other key members or Teams at WRT eg. for delivery, admin etc.
• Liaise with statutory authorities and proactively build contacts across sectors to further identify opportunities which align with project remit or achieve mutual objectives eg. EWCO, Community Initiatives etc.

Person specification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential Criteria

• Ecological survey experience and ecology training and skills including botany and priority habitat types.
• Appropriate degree level qualification (or equivalent work experience) in an ecological or conservation or related field.
• Sound knowledge of UK nature conservation legislation and planning process.
• Knowledge and competence in Microsoft Office and GIS applications.
• Protected species licence holder.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of catchment-scale approaches and processes, familiar with concepts of Ecosystem Services, Natural Capital, Natural Flood Management, Nature Based Solutions etc.
• Experience of safe working on site-based activities.
• Local area knowledge.
• Membership of professional association.

Skills and Competencies

• A proactive approach and evidence of using own initiative with effective problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate, engage and present at multiple levels and across different sectors.
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relations with internal staff and external clients.
• Work with third party, private landowners
• Adaptable and organised in prioritising workload, managing conflicting demands and working effectively to deadlines with minimum supervision.
• Ability to travel regularly and to remote sites.
• A sound working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook.

Attributes

• Reliable, positive attitude & work ethic
• Ability to deliver accurate and timely project reporting and administration
• Team player, tactful, diplomatic and confident. Willing to work with others to seek solutions.
• Pro-active attitude towards meeting and exceeding goals
• Approachable, professional, trustworthy
• Innovative, adaptable, practical.
• Supports and promotes the WRT ethos.

You may be asked to work on other duties or tasks which are believed to be commensurate with the level of the role. This role is a new role within the Trust and as so the duties may be subject to change as this area of work develops.