Project Officer

We have an exciting new opportunity where you'll be really able to shape this role yourself. Expertise of the Project Officer role is all about relationships in and with the local farming community.

As we develop our long-term ambitions in the Yorkshire Dales and deliver existing projects around more trees in the landscape and peat restoration, we are looking for you to join us in delivering project objectives around Development/Feasibility for Landscape Recovery to time, cost and quality. You'll move at pace to make a change for people, nature and climate in our uplands, maintaining positive relationships and building new ones, working with and through a wide range of farmers, colleagues and partners.

Hours: Part time 30 hours per week, mainly Monday to Friday and we are flexible as to when you work these hours. Some evening and weekend working will be required, for which time in lieu can be taken.

Salary: FTE £32,250pa Actual £25,800pa

Contract: Fixed term for 2 years

Interviews: 5th / 6th June - we would prefer to conduct face to face interviews, however we can accommodate virtual interviews for those who would like to apply but live outside of the area and would relocate for this role.

We would consider this role on a secondment basis for an internal candidate. Please discuss this with your current line manager before applying.

If you have any questions about this role please contact: Martin.Davies@nationaltrust.org.uk

Please include a covering letter (no more than 1 page of A4) with your application outlining what key experience and practical skills make you the ideal candidate to take our aspirations forward. 

You’ll be working as part of the property team at Malham, including a Countryside Manager and Countryside Team, Facilities and Business Support teams as well as a General Manager as the Client for the project. We work closely with our Estate Manager and Rural Surveyor who are the key points of contact for our farm tenants.

Your contractual place of work will be the National Trust office at Malham. Our hybrid working policy means you can balance office and home working with site visits and meetings at farms and other National Trust places. We’ll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust site for most of your working week.

As the farm liaison for the project, you’ll work closely with tenants and neighbours to deal with questions and concerns, encouraging our farmer’s input into planning and testing our approach and ensuring plans work for each farm. Building a collaborative and trusting relationship at an early stage will be critical. You'll work with our countryside and let estate teams, contractors, facilitators and statutory stakeholders. You’ll pull on the knowledge and expertise of property, estate management and consultancy colleagues.

We mean it when we say it’s a varied role. One typical day might include carrying out an initial meeting and questionnaire on a farm or with a landowner to discover their aims and objectives, and then summarising the results to help plan next steps. On another day you may be meeting with our Estate Management team, sharing outcomes of conversations with farmers with colleagues on the project or property, or working with others to plan workshops to bring our farmers together around a particular topic. A blend of being out at farms and working with stakeholders, colleagues in consultancy and let estate teams and on property means you’ll be comfortable with a wide range of people and approaches, turning your hand to a variety of tasks every day.

You’ll need to engage with our funder, partners and community groups on occasion. You’ll also plan work with contractors to ensure we have the resources needed to bring our plans to life.

We hope you'll have demonstrable skills in diplomacy, empathy, discretion and synthesising information for the right audience with a strong ability to lead through others, through challenge and support.

You'll have a strong understanding of farming challenges and opportunities, particularly for access and wildlife through Landscape. You'll have a  desire to make a difference, show initiative and contribute to the core values of the Trust.