Project Officer

Passionate about the Lake District and working collaboratively with others to restore a healthy vibrant and diverse upland landscape? In return we'll provide you with new and rewarding work experiences you probably haven't had before. We have a new opportunity for a Project Officer to join our countryside team to help us deliver on these ambitions across our 4000ha estate.

It’s an exciting time to join the team, in a varied role that will allow you to use your conservation knowledge to engage tenants, partners and wider stakeholders in the development and delivery of projects and agri-environment schemes which join up opportunities for habitat restoration across our tenanted farms.

Hours: Full time, this role requires you to work flexibly where some evening and weekend working will be required to enable you to carry out successfully the objectives of the role. 

Salary: £30,966pa

Contract: 2 year fixed term contract

Face to face interviews: Friday 3rd May 

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

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

We are developing our Project Officers team in the Lake District and currently have another position available, please see IRC150886. If you would like to be considered for both roles, please do apply for both.

We would very welcome applications from both internal and external candidates. 

You’ll be based from our office in Coniston in the heart of the Lake District and be part of our dynamic 25 strong countryside team, working in a supportive learning environment helping one another and be line managed by our Countryside Manager. 

We care for some of the most spectacular and iconic parts of the Lake District (UNESCO World Heritage Site) around Coniston, Little Langdale and Hawkshead across a portfolio with strong ties to Beatrix Potter, her beloved Hill Top House, and legacy of land, farms, buildings, artwork and Herdwick sheep.  This includes the popular visitor destinations of Wray Castle, Hill Top House, and the iconic Tarn Hows, which together welcome over 450,000 visitors a year.

Our 4000ha countryside estate is a diverse range of habitats from woodlands, and meadows around the shores of Lake Windermere and Coniston Water to upland wood pasture, heath and peatlands up to the summit of Wetherlam at 763m.

As Project Officer you'll help us deliver on our ambitions for our land in the South Lakes. Working alongside the Countryside Manager and wider ranger team you'll develop and deliver agreed projects that seek to restore a rich, diverse and vibrant upland landscape, with a particular focus in the valley of Little Langdale. Here, you'll lead the delivery of the capital work programme for a new countryside stewardship scheme to restore grassland and scrub habitats on 180ha of common land and plant over 25,000 trees.  

Working collaboratively with our tenants, partner organisations and wider stakeholders, you'll become their key point of contact with the ability and oversight to join up opportunities for habitat restoration across our tenanted farms in the valley into a cohesive landscape vision.

In conjunction with the ranger team, you’ll explore opportunities for habitat and access improvements within our wider land holding of the South Lakes, along with the management of other small discreet capital projects.  You’ll recognise the importance of monitoring our work and sharing it with others, investing time and energy in both, providing opportunities to inspire and involve local and wider audiences. 

We’d love to hear from you if you’ve:

• knowledge and experience of working within an upland environment, alongside an understanding of landscape significance and a commitment to the restoration of healthy, vibrant, and diverse habitats within an authentic upland farming system
• effective communication skills, able to build genuine long-term relationships with our tenants, staff, partners, and wider stakeholders
• strong influencing and negotiation skills, with a natural resilience, able to overcome challenges and find solutions
• the ability to work collaboratively, share, motive and inspire others of your work
• high organisational skills, able to work independently and at pace, prioritising and managing multiple workstreams
• project delivery experience, including all aspects of contractor management, with a particular eye for detail.
• written and verbal communication skills, able to produce concise and coherent reports for project management, marcomms and social media.