Senior Project Co-Ordinator

Do you enjoy a satisfying challenge? Are you organised and motivated to work towards nature recovering and thriving? We’re looking for a Senior Project Coordinator to support us as we plan for nature recovery at National Trust sites across North Devon.

Arlington Court and our North Devon places are fantastic to visit now and offer a great opportunity to be involved in shaping future landscape restoration on a large scale. We aim to be one of the biggest success stories in the Trust and need your help to make that happen. Inspired by Rosalie Chichester who turned large parts of the Arlington estate into a nature reserve before giving it to the Trust in the 1940s we are already working to make Arlington and all our North Devon places into wilder, wetter, woodier havens that are amazing for nature, people and climate. 

The Senior Project Co-ordinator will support two exciting projects which have recently secured Landscape Recovery Scheme funding from DEFRA and Species Survival funding from DEFRA/National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

This is a full-time role for 24 months.

Interview date: 29 April in person at Arlington Court, Arlington, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 4LP.

Our National Trust places in North Devon range from temperate coastal rainforest to secluded beaches, a historic house stuffed full of curiosities at Arlington to windswept cliffs overlooking the sea at Hartland.

Arlington Court is a 2700-acre estate of formal gardens, parkland and farmland and is a flagship Nature Accelerator site, at the centre of the Trust’s plans for nature recovery. This means you’ll be working closely with others eager to see habitats restored and species reintroduced.

You'll be joining a regional project management community – part of the South West Consultancy – who are motivated and passionate about working at pace and scale. There will be lots of opportunities for you to gain new experiences, learn from others and continue your professional development. Day-to-day you will work with the dynamic North Devon team, based mainly out of Arlington itself but hybrid working can be considered to allow this role to work for you (you could also work out of our other offices at Baggy Point or Heddon Valley).

You’ll be the glue that holds the project team together as you support our projects to ensure we are working efficiently as we deliver our ambitious plans for nature, people and climate. You’ll arrange and support stakeholder meetings, set up reporting systems and assist project communications. You’ll assist with funding bids, monitor budgets, make grant claims and liaise with funders. You'll be working alongside and supporting our project managers across projects including:

·       Arlington Landscape Recovery Scheme is an initial 2 year feasibility / development phase project which will ultimately deliver a wide variety of environmental and social outcomes, as well as making an important contribution to national Green Future and net zero carbon targets. You will help coordinate a series of detailed management plans, setting out the direction of travel to secure the long-term future of the estate for the next 20+ years.  

·       Freshwater Renaissance is a 2-year, multi-catchment programme of work aiming to restore a functioning network of biodiverse and climate resilient freshwater habitats. The programme is funded by the Government's Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and its Arm's-Length Bodies. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency. Freshwater Renaissance is also supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The programme of work will be delivered across multiple river catchments at five National Trust places: Cumbria, the Bollin catchment, the Bure catchment, Holnicote and North Devon. You’ll support across North Devon and at Arlington as we work to create new and restore existing wetland habitats, and to use stream restoration to reduce erosion and reduce coastal pollution. #SpeciesSurvivalFund #TogetherForOurPlanet  

We invite applications from people from all backgrounds and communities. We will shortlist against the following minimum criteria for the role:   ·       

• you'll be able to multi-task and to successfully handle multiple projects, priorities and deadlines.      

• can do attitude - ability to work well both in a team and on your own initiative.     

• knowledge of budgets, funding and co-ordination of projects. 

• experience of record keeping and keeping an audit trail, attention to detail, compliance.        

• strong written and verbal communication skills, including good IT skills, setting up meetings/visits.     

• strong people skills, enabling good working relationships with those in your team, internal and external stakeholders, and contractors.       

• experience of collating, maintaining, analysing and preparing data to provide reports to stakeholders.