Westcountry Rivers Trust is recruiting a Senior Project Ecologist
This is a permanent contract after a successful 6 month probation period.
The starting salary for this role is £30,800.00 to £34,900.00 depending on experience
The role is 37.5 hours per week.
We support Hybrid working, so there will be the opportunity to work from home in this role and work flexible hours. Travel to sites throughout the Westcountry will also be required regularly; this role is a mixture of office and site based.
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 continuous service.
- Additional Leave covering the Christmas Closure period.
- 9% Employer Pension, plus Life Assurance cover
- Flexible working
To apply: Send your CV and a one page covering letter clearly marked as applying for the job of Project Ecologist – using the following link: https://hr.breathehr.com/v/senior-project-ecologist-38782
For further information see www.wrt.org.uk
Submission by: 5pm on Friday 31st January 2025
Interviews will take place on: Monday 10th February 2025
About the Westcountry Rivers Trust
Formed in 1994, the Trust was established to restore Westcountry rivers. 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 even benefit human health
Everything the Trust does is informed by the best available science. Their work is driven by an ‘ecosystems approach,’ considering the function of the entire catchment, not just the rivers that flow within them.
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, weir removals and creating riparian buffers. Championing a sustainable natural environment
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
Person specification.
Knowledge and Experience
- Ecological survey experience and ecology training and skills including botany and priority habitat types, Biodiversity Net Gain
- Sound knowledge of UK nature conservation legislation and planning process
- Experience of catchment-scale approaches and processes, familiar with concepts of Ecosystem Services, Natural Capital, Green Finance, Natural Flood Management, Nature Based Solutions etc
- Knowledge and competence in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel & Outlook) and GIS applications
- Experience of safe working on site-based activities (D)
- Local area knowledge (D)
- Protected species licence holder
- Membership of professional association (D)
Qualifications
- Appropriate degree level qualification (or equivalent work experience) in an ecological or conservation or related field.
You may be asked to work on other duties or tasks which are believed to be commensurate with the level of the role.