Senior Ecologist- Sussex

SENIOR ECOLOGIST

Salary: £30,000

Location: Sussex

Looking for an opportunity to advance your career in consultancy within a supportive environment?

As a dynamic and growing business, we are searching for self-motivated and positive-minded Senior Ecologists to join our friendly team in our Sussex office. The successful applicants will be involved in all areas of our work, supporting clients in vast range of different sectors. Responsibilities include co-ordinating and undertaking protected species surveys and mitigation projects, advising clients of constraints and survey requirements, preparing ecology chapters for Environmental Impact Assessments, and managing a team of ecologists to find commercially efficient and cost-effective project solutions.

We have permanent roles (on a full or part time basis) available in our well-appointed converted Sussex barn in the heart of the South Downs National Park. The project-based nature of our work means that there will be a requirement for travel and occasional overnight stays to complete the contract.

This position will provide a great opportunity to lead and deliver complex contracts and support more junior staff, draft high-quality reports and review technical work, as well as support clients and their design teams by identifying solutions to their problems. We are keen to continue to grow our business, so you will play an important part in the delivery of our business development strategy by costing and tendering for work and finding new ways for the business to diversify and thrive.

About

Our client is one of the UK’s leading independent infrastructure and property consultancies, specialising in environment, planning and sustainability.

With a team comprising many recognised industry leaders, we work with inspirational clients on their organisations, on their challenges and on exciting, innovative, complex and globally relevant projects, programmes and schemes.

We provide a bespoke professional service to clients so that they can make the right decisions and achieve the best outcomes. We do this by leveraging our experience and breadth of skills alongside our insights, commitment, and ethical approach to everything we do.

To be considered for the role, you will:

Hold an appropriate degree qualification;

Have a minimum of 5 years’ relevant work experience;

Have excellent knowledge of UK and relevant European environmental legislation;

Have excellent fieldwork and report writing skills including protected species surveys, Mitigation Licence applications, and ecological management plans;

Be comfortable with and have experience in attending meetings and liaising with clients, contractors, sub-contractors and third-party stakeholders;

Be able to critically review your own work

Be competent in the mitigation for one or more of the following species groups bats, badgers, birds, dormice, great crested newts, reptiles, and water voles;

Have good excellent organizational skills and an ability to resource work;

Be able to manage own workload, be proactive in managing projects and be able to delegate to and provide support to junior staff as appropriate;

Hold Associate/Full membership of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) or be eligible;

Be proactive, a self-starter and able to use own initiative when appropriate;

Have a full clean UK driving licence;

Be eligible to work within the UK.

Consultancy requires knowledge of project management techniques and methodologies. We expect all candidates to have a passion for project delivery, ensuring client satisfaction is achieved on time and within budget.

Applications are particularly welcome from ecologists who have:

At least one Natural England protected species licence preferably Bat Class 2 or GCN Class 1 licence

Be able to be a named ecologist on mitigation licences

Botany as a specialism.

A minimum 2 years’ experience of reviewing others’ work;

Experience in undertaking BNG assessments

What’s in it for you?

Competitive salary on a scale commensurate with experience.

TOIL (time off in lieu) policy and flexible approach to working hours to ensure a healthy work-life balance.

26 days annual leave (& bank holidays) plus an additional day for each year of service up to 29 days

Enhanced maternity pay;

Opportunities for career development;

Auto-enrolment pension scheme (after 3 months’ service);

Cycle to work scheme;

Socials, games nights and volunteering days through our staff engagement and development initiative;

Dog friendly office

Fun, friendly, and forward-thinking co-workers;

Fantastic training

Equal Opportunities