Senior / Principal Ecologists - Bristol & Exeter

At Arcadis we focus on attracting, retaining and developing people who share our passion and commitment to improve quality of life. In return we offer you the opportunity to transform your world and the world around you, that could be through client work, upskilling yourself, championing equality and inclusion or getting involved in charity work, to name just a few. Our people value different perspectives, they care about the sustainability of our planet and dare to shape the future. One of our core values is ‘people first’, and supported by our Lovinklaan foundation, we invest in you for the long term, to ensure you reach your full potential. You’ll have the opportunity to own your career and work on industry-defining projects, finding solutions to real challenges that make a difference to people’s lives. You’re encouraged to have a growth mindset and are given the space to develop personally and professionally, building a flexible career that works for you.

As a Principal Ecologist, you will join our team of over 50 ecologists, who have more than 30 years of experience undertaking ecological surveys and assessments, as well as the provision of advice on soil, land use, hydrological and sustainable drainage issues, arboriculture, ecosystem service, natural capital assessment, biodiversity strategies and metrics and cultural heritage. During this time, we have undertaken over 2,000 projects covering a wide range of environmental disciplines throughout the UK, in Europe and beyond, for public and private clients. Presently, we are engaged on a variety of large and interesting projects, including Urban and Greenfield Residential Development, Highway and Rail Schemes, Power Stations, Electrical and Gas Infrastructure, and are working for a wide selection of clients based throughout the UK, including EDF Energy, Welsh Government, Transport for Wales, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) National Grid, the Environment Agency, Transport for London, Highways England, Network Rail, the Canal and River Trust, Housing Associations and various Local Authorities across the country. We are also involved in international work via Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessments and our Natural Capital Community of Practice.

As part of our Environmental team, you’ll help improve quality of life. With your specialism in environmental management, or your technical or sustainability expertise, your work could involve protected species, pollution, surface water and materials management, air quality or noise. And in some of the world’s busiest and most beautiful locations. We work to protect our natural environment and water resources, while powering our world for future generations. Around the world, we’re feeling the effects of climate change, rapid urbanization, loss of biodiversity. The rate at which we’re seeing large-scale, unforeseen events such as floods and wildfires, is becoming more frequent. We are here to protect our natural environment and water resources, while powering our world for future generations.

As a Principal Ecologist, you will be accountable for the quality control, coordination and completion of assigned tasks and projects within the Business Unit or project team. As we operate in such a diverse marketplace, we can safely say that you will gain experience of working on a wide and varied portfolio of projects which will enhance your skills and test your technical knowledge. As a Principal Consultant, you will be responsible for leading and managing the delivery of a range of projects to meet time, budgetary and SHEQ targets, managing the ecological aspects of the client relationship so that delivery exceeds client expectations. You will take a leadership role on projects and within the team, providing both direction and technical advice and leading by example. We will ensure that we offer personal development which will allow you to progress your career and offer you the opportunity to be mentored by industry-recognised Technical Leaders in their field who will lend you their experience and ensure that the training you receive will give you the best possible chance of success.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Detailed knowledge of ecological principles, biodiversity metrics, relevant environmental and ecological impact assessment (EcIA) legislation, policy and guidance.
• In-depth knowledge of particular plant or animal groups and appropriate field survey skills.
• Proven track record in writing and delivering Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEAs), writing and/or delivering Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessments, Ecological Impact Assessments (EcIAs) and Ecology Chapters for Environmental Statements which have been successfully consented.
• Proven track record in writing project and/or plan-level Habitat Regulation Assessments (HRAs).
• Excellent commercial and project management skills for a range of project sizes.
• Proven experience of bid production for a range of projects and client interaction.
• Ability to line manage and potentially to lead a team.
• Hold survey and/or mitigation/conservation licenses.
• Leads in the design and compliance of biosecurity and health and safety protocols.
• Chartered Environmentalist/Ecologist (or demonstrably approaching Chartered Ecologist).
• Full member of CIEEM.
• The ability to travel, when necessary.

Our work with clients has a direct impact on people’s lives and on the planet. We make moving, living and belonging in cities safer, more resilient and more sustainable. By partnering with our clients as responsible custodians of our earth's resources, we can create a sustainable planet. We continue to think of new ways to make positive impacts and create better experiences for people; data driven and digital solutions have become part of the Arcadis DNA. Working together with clients and using techniques like design thinking, we can get to the heart of our clients’ most pressing challenges and work together to solve them. As a global business, we have committed to support five of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to ensure that our projects contribute to a better and more sustainable future for all. But it’s not just the work that we do on client projects that benefits communities and our planet. As a global business, we are committed to making a positive impact to society by supporting local communities where we operate. To help protect our planet, we monitor and measure non-financial information to inform business decisions and reduce our own environmental impact as part of our commitment to be net zero carbon as a global company by 2030.

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.