Bridge of Earn, Perthshire | Flexible & hybrid working
Starting salary of £48,000 – £53,000 per annum depending on experience.
Applications close5pm, 1 September 2026
Act on what we know. Learn what we don’t.
That’s the approach we take at the Atlantic Salmon Trust.
Wild Atlantic salmon are in crisis. We believe the science is clear enough to act, while there are still important questions we need to answer to give this extraordinary species the best opportunity to recover.
We’re looking for an exceptionalPrincipal Salmon Conservation Scientist to help lead that work.
This is a senior scientific role for someone with deep expertise in Atlantic salmon and sea trout ecology. But expertise alone isn’t what we’re looking for. We’re looking for someone who wants touse it.
- Someone excited by the challenge of turning science into action.
- Someone who can identify the scientific questions that genuinely matter to species recovery.
- Someone with the judgement and confidence to act under uncertainty - ensuring the best evidence is used to direct action.
Above all, we’re looking for someone who shares our sense of purpose. Not science for science’s sake, but science that leads to action in support of wild salmon recovery.
If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.
Overview of the Role
The successful candidate will lead the Trust’s salmonid conservation science work, which sits at the heart of our mission to restore salmonid populations and the ecosystems in which they live in the UK and Ireland. You will play a key role in influencing the Trust’s strategic research priorities, directing effort at the evidence gaps that genuinely limit recovery, and supporting the restoration team to translate what we already know into large scale restoration action on the ground.
You will provide scientific leadership for all our programmes, ensuring that an evidence-based approach to salmon conservation and recovery sits at the centre of the Trust’s restoration, policy and advocacy work. You will represent the Trust as a leading scientific authority with partners, funders and policymakers including academia, catchment managers, public sector bodies and government, Missing Salmon Alliance members, and international organisations working on salmon conservation and recovery. You will also have the opportunity to develop new targeted science projects to fill identified knowledge gaps and build partnerships to deliver those. You will work closely with the Trust’s Principal Data Analyst with the two of you together leading the delivery of science and evidence across Trust projects.
This post is fast-paced, recognising the urgency of delivering large scale action for wild salmon in the face of uncertainty, whilst also providing the opportunity to identify and fill knowledge gaps. You will be comfortable exercising judgement under uncertainty, and motivated to ensure evidence is used to direct action. This post reports to the Science and Evidence Director.
